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jjjjjActivity 1
In the passage below there are some mistakes in the use of punctuation. On each
line there is one mistake. Find the mistake and highlight it by clicking on it with
the mouse. It may help you to read through the whole passage first.
Here is an example:
The mistake is highlighted because this, sentence has an incorrect comma in the
middle of it For this line, the mistake is highlighted because a full stop is missing
after 'it'.
Stars

Have you come across a star 'eating' a planet? It's not as strange as it sounds.

Astronomers think they know what has happened. The theory they've put forward is

that, as the ageing star expanded, the planet was destroyed. Scientists careful study of

the star, which is one of a class of stars known, as red giants, led to the discovery.

Rising core temperatures cause red giants to expand in size a process that will destroy

any nearby planets. According to professor Alexander Wolszczan, "A similar fate may

await the planets in our solar system some five billion years from now" So not

something we need to worry about!

Activity 2

In the exercise below, you have to choose the best word to complete each sentence
or passage so that it makes sense and is written in correct English. Choose one of
the five answer options.
The first piece of evidence for the (1)____________ planet came from the star's
peculiar chemical composition.

Analysis (2)___________ that it contained an unusually high amount of lithium.

Lithium is easily destroyed in stars, so (3)___________abundance in this ageing star
was very unusual.

The astronomers’ second piece of evidence was the highly elongated orbit that a
(4)____________discovered planet was tracing around the red giant star. These types
of orbits are uncommon in planetary systems around stars such as our Sun.

Astronomer, Eva Villaver said, “(5)_____________ a planet (6)_____________the

act of being devoured (7)____9________a star’s almost impossible because of the
speed of the process".

Q1

missed miss misses missing amiss

zzQ2

revealer reveal Reveal ed revealing revealers

Q3

it’s his their its these

Q4

new newly newest news newer

Q5

Catches Caught Catching Catch Catchable

Q6

on an in at by

Q7

never at from with by

Q8

neither any no many some

Activity 3

After the Normans had conquered the English, they______________ to

guard__________ resistance. This led to the ___________________ of

castle building in England. They were built ___________________ the

Normans felt the local population might lead a __________________. The

castles had numerous ________________: as a base for the soldiers and

 horses and their ________________, as a symbol of the power of

____________________, a means of controlling the

______________________ area and as an administrative

________________.

The earliest castles were motte and bailey, with a wooden fort on top of a

mound (the motte) and an ______________ area that was large enough to

house small __________

(the bailey). The Normans were keen to build as many castles as possible,

and motte and bailey __________________ were perfect as they could be

__________________ rapidly. They were always built on the highest

ground in the area. Thus the Normans could _________________

themselves as the _________________ force in the area.

As time _________________ pissed, castles became much more

complicated and much stronger, with several walled areas inside one

another. Later, the strategic importance of castles

______________________, and their principal function was to represent

status rather than power.

Activity 4

Lost in Time - The Staffordshire Hoard

In the Homecoming of Festus, you read about fioy who returned home to find his
house had been raided. The story is set in the Dark Ages - the period following the
end of the Roman occupation of England. We know little about this time except that it
was lawless and violent. In 2010, there was a very important archaeological
discovery of treasure from that period.

The two newspaper articles on the following pages describe the mystery surrounding
the exact position of the find and the excitement generated when the treasure was put
on display in a local museum.

Revealed at last! - page 1

The secret location where the multi-million pound Staffordshire Hoard was
unearthed!

Following the initial find, newspapers largely followed archaeologists' requests not to
publish the exact position of the field where metal detector fan Terry Herbert found
the exquisite Anglo-Saxon collection, fearing the site could be targeted by thieves.
Archaeologists were concerned that if the site was made widely known, 'night-
hawkers' would arrive in droves with metal detectors.

The Hoard. What is it?

• The Staffordshire Hoard is a collection of more

than 3,500 items, estimated to be worth more

than £3 million.

• Nearly all the pieces are martial or warlike in

character, with an extraordinary quantity of

pommel caps and hilt plates (decorative parts of

swords).

• The hoard totals 5.094 kilos of gold, 1.442

kilos of silver and 3,500 inlaid garnets (dark-

 red, semiprecious gemstones).

• The artefacts have tentatively been dated to

the 7th or 8th centuries, placing the origin of

the items in the time of the Anglo-Saxon

kingdom of Mercia.

'Single pommel caps from this period are

incredibly rare archaeological finds, and to find

97 together is unprecedented.'

Revealed at last! - page 2

Mr Herbert described to journalists how uncovering the hoard was an exhilarating but

alarming experience. "Digging the objects up was like having a burst pipe. When you

repaired one burst, it started going in other places and it would not stop, he said.

"Afterwards, I was having weird dreams and all I could see as soon as I shut my eyes

was pieces of gold with garnets in." It was when Herbert's whole dining table became

covered in gold that he decided to call in the experts and ask for their help. Now that

those experts are confident that all the treasure has been safely removed from the site

and there is no longer any reason for any illegal treasure hunters to come snooping on

the land, the location of the find can at last be revealed.

