Word check

Ex. 1.Find words and expressions in the text which mean the following:

1. a group of tries, small wood;

2. an area of land planted with grape;

3. extra;

4. request for, desire by people ready to buy (goods);

5. to make, produce (goods);

6. a single article or unit;

7. (can, could, be able to) spare or fend enough time or money for;

8. a citizen;

9. a central point of activity or importance;

10. to transport;

11. roughly prepared wood; wood that has been sawn into planks, boards;

12. threat;

13. charity, kindness in giving help to the poor (money);

14. the process of getting minerals from mines.

Key: mining, challenge, handouts, groves, vineyards, surplus, to haul, lumber, demand for, hub, a dweller, to afford, to manufacture, an item.

Comprehension

Ex. 1.Answer the following questions.

1. What were some important products of the Roman economy?

2. Why were they important?

3. Why was Roman farming so poor?

4. Why did the Romans need to import grain?

Ex. 2.Discussion

People are productive when they expect to be rewarded for efforts. Relate this idea to the poor productivity of Roman farmers.

Translation

Ex. 1. Translate this text into Russian.

Rich and Poor

A rich family might own 500 slaves. Some very wealthy Roman families might own 4,000 slaves. An emperor might command a personal slave population of 20,000. Household slaves did just about every job imaginable. They cooked, served meals, cleaned, and took care of the children. Each slave might have only one job – folding the master’s clothes or fixing the mistress’s hair, for example.

In contrast, the vast majority of those who lived in the city had tiny apartments in five-story apartment buildings called insulae. In some cases, an entire family would crowd into a single room.

For every wealthy home in Rome, there were 26 blocks of insulae. Most insulaewere dark and had no heat or running water. The poor got water from public fountains outside.

The Roman writer Juvenal described the poorer neighborhoods of Rome in the A.D. 100s:

Most of the city [is] propped up with planks to stop it collapsing. Your landlord that have been there for years and says, “Sleep well!” although he knows that the house itself may not last the night. I wish I lived where there were no fires, no midnight panics.

In these crowded conditions, fires and crime were serious problems. Lack of sanitation also contributed to the spread of disease. The problem was so severe that about onefourth of the babies born in Rome did not live through their fist year. Half of all Roman children did not live to be 10 years old.

Ex. 2. Translate this text into English.