History · Level 3 · 157 words

The Pyramids of Egypt

Original passage © Studio AM, written for Fluency.

Thousands of years ago, the rulers of ancient Egypt, called pharaohs, ordered giant stone tombs to be built for themselves. The most famous of these tombs are the pyramids, which still stand near the Nile River today.

Each great pyramid was made of millions of heavy stone blocks. Workers cut the blocks from quarries, moved them to the building site, and stacked them into a shape that narrowed toward the top. Historians still study exactly how such heavy stones were lifted so high without modern machines. Many believe ramps and large teams of skilled workers were used.

The Egyptians believed that a pharaoh would continue to live in some way after death. Because of this belief, they filled the tombs with treasures, food, and objects the ruler might need. They also worked hard to protect the tombs from robbers, sometimes hiding the entrance or building false passages, though many tombs were still broken into over the centuries.

Comprehension questions

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4 questions
1. Who ordered the pyramids to be built?

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B. The pharaohs of Egypt
The passage says the pharaohs ordered the giant stone tombs.

2. Why did the Egyptians fill the tombs with treasures and food?

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B. Because they believed the pharaoh would live on after death
The text says they believed the pharaoh would continue to live after death, so they provided needed objects.

3. What is the passage mainly explaining?

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B. Why and how the Egyptians built the pyramids as tombs
The passage focuses on the purpose and building of the pyramids as pharaohs' tombs.

4. In the passage, "quarries" are:

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A. places where stone is cut from the ground
Workers "cut the blocks from quarries" and then moved them to the building site; quarries are the places where stone is dug and cut out of the earth.

Source: Written for Fluency. Original passage © Studio AM, written for Fluency.