Reading › Re-order Paragraphs
Exercise 8
Task reminder: Type the correct order (A, B, C…) in the boxes to restore the original paragraph sequence. Start by finding the topic sentence — it has no backward references.
1. The Origins of Writing
| A. The earliest known writing systems developed independently in Mesopotamia and Egypt around 3200 BCE, as growing urban populations required methods to record economic transactions. | |
| B. These earliest scripts were not phonetic but logographic — each symbol represented a word or concept rather than a sound. | |
| C. Over centuries, writing systems became more efficient as scribes developed phonetic elements that could represent sounds, reducing the number of symbols required. | |
| D. Literacy long remained the preserve of specialists — scribes, priests, and merchants — before the invention of the printing press began the process of making reading and writing widely accessible. |
Show Answer 2. Vaccination and Herd Immunity Show Answer 3. The Moon Landing Show Answer A. When a sufficient proportion of a population is immune — through vaccination or prior infection — the pathogen cannot spread efficiently and transmission chains break. B. This indirect protection extends to individuals who cannot be vaccinated, such as newborns and immunocompromised patients. C. Vaccination works by training the immune system to recognise and mount a rapid defence against specific pathogens without causing the disease itself. D. However, if vaccination rates fall below the threshold required for herd immunity — which varies by disease — outbreaks can re-emerge even in communities where most people are vaccinated. A. On 20 July 1969, NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human being to walk on the surface of the Moon, describing the achievement as “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” B. The Apollo programme, initiated by President Kennedy in 1961, was a direct response to the Soviet Union’s early successes in the Space Race, including the first satellite and the first human in orbit. C. Twelve astronauts walked on the Moon across six successful Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972 before the programme was cancelled for budgetary and political reasons. D. The scientific legacy of the missions includes 382 kilograms of lunar rock and soil, providing insights into the Moon’s formation and the early history of the solar system.