V. Speaking skills

Ex. 11. Ask your groupmates to tell you:

1. what two large cities stand out of all the sites of the Indus Valley;

2. whether the cities resembled each other;

3. what material the buildings were made of;

4. what pattern was used to set the cities;

5. how Mohenjo-Daro was protected;

6. whether the political leaders enjoyed ample resources to put their projects into realty;

7. in what way the buildings were decorated;

8. what kinds of dwelling houses were found in Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa;

9. who collected taxes and in what form;

10. what part bathing played in the life of the Indus Valley people;

11. why the worship to the Harappan deities took place outdoors;

12. why the citadels were built on artificial mounds;

13. what the Indus Valley civilization is famous for.

Ex. 12. Develop the ideas of Ex. 3.

Ex. 13. Make up a plan of the text, provide each point of the plan with necessary words and word combinations. Compare and discuss your plans in the classroom.

Ex. 14. Retell the text according to your plan using the following package phrases:

1. This text — is devoted to...

• deals with...

• contains the description of...

2. The first (second, third) paragraph — introduces the idea of...

— draws the readers' attention to...

— is concerned with...

3. The author — refers to those who...

• comments on...

• points out that...

4. The text — ends up with...

— suggests a plan...

• appeals to the reader to do smth...

Ex. 15. Give the gist of the text.

Ex. 16. Role play.

Choose roles and do the interview between t reporter of one of the popular science magazines and a scholar on the problem of the Indus Valley civilization.

VI. Writing skills

Ex. 17. Rewrite this text with the correct punctuation and capital letters.

mohejo-daro and harappa are two large cities of the indus valley located about 350 miles from one another they stand out of all the sites of the indus valley civilization they are carbon copies of each other archaeologists believe that worship to the harappan deities took place outdoors as for the baths they served a religious purpose because bathing is still a major devotional exercise for modern indians continuing this long tradition

Ex. 18. Make up sentences of your own using expressions from Ex.5,6. Provide similar historical context.

Ex. 19. Make a list of:

1. religious terms;

2. architectural terms.

Ex. 20. Topics for essay writing:

1. Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa are carbon copies of each other.

2. Religious rites of the Indus Valley people.

3. City planning and building typical of Harrapa and Mohenjo-Daro.

Vil translation skills

Ex. 21. Translate into English:

В 1922 году индийские археологи открыли древние города в долине реки Инд. Раскопки показали, что в Индии в IV—III тысячеле­тии до нашей эры существовала развитая цивилизация. Города Мохенджо-Даро и Хараппа были, очевидно, двумя столицами.

Мохенджо-Даро занимал площадь почти 3 квадратных километра, а его население составляло 35-40 тысяч человек.

Внутри цитадели Мохенджо-Даро были раскопаны постройки религиозного и общественного характера: бассейн для ритуальных омовений; огромный зал, где, очевидно, собирались представители городской администрации; общественные амбары для хранения зерна.

Главные улицы в центре города достигали 10 метров в ширину. Вдоль улиц стояли двух- и трехэтажные дома из обожженных кирпичей.

Раскопаны сооружения, которые, вероятно, были храмами. Находки говорят о поклонении воде, деревьям, огню. Женские статуэтки указывают на культ богини-матери.

Eх. 22. For more information on the Indus Valley civilization read an additional text about the Indus Valley economy and translate it.

Most of the Indus Valley people were farmers, growing wheat, barley, and peas on land they had cleared from forest. Possibly they also cultivated rice. The Harrapans were well aware of the need for levees and dikes to control the Indus and developed complex irrigation systems to sustain their crops during prolonged droughts.

Cotton was the most important commercial crop. Weavers turned it into cloth that became the major export of the Indus Valley people. Weavers also invented dyes to make clothing more attractive. Cotton cloth making is the major discovery of the Indus Valley people that still affects our own world.

Indus Valley people kept a wide variety of animals. Some ancient historians credit them with domesticating the elephant and the chicken.

Merchants traded their goods not only in the Indus Valley but also in a large area extending beyond it. The products they offered consisted of copper tools, pottery, textiles, and wooden objects.

About 1900 ВС the quality of Indus Valley products went into decline. Various reasons are put forward to explain what was happening. A recent hypothesis notes that about 2000 ВС the land at the mouth of the Indus river began to rise. Mud volcanoes were responsible. This is a type of volcanic action that causes lava to come to the surface like a thick soap, but without creating a cone.

By raising the land, this volcanic activity eventually completely blocked the Indus river from reaching the sea. Indus waters backed up, creating a great lake over the farmland with waves now lapping against the cities themselves. Merchants no longer sent out their ships, and farmers could no longer plant their crops.