E6B Review Quiz 1 Part C 10Q Reading Comprehension

Passage Question 1

A. The Great Mosque of Djenne is the largest mud-brick building in the world. It is located in the city of Djenne, in Mali, in West Africa. It is one of the most famous landmarks and tourist attractions in Africa.

B. The site has been the location of a mosque since the year 1240. The original building was commissioned by Koy Konboro, the first Islamic ruler in the region. For six hundred years the massive mosque dominated the centre of town. It became an important centre for Islamic learning in Africa during the Middle Ages. Many thousands of students came to study the Qur’an in Djenne’s religious schools, called madrassas.

C. In 1834, the original mosque was partly demolished on the orders of the ruler, Seku Amadu. He thought the original structure, which had been modified from a palace, to be too lavish. He constructed a simpler, more traditional mosque on the site of the old palace, which he had destroyed. The remaining part of the older mosque fell into ruin with many sections of the unrepaired structure falling down. Construction of the current Great Mosque began in 1906 and was completed in 1907.

D. The walls of the present day mosque are made of sun-baked mud bricks. The mud comes from the nearby Bani River. The mud brick structure is covered in plaster, the material for which also comes from the Bani River. It gives the building its smooth, sculpted look. The walls are between 41cm and 61cm thick. The thickness varies depending on the wall's height: taller sections were built thicker because the base has to be wide enough to support the weight. Bundles of palm branches were included in the building to reduce cracking caused by frequent drastic changes in humidity and temperature, and to serve as readymade scaffolding for annual repairs. The walls insulate the building from heat during the day and by nightfall have absorbed enough heat to keep the mosque warm through the night. Gutters, made of ceramic pipes, extend from the roofline and direct water drainage.

E. Water damage, in particular flooding, was a major concern of the builders when they planned the construction. The annual flooding of the Bani River causes Djenné to become an island, and unusually high floods can inundate parts of the city. The Great Mosque was constructed on a raised platform with a surface area of 5625 m² (62,500 ft²), which has so far protected the mosque from even the most severe floods.

F. Many sections of the community in Djenné take an active role in the mosque's maintenance during a unique annual festival. This includes music and food, but has the primary objective of repairing the damage inflicted on the mosque in the past year (mostly erosion caused by the annual rains and cracks caused by changes in temperature and humidity). In the days leading up to the festival, the plaster is prepared in pits. It requires several days to prepare but needs to be periodically stirred, a task usually falling to young boys who play in the mixture, thus stirring up the contents. Men climb onto the mosque's built-in scaffolding and ladders made of palm wood and smear the plaster over the face of the mosque with their hands.

G. Another group of men carries the plaster from the pits to the workmen on the mosque. A race is held at the beginning of the festival to see who will be the first to deliver the plaster to the mosque. Women and girls carry water to the pits before the festival and to the workmen on the mosque during it. Members of Djenné's masons’ guild direct the work, while elderly members of the community, who have already participated in the festival many times, sit in a place of honor in the market square watching the proceedings.

H. The historic areas of Djenné, including the Great Mosque, were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. While there are many mosques which are older than the present one, the Great Mosque remains the most prominent symbol of both the city of Djenné and the nation of Mali.

The underlined word It in Paragraph A refers to _______.

• Djenne

• The Great Mosque

• Mali

• a mud brick

Passage Question 2

B. The site has been the location of a mosque since the year 1240. The original building was commissioned by Koy Konboro, the first Islamic ruler in the region. For six hundred years the massive mosque dominated the centre of town. It became an important centre for Islamic learning in Africa during the Middle Ages. Many thousands of students came to study the Qur’an in Djenne’s religious schools, called madrassas.

In the year 1240, _______.

• the mosque was demolished

• the present day mosque was built

• the original mosque was built

• a palace was built

Passage Question 3

C. In 1834, the original mosque was partly demolished on the orders of the ruler, Seku Amadu. He thought the original structure, which had been modified from a palace, to be too lavish. He constructed a simpler, more traditional mosque on the site of the old palace, which he had destroyed. The remaining part of the older mosque fell into ruin with many sections of the unrepaired structure falling down. Construction of the current Great Mosque began in 1906 and was completed in 1907.

The underlined word ruin in Paragraph C means _______.

• disappointment

• disappeared

• disrepair

• disastrous

Passage Question 4

C. In 1834, the original mosque was partly demolished on the orders of the ruler, Seku Amadu. He thought the original structure, which had been modified from a palace, to be too lavish. He constructed a simpler, more traditional mosque on the site of the old palace, which he had destroyed. The remaining part of the older mosque fell into ruin with many sections of the unrepaired structure falling down. Construction of the current Great Mosque began in 1906 and was completed in 1907.

