62. 63. 64. 65.X. READ THE FOLLOWING TEXT AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS...
61. 62. 63. 64. 65.X. Read the following text and answer the questions about it: Pyramids of GizaThe three great pyramids of Giza stand on a rocky plateau of the desert a few miles southwest1of Cairo. They were built by the 4
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-dynasty pharaohs Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Khefren ofChefren) and Menkure (Mycerinus), and came to be numbered among the Seven Wonders of5the Ancient World. Khufu – The largest and oldest of them is that of Khufu, now known as the Great Pyramid andcalled “Horizon of Khufu” by the ancient Egyptians. Perhaps the greatest single building evererected by man, the great Pyramid’s almost perfectly squarely base was, when intact, 230 m.long, thus covering an area of slightly over 13 ac.; ... The original height was 146.59 m.,10reduced now to 137m. ... The core is made of yellowish limestone blocks from the nearby Jabalal Moquattam; the outer casing (now mostly gone) and the inner passage are of finer limestonefrom Jabal Taura, while the burial chamber is built of huge blocks of granite from Aswan.Approximately 2,300,000 blocks of stone went into this stupendous structure, each weighing an15average of 2.5 tons. The monument is a masterpiece of technical skill and engineering ability. The geometricalprecision of its layout and the accuracy of the stonecutting are truly amazing, particularly whenone considers the colossal proportions of the whole and the size and weight of the blocksemployed in it. ... The question of how the pyramid was built has not received a wholly20satisfactory answer. The most probable answer is that the Egyptians, who lacked tackle andpulleys for lifting heavy weights, employed a sloping embankment of brick and earth, whichwas increased in height and length as the pyramid rose, and on which the stone blocks were25carried by means of sledges, rollers and levers. According to Herodotus the road for theconveyance of building material from the river to the plateau on which the pyramid stands took10 years to construct, while the pyramid itself took another 20 years and demanded the labor of