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Mesopotamia 101 By Vickie Chao

describe dated wedge-shaped thoughtslanguage result banking calculationfuture system fortune pushcartclues impossible modern

Directions: Fill in each blank with the word that best completes the reading comprehension.

Do you know where the world's oldest culture was? It was at a place called "the land between the rivers." Thousands of years ago, people came across an open field inSouthwest Asia. They liked the area a lot. One reason wasbecause its soil was very rich. It was great for farming. Anotherreason was because it had two large rivers nearby. At first, their settlements were small villages. But over time, they grew larger. Finally,they built the world's first cities. And they developed the world's first culture. People in "the land between the rivers" were very smart. They invented and discoveredmany things. Here are three good examples. One, they knew that it would be easier to move a heavy object if they placed it over a logroller. As time went by, they made three big changes to the design. First, they put a sledgeatop the log roller to help them drag the object. Second, they cut deep grooves into the logroller to help them carry the object farther. Third, they used wooden pegs to fix the sledge tothe log roller. The final (1) _______________________ was the world's first set of wheelsand (2) _______________________ . The earliest of its kind(3) _______________________ back about 5,500 years. Two, they laid down the ground rules for marking time. Their methods are why there are24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour, and 60 seconds a minute. Third, they created a set of (4) _______________________ symbols called thecuneiform. It was the oldest written (5) _______________________ on Earth. With it,people in "the land between the rivers" jotted down their (6) _______________________ .They looked at the sky and carefully recorded what they saw. Through their writing, we

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know that they divided the sky into twelve parts. They gave a name to each of the twelveparts. Later on, those names were translated into Greek and Latin. They became the zodiacwe know today. Watching the sky was a very important task for people in "the land betweenthe rivers." That was because they believed that the gods lived in the heavens. By gazing atthe stars, they searched for (7) _______________________ that might tell them the gods'will. They would use the zodiac to predict a baby's (8) _______________________ . Andsince they were very good at (9) _______________________ , they could even plot out the(10) _______________________ movement of the sun, moon, and stars for long periods.The only thing they got wrong at the time was the shape of the Earth. They thought it was aflat disk. To sum up, the culture created by people in "the land between the rivers" had a greatimpact on our (11) _______________________ cultures. They set up the world's first(12) _______________________ (13) _______________________ . They performed theworld's first brain surgery. They created the world's first symbol for zero. They publishedthe world's first laws. The list for their achievements is endless. It is simply(14) _______________________ to (15) _______________________ them all! So now that we know what a major role "the land between the rivers" played in history,we must ask -- where exactly is "the land between the rivers"? Amazingly, most of it is at aplace that we often hear on the news. It is Iraq!

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10/23/11 8:01 PM


Name _____________________________ Date ___________________

1. Which of the following about "the landbetween the rivers" is correct?

People in "the land between therivers" believed that the Earth lookedlike a ball.

People in "the land between therivers" set up the world's first bankingsystem.

The bulk of it is in Iran. It was in Southeast Asia.

2. Which of the following was not firstcreated by people in "the landbetween the rivers"?

Wheel Law Pushcart Paper

3. Where is "the land between therivers"?

Rome Iran Iraq Greece

4. How many minutes an hour didpeople in "the land between therivers" say it had?

120 60 150 90

5. Into how many parts did people in"the land between the rivers" dividethe sky?

3 12 9 15

6. The cuneiform was a system ofwedge-shaped symbols used bypeople in "the land between therivers" for writing.

False True

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Name _____________________________ Date ___________________

7. How did people in "the land betweenthe rivers" describe the shape of theEarth?

They thought it was like a ball. They thought it was a giant tube. They thought it was a big

square. They thought it was a flat disk.

8. How did people in "the land betweenthe rivers" move a heavy object?

They put it on a truck. They put it on a flying carpet. They put it on an airplane. They put it on a log roller.

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Name _____________________________ Date ___________________ (Key 1 - Answer ID # 0176816)

Make words by connecting the syllables.

im ture

de sult

sys ern

of tune

cul scribe

re nal

lan pact

rea ten

for ment

fi di ac

mod tem

de guage

move dict

zo sign

pre son

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Mesopotamia 101By Vickie Chao

Answer Key

Do you know where the world's oldest culture was? It was at a place called "the land between the rivers." Thousands of years ago, people came across an open field in Southwest Asia. They liked the area a lot.One reason was because its soil was very rich. It was great for farming. Another reason was because it hadtwo large rivers nearby. At first, their settlements were small villages. But over time, they grew larger. Finally, they built theworld's first cities. And they developed the world's first culture. People in "the land between the rivers" were very smart. They invented and discovered many things. Hereare three good examples. One, they knew that it would be easier to move a heavy object if they placed it over a log roller. As timewent by, they made three big changes to the design. First, they put a sledge atop the log roller to help themdrag the object. Second, they cut deep grooves into the log roller to help them carry the object farther. Third,they used wooden pegs to fix the sledge to the log roller. The final (1) result was the world's first set ofwheels and (2) pushcart . The earliest of its kind (3) dated back about 5,500 years. Two, they laid down the ground rules for marking time. Their methods are why there are 24 hours a day,60 minutes an hour, and 60 seconds a minute. Third, they created a set of (4) wedge-shaped symbols called the cuneiform. It was the oldest written(5) language on Earth. With it, people in "the land between the rivers" jotted down their (6) thoughts .They looked at the sky and carefully recorded what they saw. Through their writing, we know that theydivided the sky into twelve parts. They gave a name to each of the twelve parts. Later on, those names weretranslated into Greek and Latin. They became the zodiac we know today. Watching the sky was a veryimportant task for people in "the land between the rivers." That was because they believed that the gods livedin the heavens. By gazing at the stars, they searched for (7) clues that might tell them the gods' will. Theywould use the zodiac to predict a baby's (8) fortune . And since they were very good at (9) calculation ,they could even plot out the (10) future movement of the sun, moon, and stars for long periods. The onlything they got wrong at the time was the shape of the Earth. They thought it was a flat disk. To sum up, the culture created by people in "the land between the rivers" had a great impact on our(11) modern cultures. They set up the world's first (12) banking (13) system . They performed theworld's first brain surgery. They created the world's first symbol for zero. They published the world's firstlaws. The list for their achievements is endless. It is simply (14) impossible to (15) describe them all! So now that we know what a major role "the land between the rivers" played in history, we must ask --where exactly is "the land between the rivers"? Amazingly, most of it is at a place that we often hear on thenews. It is Iraq!

Answers to Reading Comprehension Questions

1 People in "the land between the rivers" set up the world's first banking system.2 Paper3 Iraq

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4 605 126 True7 They thought it was a flat disk.8 They put it on a log roller.

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Answer Key

im ture cul-ture

de sult re-sult

sys ern mod-ern

of tune for-tune

cul scribe de-scribe

re nal fi-nal

lan pact im-pact

rea ten of-ten

for ment move-ment

fi di ac zo-di-ac

mod tem sys-tem

de guage lan-guage

move dict pre-dict

zo sign de-sign

pre son rea-son

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