The third term English Examination (1st subject)
Part one: Reading
Read the text carefully and do the activities.
The most stable of the successor or dynasties founded in the ninth and tenth centuries was that of
the Fatimids. The Fatimids won their first success in North Africa, where they established a rival
caliphate at Raqqadah near Kairouan and, in 952, embarked on a period of expansion that within a
few years took them to Egypt.
For a time the Fatimids aspired to be rulers of the whole Islamic world, and their achievements
were impressive. At their peak they ruled North Africa, the Red Sea coast, Yemen, Palestine, and
parts of Syria.
The Fatimids built the Mosque of al- AZhar in Cairo- from which developed al- Azhar University,
now the oldest university in the world and perhaps the most influential Islamic school of higher
learning. Fatimids merchants traded with Afghanistan and China and tried to divert some of the
Baghdad’s Arabian Gulf shipping to the Red Sea.
But the Fatimids’ dreams of gaining control of the Islamic heartland came to nothing, partly
because many other independent states refused to support them and partly because they, like the
“Abbasides in Baghdad, lost effective control their own mercenaries. Such developments weakened
the Fatimids, but thanks to a family of viziers of Armenian origin they were able to endure until the
Ayyubid succession in the second half of the twelfth century-even in the face of the eleventh-century
invasion by the Seljuk Turks.
A- Comprehension/ interpretation:
1- The text discourse is:
a- Descriptive
b- Argumentative
c- Expository
2- Match main ideas with their corresponding paragraphs:
Main ideas Paragraphs
a- The different successes carried out by the Fatimids ………………………..
b- The failure of the Fatimids to expand their influence overthe Islamic world—————–
c- The emergence of the Fatimids ‘ dynasty …………………………….
3- Are these statements true (T) or false (F)?
– The Fatimids aimed at governing the whole Islamic world.
– Their achievements were not satisfactory enough.
– They traded only with Asian countries
– They were finally able to impose their sovereignty over the Islaimc world.
4- Fill in the table with information from the text:
The dynasty Place of establishment Period Achievements
5- Answer the following questions according to the text:
a- What was the Fatimids major objective?
b- Did they achieve their objective? Justify your answer.
c- What caused the weakening then the fall of the Fatimids?
6- Give a title to the text
B- Text exploration:
1- Find in the text words or phrases opposite in meaning to the following words:
a- Failure (§1) b- far (§1) c- bottom (§2) d- strengthened (§3)
2- Classify the following words in the table below:
– Founded – dynasties – independent
Prefix Root Suffix
3- Fill in the blanks with phrases/ modals expressing obligation, habit and ability:
a- The Fatimids ………spread their dynasty over a part of the Islamic world within a few
years.
b- The Fatimids ….ask for the Armenians’ support because they were in weak position.
c- Al Azhar …….be a mosque, but now it is a famous university.
4- Reorder the following words to get meaningful sentences:
More/the/ aspired/ Fatimmids/ to/ control/ gain.
Fatimids/ Syria/ were/ Palestine/ than/ the/ strong/ less/ and.
5- Classify the following words according to the pronunciation of the sound“ch”:
Merchants – archaeology – bachelor – monarchy
/t / /k/
6- Complete the following dialogue:
A: ……………………………………………………………………………………..
B: The Fatimids established a Caliphate near Kairaouan.
A:………………………………………………………………………………………
B: No, they didn’t. They aspired to be the ruler of all Islamic world.
A: ……………………………………………………………………………………..
B: Yes, of course their achievements were very important.
Part Two: Writing
Choose one of the following topics.
Topic one:
Using the guiding questions below, write an essay about the most important achievements of the
Islamic Civilization.
Where and when did the Islamic Civilization emerge?
Which great minds and scientists contributed to its flourishing?
What were the greatest achievements of this civilization?
Where did it expand and spread and how?
Topic Two:
Using the three phases below, write a summary of the reading passage.
The access to throne.
The flourishing.
The fall.
Good Luck
