Reading

Reading

The world's oldest university

I.                  Read the passage and do the task that follows

 The world's oldest university, Al-Azhar is in Cairo, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque in AD 972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque in "tutoring circles". They read and talked about the subject of law. Around 988, leaders in city of Cairo decided to create a school for higher learning and the University of Al-Azhar was founded.

At Al-Azhar, there were many univesity "firsts". Courses were created. The earliest ones taught were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teachers, but there were also free discussion. Often, students and teachers talked about a topic, and there was no "right" answer. Finally, scholars from around the world came to Al-Azhar to teach and do research. At the university, people studied the past, but also the place for sharing new ideas.

Over a thousand years later, Al-Azhar is still an important university in the world. Its library contains more than 250,000 of the world oldest and most valuable books. Today, many of the world's most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the tradition started at Al-Azhar.

II. Task: Choose the correct answers

1.     What happened in Cairo, Egypt in A.D 972?

A.   A university was founded

B.   A pyramid was discovered

C.   Learns and teachers struck

D.   A mosque was built

2.     Who founded the university of Al-Azhar?

A.   Leaders of Cairo

B.   Some teachers

C.   Tutoring circles

D.   Scholars around the world

3.     Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an activity of the University of Al-Azhar?

A.   Reading

B.   Sharing ideas

C.   Discussing

D.   Studying music

4.     In a discussion at Al-Azhar, answer are___________________

A.   unpredictable

B.   fixed

C.   flexible

D.   right

5.     The most suitable title of this passage is _________________

A.   The teaching and studying at Al- Azhar University

B.   Al-Azhar – the world oldest university

C.   The development of Al- Azhar university

D.   Following the traditions

Right answers: