2 Bac/UNIT 3: EDUCATION /READING Abdelkarim F. [1] Awatif Morsy will never forget the day she heard that a new school was to open in her village. "Someone came to the house asking for the names of the children who weren't attending class " she recalls. "My mother gave them my name. I was so excited. "Like most eight year-olds in the village of Beni Shara'an, Awatif's life until that important day had been divided between hard work in the nearby fields,or at home. To girls like her, the new school was a new beginning. [2] Not everyone in the village was so enthusiastic about the new school at first.Some farmers complained that the school would take away their children, especially those who help on the fields. Even Awatif's own step- father, Abdelwadoud didn't like the idea . "What does a girl need to study for?"He would ask However, that wasn't the view of Farouk Abdel Naim, a rich merchant from the village. " I've come to believe that a girl's education is even more important than a boy's education," Mr Abdel Naim says. "A man can always make something out of his circumstances, but a girl can't. She needs to be educated in order to get on in life," he adds. [3] Ten years later, it's hard to find anyone in Beni Shara'an who doesn't share that opinion. The school is seen today as a wise investment from which the community is getting a lot of benefit. Take the example Ahmed Abdel Jaber , the shopkeeper who is illiterate. " Until Rawia went to school.my store accounts were in a complete mess," he recalls. "Now she's taking care of all the books for me, as well as helping her elder sister to read and write." Rawia is disabled, but her father says she's the most capable of his four daughters. "I can say that to me, Rawia is no longer just a girl; she's more precious than ten sons,"Abdel Jaber believes. [4] Surely, the impact of encouraging young girls to go to school has been felt nationally. Ever since there have been 227 community schools set by UNICEF and its partners, and a campaign has emerged to focus on girls' education as one of Egypt's top development priorities. 1. This text is probably taken from: b- a play c-a newspaper article a- an interview 2 This text is about: a- the Egyptian project for building schools in Beni Shara'an b- the importance of the education of girls in Beni Shara'an c- daily life of girls and boys in Beni Shara'an 3. Are these statements TRUE or FALSE ? Justify. a- Awatif was 8 years old when the new school opened. __ ) __ ( b- All the people in Beni Shara'an were happy about the school at first. ) __ __ ( 4. Find in the text words or expressions which mean the same as : - very happy (prg 1) = (prg1)= - the opinion of (prg 2) = (prg2)= - the effect (prg 4) = (prg4)= 5. Find in the text words with the opposite (#) meaning of: - forgets (prg 1)# __ - poor (prg 2)# __ - educated (prg3)# __ 6. Answer the following questions: a. How did Awatif spend her days before the school opened? __ __ 7. What do the following words refer to ? his __ their: __