فرض خاص بشعبة اللغات الأجنبية

The most stable of the successor or dynasties founded in the ninth and tenth centuries was that of

the Fatimids. The Fatimids won their first success in North Africa, where they established a rival

caliphate at Reqqadah near Kairaouan and in 952, embaraked on a period of expansion that within a few

years took them to Egypt .

For a time the Fatimids aspired to be rulers of the whole Islamic world and their achievements

were impressive. At their peak they ruled North Africa, the Red Sea Coast, Yemen, Palestine and parts

of Syria. The Fatimids built the Mosque of Al-Azhar In Cairo- from which developed Al-Azhar

University, now the oldest university in the world and perhaps the most influential Islamic school of

higher learning. Fatimids merchants traded with Afghanistan and China and tried to divert some of

Baghdad’s Arabian Gulf shipping to the Red Sea.

But the Fatimids’ dreams of gaining control of the Islamic heartland came to nothing, partly

because many other independent states refused to support them and partly because they were like the

Abbasids in Baghdad, lost effective control of their own mercenaries. Such developments weakened the

Fatimids, but thanks to a family of viziers of Armenian origin they were able to endure until the

Ayyubid succession in the second half of the twelfth century- even in the face of eleventh-century

invasion by the Seljuk Turks.

Part One: A/- Reading Interpretation (7pts)

1)- The text discourse is:

a)- descptive b)- expository c)- narrative

2)- Are the following statements true or false according to the text:

a- The Fatimids aimed at governing the whole Islamic world.

b- Their achievements were not satisfactory enough.

c- They traded only with Asian countries.

d- They were finally able to impose their sovereignty over the Islamic world.

3) - Fill in the table with information from the text:

The dynasty Place of

establishment

period achievements

4) - Answer the following questions according to the text:

a)- What was the Fatimids major objective?

b) - Did they achieve their objective? Justify your answer.

5) - Choose the most suitable title to the text:

a- The Islamic Period in North Africa.

b- T he achievements of the Fatimids.

c- The Rise and Fall of the Fatimids.

B/- Text Exploration:

1)- Find in the text words which are opposite in meaning to the following:

a- failure (§1)≠.............. Strengthened (§3) ≠...............

2)- Classify the following words in the table below:

unsuccessful dynasties independent

Prefix Root Suffix

3) - Fill in the blanks with: was/ were able to- had to and used to:

a- The Fatimids........spread their dynasty over a part of the Islamic world within a few years.

b- The Fatimids.............ask Armenians’ support because they were in a weak position.

c- Al- Azhar ..............be a mosque, but now it is a famous university.

4) - Classify the following according to the pronunciation of the sound “ch”

merchants- archaeology- achievements- monarchy.

/t / /k/

5) - Complete the following dialogue:

A:............................................................................................

B: The Fatimids established a Caliphate near Kairaouan.

A:.............................................................................................

B: No, they didn’t. They aspired to be the ruler of all Islamic world

A:..............................................................................................

B: Yes, of course their achievements were very important.

Part Two: Written Expression

Choose one of the following topics:

Topic One: Use the following ideas to write an article about Timgad for your school magazine.

-Anciently called Thamughadi.

- Founded by the Roman emperor Trajan 100 AD.

- Ruins include the remains of the arch of Trajan, a library and a theatre having a seating capacity

of nearly 4000.

- Several churches indicate that the city was a centre of Christianity in the 3rd century.

- Suffered from the invasions of the Vandals and the Byzantines.

- Designed UNESCO World Heritage in 1982.

Topic Two: In more than 80 words write a paragraph about the Sumerian civilization.