The hoard was found on a hilltop on farmland outside Lichfield. The land is bordered

on three sides by busy roads, one of which turns out to be the Roman road Watling
Street. This suggests that whoever hid the gold and silver treasure there, for whatever

reason, may have planned for a quick getaway, perhaps indicating they were up to no

good.

'Gangland bling' ' of Anglo-Saxon era to go on show in Staffordshire - page 1

After 1,300 years in the ground, the biggest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold is to be put on

display at the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, not 30 miles from the field where

the treasure was found. The glittering treasure has sparked intense local interest and

pride in the county that hid it for all those years. Many objects, including a gold horse,

as intricate as a piece of lace and no bigger than a postage stamp, have never been

seen before.

The same reddish Mercian clay that made Stoke world famous as the heart of the

potteries industry and formed over a tonne of Saxon pots in the museum's collections,

is clinging to the curves and crevices of the many pieces of gem-studded gold on

display. One still has blades of grass that grew up through it in the newly ploughed

field. "And there could be blood on them as well. These pieces still have a lot to tell

us," said Deb Klemperer, the museum officer.

When a small army of excavators hit the Lichfield field, the police cover story was

that they were investigating a murder. Ther e may well have been a murder, or several

murders, but they would have been a long time ago.

'Gangland bling' of Anglo-Saxon era to go on show in Staffordshire - page 2

Nothing feminine is included in the hoard - no dress fittings, brooches or pendants.

Unlike the coins and women's jewellery usually found at archaeological sites, these

pieces reek of battle and a macho warrior culture. They include scores of decorations

from swords, helmets and shields, fierce little golden animals biting their own tails

and legs, and slender golden crosses wrenched from their original mounts and folded

as casually as a pair of socks.

"It's warrior booty," Klemperer said. It tells the story of the kings and warriors, who

carried these pieces into battle, who then fell and were stripped of their precious

trinkets and possessions. The historian David Starkey, memorably described the hoard

as gangland bling'

Some questions still remain:

- Who was responsible for burying this treasure?

- Why was so much treasure buried in this one place?

- Was the treasure collected after one battle or was it accumulated over several

battles?
Historians may one day be able to shed some more light on this amazing discovery.

Until then..

1. These questions are about the fact box.

What is the Staffordshire Hoard?

Choose one.

a) the name of a group of archaeologists

b) money to the value of more than three million pounds

c) the name of a group of Anglo-Saxons from Mercia

d) treasure from Anglo-Saxon times

2. How was the Hoard found?

__________________________________________________________________

3. Why does the writer tell the reader the weight of gold and silver, and the number of

garnets in the Hoard?

Choose one.

a) to emphasis how warlike the Anglo-Saxons were

b) to emphasise how old the Hoard was

c) to emphasise the size of the Hoard

d) to emphasise the type of objects included in the Hoard

e) to emphasise how rare garnets were in Staffordshire

4. These questions are about the first article.

It was important to keep the exact position of the place where the Hoard was found a

secret from:

Choose one.

a) archaeologists

b) journalists

c) treasure hunters

d) experts

5. Why has the writer used inverted commas around the term 'night-hawkers’?

Choose one.

a) because it is a quotation

b) because it is an invented term

c) because it is an Anglo-Saxon word

d) because it is direct speech

e) because it is an important word

f) because it is a technical term

6. ... uncovering the hoard was an exhilarating but alarming experience.

Mr Herbert found the experience of finding the treasure alarming. Why was this?

Choose two.

a) He burst a pipe while he was digging.

b) He was worried about the vast quantity of items.

 c) He was experiencing strange dreams.

d) He was not used to talking to journalists.

e) He was worried about night-hawkers.

f) He was worried about being punished.

7. What is the main reason the location of the site has now been revealed?

Choose one.

a) so that the police can catch the night-hawkers

b) because all the treasure has been removed

c) because the archaeologists need help to find the rest of the Hoard

d) so that journalists can write about the discovery of the Hoard

e) so that other treasure-hunters can now go to visit the site

f) because the Hoard has now been put on display

8. These questions are about the second article.

…as intricate as a piece of lace…

What does this phrase emphasise about the object shaped like a gold horse?

_____________________________________________________________________

9. Look at paragraph two.

 And there could be blood on them as well. These pieces still have a lot to tell us.

What is the museum officer trying to say?

Choose one.

a) The items in the Hoard are red like the clay.

b) The history of the Hoard needs to be researched.

c) The pieces still need to be cleaned.

d) The archaeologists were injured during the dig.

10. Why did the police invent a cover story?

Choose one.

a) because there had been a murder

b) to keep thieves away

c) to protect the excavators

d) to catch the night-hawkers

e) because they did not know what had been found

11. Look at paragraph four.

According to the writer, what was unusual about this Hoard?

Choose one.

It contained only …

a) coins and jewellery.

b) precious trinkets.

c) golden crosses.
 d) warrior booty.

e) little golden animals.

12.Find and copy a phrase similar in meaning to 'gangland bling'.

__________________________________________________________