You are going to watch a documentary. Before watching read the text and questions below.

 

In the early hours of July 19, 64 A.D., a fire struck Rome. Yet this was no ordinary fire. The flames raged for several days. When the smoke cleared, 10 of Rome's 14 districts were in ruin. Two thirds of Rome had been destroyed. The 800-year-old Temple of Jupiter Stator and the Atrium Vestae, the hearth of the Vestal Virgins, were gone. It is uncertain who or what actually caused the fire – whether accident or arson. What are you suppositions? Careful historical investigation and modern techniques in forensic analysis are used to examine the fire's origin, producing a new explanation for who or what was responsible.

 

1. By 64 AD the square of Rome was…

A) 5 sq m.

 

B) 5 sq km.

C) 15 sq km.

D) 1 sq m.

 

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2. The population of Rome in 64 A.D…

A) was very poor.

B) was very rich.

C) was nearly 1 ml of people.

D) consisted of the upper class and the poor.

 

3. The fire lasted…

A) a week.

B) six days.

C) nine days.

D) three days.

 

4. Tacitus believed that the fire….

A) was a tragic accidence.

B) was deliberately started by Nero.

C) was deliberately started by Christians.

D) was deliberately started; the arsonist is unknown.

 

5. According to the film Tacitus may have reasons for twisting the truth. So if his descriptions of the fire are accurate, his conclusions about the cause may need to be reexamined because…

A) Tacitus did not witness the fire.

 

B) Tacitus was a member of Roman elite that have struggled with emperors for political power for a hundred of years.

 

C) Tacitus hated Nero and wanted to prove that he was cruel.

 

D) Tacitus sympathized with Christians who were accused of setting a fire and prosecuted.

 

6. According to Tacitus, which of the following sentences is false?

A) The fire started at the Circus Maximum.

B) The Nero was in Rome when fire started.

 

C) The fire took an unnatural path.

D) The Nero was watching the fire and playing the fiddle.

 

7. According to archaeologist Andrea Carandini…

A) Nero started the fire because he wanted to build a series of palaces.

B) It was not allowed to expropriate houses of nobles by Roman laws.

 

C) Nero wanted to demolish aristocracy because he was afraid of being forced from power.

 

D) Nero started the fire because he wanted to make the streets straight.

 

 

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8. Art historian Eric Varner doubts that Nero burnt the city simply to rebuild it because…

 

A) Nero provided shelter and food for the homeless.

 

B) Nero immediately raced to the city and took personal control of fire brigades.

 

C) Rome was very elegant and beautiful city before the fire.

D) the fire destroyed Nero’s own palace, the Domus Transitoria.

 

9. Archaeologist Henry Hurst also proposes some ideas why Nero was not responsible for fire. Choose the one that was not supposed by Henry Hurst.

 

A) There is no information that Nero was the lover of architecture and arts.

 

B) Nero opened public buildings including his own gardens for refugees.

C) There were a lot of minor fires in Rome every day.

 

D) The fire killed many poor people who supported the emperor in his battle against the aristocracy.

 

10. According to modern science the fire spread through stone and marble buildings of rich Romans because…

 

A) stone and marble are highly combustible materials.

 

B) the items inside the building reached their spontaneous ignition temperature and ignited.

 

C) of the application of a naked flame.

D) the torches were thrown in the houses by men.

 

11. The fire reignited because…

A) fire brigades consisted of slaves who did not want to fight fire.

B) the fire was not extinguished only suppressed.

C) fire brigades were inexperienced and had no proper appliances.

D) there were more arsons.

 

12. Ancient historian Gerhard Baudy thinks that Christians could either started or helped the Great Fire of Rome because…

 

A) July 19 was a symbolic religious date for Christians.

B) Nero prosecuted Christians for arson.

C) Christians had strange religious practices.

 

D) Destruction of Rome by fire was described in early Christian literature.

 

 

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Watch a documentary “SECRETS OF THE DEAD: THE GREAT FIRE OF ROME” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VIgOHNEKw0 and choose the right answer for the questions.

 

 

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UNIT 4

 

EXTINGUISHING AGENTS

 

VOCABULARY