Рабочий лист "Ancient roads"

Roman roads

Without doubt, the champion road builders were ancient Romans, who, until modern times, built the world‟s straightest, best engineered, and most complex network of roads in the world. At their height, the Roman Empire maintained 53,000 miles of roads, which covered all of England to the north, most of Western Europe, radiated throughout the Iberian Peninsula, and encircled and crisscrossed the entire Mediterranean area.

Famous for their straightness, Roman roads were composed of a soil foundation topped by four courses: a bedding of sand or mortar; rows of large, flat stones; a thin layer of gravel mixed with lime; and a thin surface of flint-like lava. Typically they were 3 to 5 feet thick and varied in width from 8 to 35 feet, although the average width for the main roads was from 12 to 24 feet.

Their design remained the most sophisticated until the advent of modern roadbuilding technology in the very late 18th and 19th centuries. Many of their original roads are still in use today, although they have been resurfaced numerous times. Under Roman law, the public had the right to use the roads, but the district through which a road passed was responsible for the maintenance of the roadway. This system was effective so long as a strong central authority existed to enforce it. Unfortunately, as the Roman Empire declined so did their roads and their work fell into disrepair all across Europe and Great Britain.

South America

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, several centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Inca Empire began to rise in South America during a period that corresponded with the Middle Ages in Europe. Centred in what is now Peru, the Incas branched out into Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile, and, like the Romans, recognized the need for a system of roads that would enable them to extend their conquests and to govern their empire.

Interestingly enough, the Incas built their empire without inventing the wheel, without the use of draft animals, and without a written language. Because they had no wheeled vehicles to worry about, their roads could ascend steep inclines via terraces or steps. In one place a road going up a steep mountainside was built of 3,000 consecutive stone steps. They also built over swamps, and constructed a causeway 24 feet wide and 8 miles long, which had a paved surface and stone walls.

Unfortunately, their well-constructed system of roads assisted in their downfall as the invading Spaniards used the Incas‟ own roads to move Spanish armies, weapons, and supplies.

Задание 3. Ответьте на вопросы.

1. Why did the Romans decide to build roads?

2. What territory did Roman roads cover?

3. How long are they?

4. What was the design of these roads?

5. Are Roman roads used nowadays?

6. Who was responsible for the maintenance of the road?

7. What did the Incas recognize?

8. Why did Inca roads differ from Roman roads?

9. What territory did Inca roads cover?

10. What was the reason for road-building?

11. What was the difficulty in building Inca roads?

12. Why were the roads one of the components to lead to Inca civilization fell down?

Задание 4. Скажите, являются ли данные утверждения правдой (true) или неправдой (false) по отношению к тексту.

1. First road builders were the Babylonians.

2. The technology of Roman road building used to be advanced till X century.

3. For road-building Romans used sand, mortar, flat stones and flint-like lava.

4. According to Roman law rich and powerful Roman citizens were responsible for the maintenance of roads.

5. The system of road maintenance was effective.

6. The Inca civilization developed on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

7. The Incas decided to build roads to deliver letters from one town to another.

8. The Incas didn‟t have wheeled transport so they didn‟t need very wide roads.

9. The civilization lived in mountainous region that‟s why their roads had terraces and steps.

10. British invaders used Inca roads to conquer the Inca Empire.