How were the pyramids built?

Answer each question with 2–3 sentences.

1. Which ancient place would you most like to visit?
2. What had you heard about the pyramids before this lesson?
3. What was your favourite subject in history at school?
4. Why do you think people built such huge monuments?
5. Are you interested in archaeology?
6. How do we know about people who lived thousands of years ago?

Read each word and the example. Then say a sentence about the past.

Choose the word that fits.

1. The Great Pyramid was built as a for the pharaoh Khufu.
2. The stone was cut in a and then moved to the site.
3. Some people think workers used a to pull blocks upwards.
4. An studies the remains of ancient people.
5. People wrote on , a material made from a river plant.
6. The builders were paid , not slaves.
7. Boats were used to stone along the Nile.
8. The project needed a huge of thousands of people.

Choose the right answer, then press Check answers.

1. a pharaoh was a
   Greek godRoman soldierking of ancient Egypt
2. a tomb is a place where a dead person is
   bornburiedtaught
3. a quarry is where stone is
   paintedcut from the groundsold
4. ancient = from the
   near futuredistant pastlast week
5. a workforce is all the people who
   work on a projectlive in a townvisit a museum
6. to lift = to move something
   updownaway

Use these phrases to tell about the past.

• By the time... had...До того часу... вже...By the time it was finished, thousands of workers had spent years there.
• It had been built by...Це було збудовано...It had been built by paid workers.
• Before they started,... had...Перш ніж вони почали,...Before they started, they had cut the stone.
• It is thought that...Вважається, що...It is thought that ramps were used.
• According to the evidence,...За доказами,...According to the evidence, workers were well fed.
• Nobody had ever...Ніхто ніколи раніше не...Nobody had ever built anything so large.
• The pyramid was built in about...Піраміду збудували приблизно за...The pyramid was built in about twenty years.
• It remains a mystery.Це залишається загадкою.How exactly it was done remains a mystery.

Read the text. Hover over the dotted words for help.

1. The Great Pyramid was built as a tomb for Khufu.
   TrueFalse
2. Archaeologists found a workers' town near the pyramids.
   TrueFalse
3. The text says that all experts agree on how the blocks were lifted.
   TrueFalse
4. The papyrus documents show that boats were used to carry limestone.
   TrueFalse
5. The builders were certainly slaves.
   TrueFalse

1. Why did people believe for so long that slaves built the pyramids?
2. What would you like to ask an archaeologist?
3. How can new evidence change our idea of the past?
4. Is it right to climb or touch ancient monuments?

Common mistakes: had + past participle for the earlier action, and was / were + past participle. ✗ By the time we arrived, they already left → had already left. ✗ The blocks moved by boat → were moved.

1. By the time it was finished, thousands of workers
   spenthad spent
   years there.
2. Before they started, they
   cuthad cut
   the stone.
3. Nobody
   ever builthad ever built
   anything so large before.
4. The pyramid
   builtwas built
   about 4,500 years ago.
5. The blocks
   were movedmoved
   by boat.
6. It
   had been designedwas been designed
   by a skilled architect.
7. After the workers
   finishedhad finished
   the base, they started the next level.
8. When archaeologists arrived, the tomb
   had already been openedalready opened
   .

Each sentence has one mistake. Type the correct words.

1. By the time we arrived, they already left. →
2. The pyramid built about 4,500 years ago. →
3. They never saw a pyramid before they built one. →
4. The blocks moved by boat. →
5. Before they started, they cut the stone. →
6. The tomb had opened by thieves. →

Answer in detail. Use the Past Perfect and the past passive.

1. What would you like to ask an archaeologist?
2. What had you heard about the pyramids before this lesson?
3. Which ancient place would you like to visit?
4. By the time you were ten, what had you learned about history?
5. Why do you think people built such huge monuments?
6. How do we know about people who lived so long ago?

Three people talk about the pyramids. Compare what each had known before and what they think now. Whose view has changed the most? What would you like to find out?

Your teacher will time you.

1. Plan for one minute, then speak for one or two minutes.
2. Part 1: a place from the past that you know about.
3. Part 2: what had happened before a famous event (Past Perfect).
4. Part 3: how historians find out the truth.

1. Which historical place would you like to visit?
2. What was your favourite subject at school?
3. Have you ever visited a museum?
4. What had you learned about Egypt before this lesson?
5. What do you do when you see an old building?
6. Would you like to be an archaeologist?
7. How old is the oldest thing you own?
8. What had you done by the age of twenty?

1. Who in your family likes history?
2. Who had visited a famous monument before you?
3. Who told you stories about the past?
4. Who do you know that has been to Egypt?
5. Who would you take to a museum?
6. Who knows a lot about ancient history?

1. Should ancient monuments be open to tourists?
2. Is it right to take objects from other countries to museums?
3. Is history more or less important than science?
4. Will we ever know the full truth about the past?
5. Should schools change how they teach history when new evidence appears?