Lesson 3

Reading

1. Look quickly at the title of Huda's project and the photos. Discuss the questions in pairs.

1. What do you think a fossil is? A fossil is a part of a plant or animal that lived thousands of yeras ago, or its shape preserved in tock.
2. What fossils of animals do you expect to find in the desert? snakes, lizards, and other desert animals.

2. Read the project and find a sentence to show the following.

1. There are a lot of animal fossils at the Fayum Depression but they are not what you think. Many ancient fossils are often found here, but the species of animal fossil might surprise you.

2. In 1902, scientists found many whale fossils. At Wadi al-Hitan, 'The Valley of the Whales', hundreds of fossils of ancient whales were found by scientists in1902.

3. Some of the fossils were not damaged and were very long. The fossils were preserved really well and some of them were 21 metres in length.

4. Wadi al-Hitan is now a famous international place. The fossils are so important that Wadi al-Hitan was called a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

5. Not many people go there. As a result, it is only visited by about1,000 people a year.

6. Scientists will learn more about the whales in the future. Today, Egyptian scientists are studying some of the fossils at Mansoura University usingsome of the latest technology, and they hope to learn more about these amazing whales of the desert.

Vocabulary

3. Complete the sentences with the words in bold from the text.

1. In the museum, we saw some fossils of animals that lived thousands of yeras ago.
2. The village is 80km fromthe nearest city. It is very remote.
3 My grandmother always preserves fruit in a jar with sugar and water.
4 The longest snake in the world is more than six metres in lenght!
5 Scientists are still discovering new species of plants and animals every year.

Speaking

4. Discuss in pairs. What is a depression? Does it have the same weather as the desert? Why?

A depression is land that is below the area Because it is lower, it does not always have the same weather For example, it might be less windy and hotter during the day.

Language

5. Write these sentences in the past simple passive.

1. Scientists found animal fossils in the Fayum Depression. Animal fossils were found in the Fayum Depression.

2. A team of scientists studied the fossils at Wadi al-Hitan. The fossils at Wadi al-Hitan was studied by a team of scientists.

3. About 1000 people visited Wadi al-Hitan last year. Wadi al-Hitan was visited by about 1000 people last year.

4. A Some researchers found whales with legs. whales with legs were found ( by some researchers ).

6. Listen and choose the correct answer.

1. A list of the new SevenWonders is made / was made in 2007.
2. The city of Petra named / was named as one of the new SevenWonders.
3. The Taj Mahal are built / was built by Shah Jahan.
4. The Great Wall of China was built / built with rice.