Exercise 2: Are the following statements true or false?
|The Middle East is a region which is located in
;veral continents.
^
6) Persians are an ethnic group that live in Iran.
7) English Is the main language in the Middle East.
2) The Middle East is also known as the Arabic
Peninsula.
(
3) The Middle East is a very prosperous and
peaceful region.
^
4) Turkey, Egypt and India are all located in the
Middle East.
(
5) Christianity and Islam originated in the Middle
East.
(
8) Most of the world's oil reserves are in the
Middle East.
9) Oman, Yemen and Turkey are all parts of the
Arabian Peninsula.
10) The Middle East is located on a very
important trading route between Europe and
Asia.
Exercise 3: Complete the crossword puzzle.
Across
3) The largest racial group of the Middle East.
6) Which language is widely spoken in the Middle East?
?) In which continent is most of the Middle East located?
) The Middle East used to be an important route f o r .
i) A small country that is located in the center of the
Middle East.
Down
1) An ethnic group that lives in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and
Iran.
2) An ancient empire from the Middle East.
4) A country in the Middle East that experiences violent
conflicts.
5) In which country did Islam begin?
8) A country in the Middle East that does not have a
majority of Muslimis.
10
isl
Exercise 6: Answer the questions about Islam.
6) How do Muslims pray?
1) In which country did Islam originate?
2) In which parts of the world do most Muslims live?
7) What is the name of the god for Muslims?
3) In which place do Muslims worship? How is it different
from a church?
8) Why do Muslims wash themselves before going Inside the
mosque?
9) What is Mecca and why is it special to Muslims?
4) How many Muslim countries do you know? Write them
down.
10) What are the 5 pillars of Islam? Write them down in your
own words.
5) Who is Muhammad?
Exercise 7: The table below contains words that have been chopped in
half. Find the pieces that fit together.
LAH
SHA
QUR
HADA
MUS
AN
LAM
AL
PRO
IS
MUE2
LIM
2IN
PHBT
RET
MOS
QUE
MINA
MEC
CA
1)
6)
21
7)
3)
8)
41
9)
5)
10)
Jxlecca
THE HOLIEST CITY
Exercise 8: Complete the text by filling up the gaps with the right words from the box.
1) built
designated
created
designed
5) Mosque
Church
Museum
Square
2) mosque
spirit
Qor'an
direction
6) Arab
religious
clean
Muslim
3) pray
travel
worship
read the Quran
7) mosque
country
Ka'aba
city
4) Books
Teachings
Pillars
Principles
8) inspections
laws
police
people
The holy city of Islam is Mecca. It is located in the west of Saudi Arabia. Prophet Muhammad lived and taught in the city more than
1,300 years ago. The prophet (1)
Muslims must (3)
Mecca as the holy city of Islam and the (2)
. According to one of the Five (4)
in which all
of Islam, every Muslim should make
a pilgrimage to the holy city (Hajj). Around 3 million Muslims from all over the world gather for the Pilgrimage during the Muslim month
of Dhu'l-Hijja every year.
Ka'aba is another reason why Muslims believe that Mecca is a holy place. It is a stone structure with one room and is the Islam's
holiest building. Muslims believe that this structure was built by Abraham. The Ka'aba is located inside the Masjid al Haram, which is
the Grand (5)
of Mecca.
People who are not (6)
are not allowed to enter or live in Mecca. There are special road signs and roadblocks
that separate Muslims from non-Muslims. Non-Muslims are directed to other roads that go around the (7)
locai authorities of Mecca have regular (8)
. The
„ to check that visitors are actually Muslim. Muslims inside Mecca
must follow special rules on how to behave Inside the holy city.
Exercise 9: Answer the questions about Mecca.
1) Why is Mecca the holy city of Islam?
2) Why do many Muslims make a pilgrimage to Mecca?
3) Why do you think that non-Muslims are not allowed to enter
Mecca?
A ClTy*FOR THE RICH
Exercise 15; Complete the text with the words below.
tourists
infrastructure
skyscrapers
trar\sforrvtecl
erviirates
attention
populous
discovered
economy
r
B u r j al Arab
city of the United Arabic Emirates. Around 20 years ago, it was just a desert with a small fishing
Dubai Is the most
into an Important global city and transportation hub. Dubai is one of the
town. Since then, the area has been
that make up the country of the United Arabic Emirates. An emirate is a state that is ruled by a king, or
/en
emir. Sheik Al Maktoum is the ruler of Dubai.
