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Cambridge 17 Academic Reading Test Two Passage One
The Dead Sea Scroll
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Discovery
Qumran, 1946/7
1. heard a noise of breaking when one teenager threw a ……
The answer is ROCK.
In paragraph one, one of these young shepherds tossed a rock into an opening on the side of a cliff and was surprised to hear a shattering sound.
2:3. teenagers went into the …….. and found a number of containers made of …….
2. The answer is CAVE.
3. The answer is CLAY.
In paragraph one, he and his companions later entered the cave and stumbled across a collection of large clay jars.
The Scrolls
4. thought to have been written by group of people known as the …..
The answer is ESSENES.
In paragraph two, the area was known as Judea at that time, and the people are thought to have belonged to a group called the Essenes, a devout Jewish sect.
5. written mainly in the …….. language
The answer is HEBREW.
In paragraph three, the majority of the texts on the Dead Sea Scrolls are in Hebrew.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
Write True, False, or Not Given.
6. The Bedouin teenagers who found the scrolls were disappointed by how little money they received for them.
The answer is NOT GIVEN.
In paragraph one, the teenagers took the seven scrolls to a nearby town where they were sold for a small sum to a local antiquities dealer.
7. There is agreement among academics about the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The answer is FALSE.
In paragraph two, the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were written 2000 years ago between 150 BCE and 70 CE, is still the subject of scholarly debate even today.
8. Most of the books of the Bible written on the scrolls are incomplete.
The answer is TRUE.
In paragraph four, the Dead Sea Scrolls include fragments from every book of the Old Testament of the Bible except for the Book of Esther.
9. The information on the Copper Scroll is written in an unusual way.
The answer is TRUE.
In paragraph five, the exception is the scroll numbered 3Q15, which was created out of a combination of copper and tin. Known as the Copper Scroll, this curious document features letters chiseled onto metal – perhaps, as some have theorized, to better withstand the passage of time.
10. Mar Samuel was given some of the scrolls as a gift.
The answer is FALSE.
In paragraph six, some of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been on interesting journeys. In 1948, a Syrian Orthodox archbishop known as Mar Samuel acquired four of the original seven scrolls from a Jerusalem shoemaker and part-time antiquity dealer, paying less than $100 for them.
11. In the early 1950s, a number of educational establishments in the US were keen to buy scrolls from Mar Samuel.
The answer is FALSE.
In paragraph six, fortunately, Israeli archeologist and statesman Yigael Ladin negotiated their purchase and brought the scrolls back to Jerusalem, where they remain to this day.
12. The scroll that was pieced together in 2017 contains information about annual occasions in the Qumran area 2000 years ago.
The answer is TRUE.
In paragraph seven, deciphered from a band of coded text on parchment, the find provides insight into the community of people who wrote it and the 364-day calendar they would have used.
13. Academics at the University of Haifa are currently researching how to decipher the final scroll.
The answer is NOT GIVEN.
In paragraph seven, only one more known scroll remains untranslated.