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A Short
Story: Hercules
…………………….. :
Name
Ancient
World/Modern
World
.This Short Story Hercules is quite interesting to all the people. Enjoy reading this story
Hercules was a strong and brave man. He lived in Greece. The King was jealous of Hercules. People
might make Hercules the King. Therefore he wanted to get rid of Hercules. He set difficult tasks for
.(Hercules to keep him away from the country so that he would not be a possible threat to him (the King
Once he asked Hercules to get three golden apples. Some trees were said to bear golden apples. These
trees were said to be in a place called Hesperides. But no one knew the way to Hesperides. So the King
.thought of Hesperides. Hercules would be away for a longer period
Hercules set out on the journey. At first he met three maidens during the journey. Hercules asked them
the way to Hesperides. They told him to ask the old man of the sea. But they also warned him, “Hold the
”.old man of the sea tightly. Otherwise he will escape. No one else knows the way
Hercules saw the old man. He was sleeping on the shore. He was looking strange. He had long hair and a
.beard. Hercules walked to him without making any noise. Then he seized him very firmly
The old man of the sea opened his eyes. He was surprised. He changed himself into a stag. He tried to free
himself from the grip of Hercules. But Hercules held him tight. Then the old man changed himself into a
sea-bird and then to other animal forms. But he could not free himself from the clutches of Hercules,
because Hercules was making his clutches tighter and tighter. Finally the old man said to Hercules, “Who
”?are you? What do you want from me
”.Hercules replied, “I am Hercules. Tell me the way to Hesperides
The old man said, “It is an island. Go along the sea-shore. You will meet a giant. He will show you the
”.way to Hesperides
Hercules continued his journey. He met the giant. The giant was very huge and strong. He was sleeping

on the shore. Hercules woke him up. The giant was angry. He struck Hercules with a club. Hercules
charged at the giant. He lifted the giant and threw him down. But the giant got up immediately. He had
become ten times stronger. Hercules threw him down again and again. But each time the giant rose up
much stronger. Then Hercules lifted the giant high up in the air. But he did not throw him down. The giant
slowly lost all his strength. He now pleaded with Hercules to put him down on the earth. Hercules asked
him to tell the way to Hesperides. The giant asked Hercules to meet Atlas. He told him the way to the
.place where Atlas was
.Hercules continued his journey. He, at last, met Atlas
.Why do you want the golden apples?” asked Atlas “
.My King has ordered me to get him these three golden apples,” said Hercules “
It is a long way from here to that place. Only I can go there. Hold this sky for me. I shall get them for “
.you,” said Atlas
Hercules agreed. He held the sky on his shoulders. Atlas walked away. He was back in a short time. He
put down the three golden apples at the foot of Hercules. Hercules thanked Atlas. He requested Atlas to
.take back the sky from him
Take back the sky!” said Atlas cunningly. “I have held it for a thousand years. I shall come back after “
”!another thousand years
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…………………….. :
Name
Ancient World/Modern World

Hercules was astonished at what Atlas told him. But he did not express his astonishment. He recovered his
senses and replied, “Oh! In that case, will you please hold the sky for a little while? I shall make a pad for
my shoulders to support the sky. Then I shall take back the sky from you.” Thus Hercules talked very
.quietly
Atlas agreed. Atlas took back the sky from Hercules. Hercules immediately collected the three golden
apples. He bid Atlas goodbye with a mischievous smile on his face. Then he walked away towards Greece
.leaving Atlas speechless and surprised
Hercules reached his homeland Greece after many days of travel. He gave the three golden apples to the
King. The King was surprised to have got the golden apples from Hercules. He was happy. But he
pretended not to have been satisfied. But he secretly, he was planning to send away Hercules away on
.another perilous adventure

.Answer the questions about the story
?Make a list of all the characters in the story .1
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
?Describe the physical aspects of two characters as described in the text
?Provide evidence
_________________________________________________________
.1
_______________________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________ .2
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
.Evaluate

the moral aspects of the two characters in the story? Individual work .3


___________________________________________________________ .1
_______________________________________________________________
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…………………….. :

Al Maahad Al Islami
Name

Abu Dhabi Education Council

Ancient World/Modern World

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.I. Read the following passage, then answer the questions below
Only a few Inuit ( Inowet ) people ( Eskimos ) live on the Canadian Tundra. They make round houses
from snow and ice called igloos and they catch seals, caribou, and fish for food. They have no vegetables
or fruit at all in the long winter, and few in summer. Traditionally, they lived in igloos and travelled on
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sleds
pulled
by

dogs,
but
now
they
live
in
permanent
wood
houses
and
travel
by snowmobiles.
They
wear
…………………….. :
Name
Ancient
World/Modern
World
.furs from the animals they catch. It is a very different kind of desert life
Some animals can survive the cold winters. They have heavy fur and plenty of blubber (or fat) and
the young grow quickly in the very short and cool summers. Some animals such as polar bears are the
same colour as the land or snow, so they are hard to see and hunt. There are polar bears, caribou,
.whales and fish in the ocean

