Algerian Educators


Part1: Reading                                                                                                (14points)

A.Comprehension                                                                                             (7 points)

      Read the passage carefully then do the activities.


Many of the most passionate travelers have a true passion for history and for the past of humankind. You cannot call yourself a traveler if you do not want or cannot appreciate the past of a certain place you happen to visit. Some of the most important and interesting tourist attractions in the world come from distant times, some even millions of years ago. From ruins to castles and from special buildings to ancient cities, everything has its special charm of showing the contemporary tourist a different way of life. Maybe many of you already have an interest for one or another ancient civilization.  To truly understand ancient civilizations, .one can visit the places they built and lived in.

Surely, the Greek Civilization is one of the most famous and studied in the whole ancient world. This civilization has given humanity a great deal of innovations and many masterpieces that are still revealed. The temples, theatres and forums form the inheritance of the Greek civilization. A traveler who wishes to discover more about this great ancient civilization should consider visiting: Athens with its Acropolis and its museums, The Complex of Delphi, the city of Mycenae, The Temple of Apollo, the city of Corinth, the ancient city of Dion, Mount Olympus, the site of Olympia, the site of Virginia and many others.

The Romans, on the other hand, rose to power in southern Europe and soon conquered or influenced most of the Mediterranean shores and many other territories, from Britain to the Black Sea and from Northern Africa to Western Asia. In ancient times, one motto rose from this domination of the Roman Empire and that was: All Roads Lead to Rome, and this was mostly true. Some of the most magnificent ancient buildings and monuments still found today come from the Romans and to truly discover this ancient civilization, travelers should visit the four corners of the continent. Surely, the visit should always start or end in Rome, where it all started. The best tourist attractions linked to the Roman civilization are: The Coliseum, The Pantheon, Roman Forum and many others in Rome, Pompeii and Herculaneum sites, Carthage city in Tunisia, city of Bath in England, Ephesus and Pergamum in Turkey, Arles in France, Pula and Split in Croatia and many other amazing places throughout the world.

In addition to all these attractions, a traveler who has not visited Djémila or Cuicul would have missed one of the most beautiful Roman sites in the world. Situated 900 m above sea-level, Djémila, with its forum, temples, basilicas, triumphal arches and houses, is an interesting example of Roman towns.

It is an establishment of an ancient Roman colony founded during the reign of Nerva (96 - 98 A.D.). The Roman town occupied a singular defensive position. Cuicul is one of the flowers of Roman architecture in North Africa.  It is remarkably adapted to the constraints of the mountainous site, on a rocky spur which spreads at an altitude of 900 m. The site of Djémila comprises an impressive collection of mosaic paving, illustrating mythological tales and scenes of daily life.

In addition to Djémila, Algeria has many other ancient places one can visit to truly understand their history. Among these beautiful places are Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad, M'Zab Valley, Timgad, Tassili , Tipaza,  Kasbah of Algiers, to name a few…

Silviu-Florin - May  2012 (Adapted)



1.      Are the following statements true or false? Quote from the text to justify your answers.

a)      To know about the secrets of ancient civilizations, one has to visit sites built millions of years ago.

b)      The writer is suggesting to visit two most important places of the Greek civilization.

c)      In the third paragraph, the writer deals with some places in Rome only.

d)     Djémila is an inland Greek site tourists can visit in Algeria today.



2.      Answer the following questions according to the text.

a)      Which places does the writer advise people to visit in ancient Greece? Name them.

b)      Which places in paragraph three are not located in Italy? Name them.

c)      How would you describe Djémila, the ancient Roman site in Algeria?

 d)  Which other ancient sites in Algeria are mentioned in the text?

 e)  Which of the sites you have listed above, would you like to visit? Why?


3.      What or who do the underlined words in the text refer to?

a)        This civilization (§2) -    b) its (§2) - c) It (§5)         d) their (§6) 


4.      Give the general idea of the text.


B.   Text Exploration                                                                                      (7points)                                                                                             



a)          to be pleased about (§1)          b) supremacy (§3)

c)   established (§5)                       d) attractive (§6)


2.                Complete   the following words as shown in the example.























3.                Complete sentence (b) so that it means the same as sentence (a).

1. a) Many people are visiting ancient Roman sites in Algeria.

a)    Ancient……………………………………………. .

2. a) “My parents were not able to visit to Djemila site,” she told me.


3. a) “Why don’t you visit the ancient site Djélima in Tipaza?” He advised her.

    b) “If I …………………………………………” He advised her.


4.      Combine the following pairs of sentences. (Make any necessary changes)

 a) I was not able to visit Al Qal'a of  Beni Hammad.

               I was not able to visit M'Zab Valley.


b) Many houses were bombed during the French colonial period.

   The Kasbah of Algiers still remains a world heritage site.


5.      Fill in the gaps so that the passage makes sense.

The Kasbah is a unique kind of medina, or Islamic city. It stands in one of the finest coastal ……(1)……… on the Mediterranean, overlooking the islands where a Carthaginian trading-post was ……(2)……… in the 4th century BC. Tourists can visit the remains of the citadel, old mosques and Ottoman-style palaces as well as the remains of a ……… (3)……. urban structure associated with a deep-rooted sense of community.

The Kasbah of Algiers is an outstanding example of a ……(4)…….. Maghreb city having had extensive influence on town-planning in the western part of the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa.


6.                Classify each word according to which syllable is stressed. awesome career

                ancient  -  domination  -  discover  -  historic


On the 1st syllable

On the 2nd syllables

On the 3rd syllables






Part2. Written Expression.                                                                          (6points)


                              Choose ONE of the following topics.


Either topic1.


                Write a composition of about 100 words on the following topic.


      Apart from Djémila, choose one of the Algerian world heritage sites mentioned in the last paragraph of the reading passage, and write a newspaper article including the location, the description of the place, its history, its inhabitants, the local culture, and …

Or topic 2.

       Write a composition of about 100 words on the following topic.


   In many ancient sites, we find people selling reproduced paintings and postcards,

fake jewels, pottery of poor quality and other forged objects to visitors.

Do you approve this kind of business? Justify your opinion. 

 By ELT@lgeria






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