Construction of the present-day mosque ended in _______.

• 1906

• 1240

• 1907

• 1988

Passage Question 5

D. The walls of the present day mosque are made of sun-baked mud bricks. The mud comes from the nearby Bani River. The mud brick structure is covered in plaster, the material for which also comes from the Bani River. It gives the building its smooth, sculpted look. The walls are between 41cm and 61cm thick. The thickness varies depending on the wall's height: taller sections were built thicker because the base has to be wide enough to support the weight. Bundles of palm branches were included in the building to reduce cracking caused by frequent drastic changes in humidity and temperature, and to serve as readymade scaffolding for annual repairs. The walls insulate the building from heat during the day and by nightfall have absorbed enough heat to keep the mosque warm through the night. Gutters, made of ceramic pipes, extend from the roofline and direct water drainage.

The main idea of Paragraph D is _______.

• the building’s construction

• the weather in Mali

• the danger of flooding

• the shape of the building

Passage Question 6

D. The walls of the present day mosque are made of sun-baked mud bricks. The mud comes from the nearby Bani River. The mud brick structure is covered in plaster, the material for which also comes from the Bani River. It gives the building its smooth, sculpted look. The walls are between 41cm and 61cm thick. The thickness varies depending on the wall's height: taller sections were built thicker because the base has to be wide enough to support the weight. Bundles of palm branches were included in the building to reduce cracking caused by frequent drastic changes in humidity and temperature, and to serve as readymade scaffolding for annual repairs. The walls insulate the building from heat during the day and by nightfall have absorbed enough heat to keep the mosque warm through the night. Gutters, made of ceramic pipes, extend from the roofline and direct water drainage.

The underlined word It in Paragraph D refers to _______.

• the plaster

• the mud

• the material

• the Bani River

Passage Question 7

D. The walls of the present day mosque are made of sun-baked mud bricks. The mud comes from the nearby Bani River. The mud brick structure is covered in plaster, the material for which also comes from the Bani River. It gives the building its smooth, sculpted look. The walls are between 41cm and 61cm thick. The thickness varies depending on the wall's height: taller sections were built thicker because the base has to be wide enough to support the weight. Bundles of palm branches were included in the building to reduce cracking caused by frequent drastic changes in humidity and temperature, and to serve as readymade scaffolding for annual repairs. The walls insulate the building from heat during the day and by nightfall have absorbed enough heat to keep the mosque warm through the night. Gutters, made of ceramic pipes, extend from the roofline and direct water drainage.

The walls of the mosque are different thicknesses to _______.

• make it attractive

• provide strength

• provide scaffolding

• insulate the building

Passage Question 8

F. Many sections of the community in Djenné take an active role in the mosque's maintenance during a unique annual festival. This includes music and food, but has the primary objective of repairing the damage inflicted on the mosque in the past year (mostly erosion caused by the annual rains and cracks caused by changes in temperature and humidity). In the days leading up to the festival, the plaster is prepared in pits. It requires several days to prepare but needs to be periodically stirred, a task usually falling to young boys who play in the mixture, thus stirring up the contents. Men climb onto the mosque's built-in scaffolding and ladders made of palm wood and smear the plaster over the face of the mosque with their hands.

The main idea of Paragraph F is _______.

• the role of women

• supervising the maintenance

• making plaster

• maintenance of the building

Passage Question 9

F. Many sections of the community in Djenné take an active role in the mosque's maintenance during a unique annual festival. This includes music and food, but has the primary objective of repairing the damage inflicted on the mosque in the past year (mostly erosion caused by the annual rains and cracks caused by changes in temperature and humidity). In the days leading up to the festival, the plaster is prepared in pits. It requires several days to prepare but needs to be periodically stirred, a task usually falling to young boys who play in the mixture, thus stirring up the contents. Men climb onto the mosque's built-in scaffolding and ladders made of palm wood and smear the plaster over the face of the mosque with their hands.

The underlined word smear in Paragraph F means _______.

• paint

• stir

• collect

• spread

Passage Question 10

G. Another group of men carries the plaster from the pits to the workmen on the mosque. A race is held at the beginning of the festival to see who will be the first to deliver the plaster to the mosque. Women and girls carry water to the pits before the festival and to the workmen on the mosque during it. Members of Djenné's masons’ guild direct the work, while elderly members of the community, who have already participated in the festival many times, sit in a place of honor in the market square watching the proceedings.

_______ are not physically involved in the annual repairs to the mosque.

• The elderly members of the community

• Workmen

• Young boys

• Women and girls