In 1966, oil was
in the United Arabic Emirates. This
led to an Inflow of oil companies and foreign workers. The oil revenues
helped the city to develop and grow. However, the government of Dubai
realized that it could not rely on its oil forever. Therefore, they decided
to invest money in healthcare, education and
They also diversified its
.
and developed booming
business, tourism and construction sectors. Dubai is tax free. This is the
and investors visit the city or buy property in Dubai. The oil production now only accounts for
reason why many
7% of the Emirate's revenues.
Dubai has attracted world
because of its innovative and over-the-top
^fcjects. Some of these projects include the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world, the
Emirates Towers, the Burj Al Arab, and the Palm Islands. The city is now known for its
, man-made islands, world class luxury hotels and massive shopping malls.
A
Exercise 20; Choose the best answers for the questions below.
1) What was the Arab Spring?
a. a time of cultural and economic development
b. a war between several countries of the Middle East
c. a wave of political protests
d. none of the above
2) For which country in the Middle East was the Arab Spring a
success?
a. Tunisia
b. Iraq
c. Yemen
d. all of the above
3) Why did the people protest against their rulers?
a. because they were fed up with the corruption
h. because they felt that they were treated unfair
c. because of the poor living conditions
d. ail of the above
5) Why was the Arab Spring not a success in many countries?
a. because the people had no idea on how to manage the
country after their ruler resigned
b. because different groups within the country started to fight
each other
c. all of the above
d. none of the above
6) In which of the following countries does a king have absolute
power?
a. Egypt
b. Saudi Arabia
c. Oman
d. Jordan
7) Who is Bashar al-Assad?
a. the president of Egypt
c. the dictator of Syria
4) In which of the following countries did the Arab Spring result
in a civil war?
a. Egypt
b. Lebanon
c. Syria
d. Libya
b. the king of Saudi Arabia
d. the prime minister of Tunisia
8) Where did the first protests of the Arab Spring start?
a. Egypt
b. Iraq
c. Syria
d. Tunisia
Exercise 21; Complete the sentences with the words below.
A r a b Sprir\
Jordarv
civil war
goverrxnneAt
dictators
elections
rebel groups
exile ,
Syria
1) The people in many countries of the Middle East wanted to have free
2) The protests in Syria led to a
3) Before the
, many Middle Eastern countries were ruled by
4) Several dictators of the Middle East were put in
5) The protests in
were relatively peaceful, but the demonstrations in
violent.
6) In some countries, different
are fighting each other and the
were very
Exercise 22: Are the following statements true or false?
^jl^lS wants to dominate the world.
2) Most Muslims all over the world support ISIS.
3) ISIS has control over areas in Syria and Iraq.
4) A caliphate is an Islamic state ruled by a religious
leader.
5) ISIS is tolerant towards people with different
religious ideas.
7) ISIS consists of Sunni and Shia Muslims.
(
)
8) The Syrian Civil war played an important role
in the expansion of ISIS' territory.
(
)
9) Some people from western countries go to
Iraq and Syria to join ISIS.
^
^
10) The United States considers IStS to be a
terrorist organization.
(
)
6) ISIS is a branch of A! Qaeda.
Exercise 23: The table below contains words that have been chopped in half. Find the pieces that fit together.
MIC
DADI
CALI
AL
MILI
HAD
QAEDA
TANT
ISLA
JI
PHATE
BAQH
1)
3)
5)
2)
4)
6)
Exercise 24; Unscramble the capital cities and locate the countries on the map below.
COUNTRy - CAPITAL CITT
(scrarv,bled)
COUNTRy - CAPITAL CITy
Turkey
( ) -
aaakrxr
Kuwait
( )
-
uikiwcatyt
Syria
( ) -
dcaasnnus
yerv»er\
( )
-
aaasr\
Lebanon
( ) -
tiberu
Israel
-
jsarvtrluee
Iraq
( ) -
qbadbda
( )
bhbuidaa
( ) -
rv»arv\r\
UAE ( )
-
Jordarv
( )-
orcia
Orvtar\
( )
-
tsucann
Irar\
( ) -
eantrh
Bahrain
( )
-
ar\arvirv^a
Saudi Arabia
( ) -
aydbir
Qatar
( )
-
odah
(scrambled)
Exercise 25; Are the following statements
true or false?
1) Which country does not border Iran?
a. Turkey
b. Saudi Arabia
c. Iraq
d. Kuwait
2) Which country is not located on the
Arabian Peninsula?
a. Egypt
b. Saudi Arabia
c. Oman
d. Qatar
3) Which is the southernmost country of the
Middle East?
a. Egypt
b. Yemen
c. Oman
d. Syria
4) Which of the following is a capital city in
the Middle East?
a. Dubai
b. Istanbul
c. Jerusalem
d. Islamabad