:Questions
?Why do you think the Inuit people have plenty of vegetables in winter, but only few in summer

.1


_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
What type of houses did the Inuit people used to live? Why .2
_____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
? Why is it difficult to see or catch polar bears .3
_____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
? How are the animals in the Tundra different from others anywhere else .4
_____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

. B. Fill in the missing information in the following table
Means of Transport

Housing

_________________ .1

igloos .1

snowmobiles .2

Food
fish .1
_______________ .2

______________ .2

seals .3


Life expectancy is a statistical tool that governments and health specialists use to predict
how long people will live. People in developed countries generally live longer than people in poor
countries because they have better nutrition and health care. In the most developed countries, the
average person in good health will live to age 78. The UAE has the highest life expectancy in the
Arab world, to age 74 for women and 72 for men. By contrast, people in Djibouti and Somalia
.live to only about 45 years. In most countries, women typically live longer than men do
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Longevity is :the term for living for a longName
time. There are Ancient
many factors
that affectWorld
……………………..
World/Modern
longevity. First, of course, is your family history or heredity. If other people in your family have
lived to old age, you have a better chance of doing so too. The other main factors are lifestyle,
diet, smoking and attitude. If you look on the Internet, you'll find several surveys which predict
.how long you may live according to the choices you have made about a healthy lifestyle

Some of the things that can reduce your longevity by many years are being over-weight,
eating a bad diet, smoking or not getting any exercise. Lastly, practicing safety in everything you
.do can add years to your life. That includes driving carefully and wearing a seat belt
:Questions

.(
(
(
(
(
(

)
)
)
)
)

A. Mark the following sentences True (

) or False ( X

.Health specialists are interested in how long people will live
.The better nutrition people have, the lower life expectancy is
.Generally speaking, men have a shorter life span than women
.Unhealthy lifestyles positively affect longevity
.Careless driving can add years to your life

.1
.2

.3
.4
.5

.B. Fill in the missing information in the following table
Positive and negative things that affect longevity
Negative Things

Positive Things

Smoking .1
Being over-weight and eating bad diets .2

Good nutrition .1
_____________________ .2
_____________________ .3

_________________________________ .3

.C. Answer the following questions

? Why do people in poor countries live shorter than those in developed countries

.1

__________________________________________________________________________

? How can heredity affect longevity

.2


__________________________________________________________________________

Arab and Islamic tradition requires the bridegroom to pay a dowry ("mahr") to his future
wife and also to provide jewelry ("shabka") for her. In the past, young men easily made
such payments and gifts when they married. However, in recent years, some marriages
have cost a lot more money than the men can afford. The average wedding costs about
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400,000 dirhams and
many cost much more.Name
This has caused
a lot of
problems forWorld
UAE
……………………..
:
Ancient
World/Modern

society
As a result of high dowry prices and expensive weddings, men have chosen several
other options. Some men have waited a long time until they have enough money or stay
single.Other men have married women outside Emirati culture who don’t ask for large
amounts of money. Still other men borrow large amounts of money from banks. These
choices have led to more problems. Children of women from other countries don’t know
about the Emirati culture. Couples who had to borrow money have large debts to pay
.back to the bank
The Marriage Fund tries to prevent these problems by giving loans to young men
who marry national women. It also arranges group weddings to save money. For example
in March 2000, 376 couples got married in one big wedding. There are also large fines if
people spend too much money on dowries or weddings. The government is trying to make
.sure that the Emiratis have strong families
(
(
(
(
(

.A-Mark the following statements True (√) or False (x) and correct the false ones
)
.The bride is required to pay a dowry to the groom-1
)
.Nowadays dowries are as expensive as they were in the past-2
)
.The Marriage Fund offered loans to help the ypung get married-3
)
.Some young men borrowed large amounts to marry foreign women-4
) .Some of the young stayed single for too long due to expensive weddings -5
: B-Fill in the missing information in the following table


Results
.They have large debts to banks_____________________________-3
Some young men saved money by.taking part in group weddings

Expensive weddings and high dowries
Options
_______________________________-1
Some men married outside the Emirati.culture
_______________________________-2

:C-Answer the following questions
?Why has the UAE government encouraged group weddings-1
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
? How does the Marriage Fund solve the problem of expensive weddings-2
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

.Read the Act of the play, “Waiting on Trains,” and answer the questions that follow
.Write a short summary of the play by identifying the following
.Who were the main characters
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_________________________________________________________________
…………………….. :
Name
Ancient World/Modern World
_________________________________________________________________
?What was the theme of the play? What was the play about
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
.Name two things the author did to make the play easy to follow
_________________________________________________________________ .1
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________ .2
.Name one thing that the author could have done to make the play more easy to read
_________________________________________________________________ .1
_________________________________________________________________

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