2015-10-13
689
SPEAKING SKILLS
Ex. 11. Agree or disagree. Prove your answer:
l. Brahmanism today after the centuries of development is called Buddhism.
2. There was a cultural division between the north and the south of India.
3. Raja was an ultimate and sole ruler of the country.
4. To record the King's activities and to write down the sacred literature of the Aryans scribes appeared.
5. The Aryans left a large number of remains of physical culture.
6. Houses were built in wood and in stone.
7. Aryan society was very much structured according to classes.
8. The only duty of brahmans was to offer sacrifices to the Indian deities.
9. In 600 ВС four collections of holy songs appeared.
10. Religious chants make up the content of the Ramayana, the longest poem in world literature.
11. The major tenets of the brahman religion are taught within the Mahabharata.
12. Along with Indra, the primary gods were Agni, Vishnu, and Brahma.
13. The Vedas were great epic poems and soon became the major literary works of ancient India.
14. The Mahabharata is the longest poem in world literature.
Ex. 13. a) Answer the following questions to see if you understand every word in the text:
1. What are the sources that help historians to draw the threads to weave the story of India?
2. Why is there very little evidence of the Aryans' life and culture?
3. What period does the Aryan chieftains' expansion of their territories date back to?
4. What events took place by 600 ВС on the Ganges and the Indus plains?
5. Why is it possible to speak about a major cultural division between the north and the south of India?
6. Can we define the Aryan kingdoms as well-structured societies? Why?
7. Palaces were the citadels of culture, weren't they?
8. What is the origin of the term "Hinduism"?
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9. What accounts for inequality in the Aryan society?
10. What were the social duties of the religious priests?
11. What were the possible reasons for putting some of the religious songs into writing?
12. When did the four collections of the songs appear?
B) Put questions of your own to the rest of the text and ask your classmates to answer them.
Ex. 14. Develop the ideas of Ex. 3 and discuss them with your classmates.
Ex. 15. Make up a plan of the text, provide each point of the plan with necessary words and word combinations.
Ex. 16. Retell the text using your own plan and expressions from Ex. 4,5.
Ex. 17. Give the gist of the story.
Ex. 18. Role play.
Discuss a recently read book about the Aryans and their religion with one of your classmates.
V. WRITING SKILLS
