Unit 3: Cause and Effect in "Riddle of the Rosetta Ston"e

Based on details in The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, Napoleon’s scholars and scientists receive the nickname "the donkeys" because they

• capture the city of Alexandria and overrun the Nile Delta while riding on donkeys.

• use donkeys as their transportation while making expeditions into the countryside.

• collect a variety of plants and animals to study—and their favorite is donkeys.

• keep donkeys as pets in the elegant palace that serves as their headquarters.

According to The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, what happens as a result of the British destroying the French fleet anchored near Alexandria?

• Napoleon, his army, and the scholars become trapped in the land they have just conquered.

• Napoleon, his army, and the scholars are frightened and spend a lot of time devising a plan to escape.

• Napoleon escapes the British naval blockade and returns to France where it is safer.

• Napoleon and his men take over a palace to serve as the headquarters for the scientists and scholars.

Based on the facts presented in The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, the rock slab is called the "Rosetta Stone” because it is named

• in honor of a famous Egyptian pharaoh.

• in honor of the mother of Napoleon.

• after the French army officer who uncovered it.

• after the town near where it was discovered.

Based on details from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, what is an effect of the hieroglyphs and the Greek alphabet appearing together on the slab?

• It suggests others discovered the Rosetta Stone before the French and wrote on it.

• It provides an opportunity to decipher the unknown hieroglyphs by matching them to the known Greek language.

• It explains why the British are so determined to stop the French invasion of Egypt.

• It proves the theory that the Egyptians had invaded and conquered Greece centuries before.

According to The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, what causes the French scholars to become “tremendously excited” when they first glimpse the writing on the Rosetta Stone slab?

• It is the first time the French scholars have received or studied anything as old as the Rosetta Stone.

• It is the first time the French scholars have glimpsed the writings they have heard about on the Rosetta Stone.

• It is the first time the French scholars have seen the Greek alphabet appear together with the hieroglyphs.

• It is the first time the French scholars have studied an inscription that consists of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Read the excerpt from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone.

The Ptolemys kept their Greek culture, including their language, but they also respected the customs and religious beliefs of the native Egyptians. So it was only natural for the priests’ statement to have been carved in both Greek and Egyptian on the Rosetta Stone.

What signal word helps readers identify evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship in this excerpt?

• but

• also

• so

• and

Based on The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, which sentence from the passage explains why General Menou handed over the Rosetta Stone to General Hutchinson?

• At last the British gave in and allowed the scholars to keep the bulk of their collections.

• "Without us," they said, "this material is a dead language that neither you nor your scientists can understand."

• Reluctantly, General Menou turned it over to the British general, Hutchinson.

• “You can have it,” he said, “because you are the stronger of us two.”

Read the excerpt from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone.

The Greek leader, Alexander the Great, had taken control of Egypt in 332 B.C., and after Alexander’s death in 323 B.C. his general, Ptolemy, replaced him. From then until 30 B.C., when Rome conquered Egypt, a long line of pharaohs from the Ptolemy family ruled the country. The Ptolemys kept their Greek culture, including their language, but they also respected the customs and religious beliefs of the native Egyptians.

The details in this excerpt serve as evidence for which fact?

• Some of the Egyptian writings on the Rosetta Stone included hieroglyphs.

• The inscription on the Rosetta Stone was the same in all three languages.

• One of the three inscriptions on the Rosetta Stone was written in Greek.

• French soldiers discovered the Rosetta Stone while tearing down an old fort.

According to The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, what detail helped scholars determine that the second Egyptian inscription was a simpler form of Egyptian writing that had been created by “the people”?

• The scholars had seen examples of it before written on rolls of papyrus, a writing material used by the Egyptians.

• Since the scholars had already studied Egyptian languages, they recognized both the hieroglyphs and the demotic version.

• The Greek inscription, which had already been deciphered, explained how to translate each of the Egyptian passages.

• Since only ancient Egyptians understood hieroglyphs, the scholars knew the second inscription had to be a simpler version of the first.

Which excerpt from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone describes the effect of the conflict between the British and the French?

• British troops landed near Alexandria.

• [A] Turkish army marched into Egypt from Syria.

• The Greek leader, Alexander the Great, had taken control of Egypt.

• [T]he French were finally forced to surrender to the British.