Egypt's Pyramid Sculptures: Đề thi thật IELTS READING (IELTS Reading Recent Actual Test)

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

Egypt's Pyramid Sculptures

The people of ancient Egypt emerged as one of the first Western civilisations. Sustained by the River Nile and protected by vast deserts, the Egyptians lived in comparative security, prosperity and peace for thousands of years. When such conditions exist, the civilisation and its arts usually flourish. To this day, many of the Egyptian artistic creations display the wealth, splendour and talent of this great civilisation.

Ancient Egypt has been called a land of temples and tombs, and for centuries people have been filled with wonder at the ingenuity of the Egyptians, whose impressive works have withstood the ravages of time so well. Had it not been for the long-lasting nature of their monuments and carved inscriptions in the form of hieroglyphics, many historical facts and activities would have vanished from all historical records. In about 3000 BC, Upper and Lower Egypt were united under the first pharaoh, and generally, it was unified until the invasion by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Egypt prospered as a nation of skilful craftsmen and artists.

The Egyptians were industrious, highly civilised and deeply religious people, who obediently accepted the supreme authority of their pharaohs. The people were content to be well looked after by the state in return for a secure livelihood. They considered this earthly life to be a segment in a greater scheme of life of which everything would be repeated in the afterlife in a mirror image of the earthly existence of the person, the more careful and exacting he was in his or her burial, and the more effort and spare the tomb into which they would be buried.

The burial of the dead in the ground was not considered sufficiently safe for kings, queens and court officials, so sunken, sealed tombs were ingeniously constructed to protect their treasures. Statues were used as replacements for the absent soul of the late departed. Ancient Egyptian art can also be seen in the stepped pyramids and upright stone pillars.

One of the most well-known pyramids in Egypt. The Great Pyramid at Gizeh, which King Cheops built as his tomb 5000 years ago, holds the most interest. It stands with two other large pyramids on a slight rise overlooking the River Nile. At the end of the pyramids is the King's Chamber and leading down from there is a long narrow area known as the Grand Gallery. The pyramid covers 13 acres and contains 2,300,000 blocks of limestone, each weighing an average of 2.5 tons. Its pyramid form has a perfectly square base with a side of 756 feet and a height of 481 feet. Situated directly below the King’s Chamber is the Queen's Chamber and there are two air channels facing upwards from the centre of the pyramid to the outside.

Originally the exterior was covered in highly polished limestone slabs, all of which have been stolen over the years. It is estimated that a total of 100,000 men laboured for 20 years to build this gigantic structure, and although architecturally unimportant design, it has aroused the curiosity of millions of people because of the uncanny accuracy of its measurements and proportions. It reveals the remarkable ingenuity and the great organising ability of the ancient Egyptians.

Near these pyramids stands the Great Sphinx, the origin and purpose of which constitute one of the world's most famous puzzles. Shaped from an outcrop of stone in the form of a human-headed lion, the face is possibly a portrait of King Khafre, the son of Cheops, who was buried in the second largest pyramid. The Sphinx is one of the biggest statues ever made.>> Form đăng kí giải đề thi thật IELTS 4 kĩ năng kèm bài giải bộ đề 100 đề PART 2 IELTS SPEAKING quý đang thi (update hàng tuần) từ IELTS TUTOR

The Egyptian people showed reverence towards natural objects such as the lotus flower, the scarab beetle, the falcon, the lion, the sun and the River Nile. All these subjects and many more were used symbolically and ornamentally in most laws of relief carving and painting. It was the custom of the Egyptians to depict the various parts in profile except for the eye, which was represented from the front; the head was shown in profile except for the eye, which was represented from the front; the shoulders and the torso were shown from the front; the hips and legs were side view. Wall decorations showed little or no attempt to indicate depth or perspective, except by placing distant objects above near things. It was essentially two-dimensional, and relative size indicated the status of the person, as the pharaoh was by largest figure in the composition.

Egyptian art is characterised by a passion for permanence, a desire to impress by size, and a determination to make each heavy set its function without regard for the whole. It is obvious that art among these people reached a very high level and the strong influence of Egyptian art can be seen in the work of nearby civilisations.

The fortunate discovery and subsequent deciphering in 1822 of the Rosetta Stone, which showed the same laws inscribed both in Egyptian hieroglyphics and the Egyptian demotic, or popular version of their language, as well as the Greek language, eventually gave the key to the meaning of Egyptian inscriptions, and therefore the significance of ancient Egyptian art.

Questions 14-16

Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 14-16 on your answer sheet.

1. Security and peace are two ________ that are necessary for a civilisation to be successful.

2. Ancient Egyptians worked as both ________.

3. Ordinary Egyptians expected to receive ________ for their hard work.

Questions 17-20

Label the diagram below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR NUMBERS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 17-20 on your answer sheet.