Unit Three No. 12. Exercise 3

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words seven musts for people to see. The list which we know today was 
compiled in the Middle Ages – by which time many of the 
sites were 
no longer in existence. Since the list came mostly from ancient Greek 
writings, only sites that have been known and visited by the ancient 
Greeks were included. Of these wonders, the only one that has survived 
to the present day is the Great Pyramid of Giza. The existence of the 
Hanging Gardens has not been definitely proved. Records show that 
the other five wonders were destroyed by natural disasters. The Temple 
of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were destroyed by fire, while the 
Lighthouse at Alexandria, the Colossus and the Mausoleum of Mausolus 
were destroyed by earthquakes. There are sculptures from the Mausoleum 
of Mausolus and the Temple of Artemis in the British Museum in London. 
The Mausoleum of Mausolus was the tomb of King Mausolus built 
at Halicarnassus by the king’s widow. From the king’s name, Mausolus, 
the term “maus 
oleum” has come to mean any large, highly ornamental 
tomb.
No. 13. Exercise 5. Listen to the text “Seven Wonders of the Middle 
Ages” and match the names of some of these wonders (1–4) with the 
statements about them (a–d).
Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages
Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages are lists of wonders which were 
created after the Middle Ages. Some items on these lists are not techni-
cally from the Middle Ages. Some representatives are:
First. Stonehenge
It is a huge prehistoric temple on Salisbury Plain in southern Eng-
land. The main part is a great circle of standing stones. Each is more 
than twice as tall as a man and weighs nearly 30 tons. Flat stones were 
laid across the tops of the standing stones to form a ring. Inside a ring 
stood smaller stones, and a great block that may have been an altar.
Second. The Colosseum [kɔlə′si:əm]
The Colosseum of Rome was a giant sports stadium built by the 
ancient Romans. It could hold more than 50,000 people and was the 
largest building of its kind in the Roman Empire. Although the Colos-
seum has suffered several earthquakes, much of it still stands. The floor, 
or arena, was used for gladiator combats, battles between men and ani-
mals or between different kinds of animals. It was also used for showing 
rare wild creatures. The floor could also be flooded so that sea battles 
could be fought on it.

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Third. The Great Wall of China
More than 2,000 years ago the first emperor of China built this wall 
to keep out China’s enemies from the north. The Great Wall is the lon-
gest wall in the world. It stretches for 2,400 kilometres from Western 
China to the Yellow Sea. The wall is made from earth and stone. Watch-
towers were built every 200 metres along it. Chinese sentries sent warn-
ing signals from the towers if anyone attacked the wall. The signal was 
smoke by day and a fire at night.
Fourth. The Leaning Tower of Piza
This is a round bell tower in the city of Piza in Italy, which leans 
to one side. The citizens of Piza like to believe that the architect of 
the Leaning Tower deliberately planned it that way because he was a 
hunchback. Actually the soft soil beneath the foundation gives way. This 
causes the unsafe angle. On its completion in 1372, the tower leaned 14 
feet off and it has been moving further ever since at the rate of a few 
inches a year. Nowadays the tower is in danger of falling down com-
pletely.

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