Exercise

The Egyptian Desert:

Summary & Dialogue
A team of six archaeologists were asleep in their tents in
a remote part of the Western Desert. They had discovered two
underground rooms full of ancient Egyptian treasures.
A team of four men went to the site by two land
cruisers. They stopped the cars 200 metres from the tents.
Although the cars had local number plates, they were not
Egyptians. They switched off the lights and engines of the cars
because they didn’t want the archaeologists to see or hear
them.
They climbed down into an underground passage which
was very dark, so they switched on their torches. On the walls
of the passage there were paintings of ancient Egyptian gods,
and writing from 3,000 years ago.
The oldest man entered. He was followed by three men;
a small thin man with glasses carried a machine, a tall man
carried a small computer, and a very big man carried a large
bag.
In the first room, they found five ancient mummies. The
second room was empty.

The Oldest Man: “ A team of six archaeologists found these

two rooms last week. The second room contained gold and
other treasures. The gold objects were sent to the museum in
Cairo yesterday. Almost nobody knows about this yet. ”

The Tall Man : “How did you get the information?”

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 Exercise
The Oldest Man: (smiling) “There are probably more rooms
here. If they contain gold too, we'll be rich. The archaeologists
haven't found them yet. We're going to find them first. ”
{He turned to the small man}
“That's your job.”

The Small Man: “If there are more rooms here, this machine
will find them in minutes.”

The Tall Man : “What does that machine do?”

The Small Man: “It shows me what's behind the wall.”

The Tall Man : “I know. But how? ”

The Small Man: “It transmits radio waves through the wall.
When the waves hit something on the other side, they come
back to it. The computer changes the radio waves into a
picture. ”
The Tall Man : “Like the radar on an aeroplane?”

The Small Man: “Yes. This is a kind of radar that can

penetrate rock. ”

The Tall Man : “It can go through rock?”

The Small Man: “Some kinds of rock. It's called GPR or

Ground Penetrating Radar. Look. You can see the picture on
the screen now. You can see rock here and sand here. ”

The Tall Man : “So why don't archaeologists use GPR?”

The Small Man: “They do, but not very often because it's
expensive.”
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 Exercise

{The tall man looked at the screen}

The Tall Man : “What's that? Is that a rock? ”

The Small Man: “No. That's not sand or rock. It's an empty
space. ”

The Tall Man : “You mean it's a room?”

The Small Man: “Yes. It's a big room. It's on the other side of
this wall. ”

The men examined the wall of this room. It was covered

with paintings and ancient writing. The big man took a
pickaxe and a heavy hammer and destroyed the wall. He
destroyed the paintings that had been there for thousands of
years.

Behind the wall, there wasn’t a room. It was another

passage. It was like an underground street. Enormous
spiders’ webs were hanging from the ceiling. There were a lot
of passages crossed this one. It was like the streets in a town.

The Small Man: “It's like an underground city! A city of dead

people. ”

The Oldest Man: “We haven't much time. We must find what
we want and get out before morning. ”

At the end of the passage, they found two gold doors.

They had broken the doors. The oldest man entered first.
Something covered his face and body. It was a huge spider’s
web. The room was covered with paintings and writings. It
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 Exercise
was full of boxes, pots, and large gold objects. There were two
mummies with gold masks at the centre of the room.
The men were very excited. They carried the treasures
out into the passage. The big man shouted.

The Big Man: “Get them off me.”

The three men saw the spiders biting the big man. The
tall man took off his jacket and hit the spiders. Then the small
man felt a bite on his leg before he could kill it. He shone his
torch on the floor and saw spiders everywhere.

The Small Man: “Let's get out of here!”

The Oldest Man: “Get the gold and let's go.”

By the time all four men had been bitten. They carried
the treasures to their cars. They drove at top speed through
the desert.

The Oldest Man: “Don't worry. There aren't any deadly

spiders in Egypt. We might get sick, but we won't die. ”

The Small Man : “How do you know?

Maybe it's an unknown species of spider. ”

The Oldest Man: “That's not possible.”

The Small Man : “Yes, it is. Didn't you hear about those fish
in South America? ”

The Oldest Man: “What fish?”

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 Exercise
The Small Man : “Some scientists found some fish in an
underground lake. They were like no other fish. An unknown
species. Maybe these spiders are like those fish. They've been
under the ground for thousands of years, and nobody knows
about them.

The Oldest Man: “I don't think so.”

The Small Man: “I hope you're right, because I'm feeling very
sick.”

They felt pain all over their bodies. They began to

sweat heavily. This made them thirsty, they drank all their
water. The muscles of their hands, arms, legs, and faces began
to make sudden violent movements. They couldn’t breathe
easily.

In the early morning, the big man saw four spiders on

the boxes in the back of the car. But he couldn’t move.

The Big Man: “They're in the car.” {Then the men died of the
spiders’ bites}. The tall man crawled out and fell onto the sand
beside the car.

At midday, a helicopter discovered the men. There

were three persons inside the helicopter; the pilot, a telecom
engineer, and a technician. They were on their way to a
transmitter in the desert which had a technical problem. When
the pilot saw the vehicles below them, he brought the
helicopter down. They ran to the cars, carrying bottles of
water. They examined the four men, they were all dead. They
didn’t see the spiders in the box at the back of the second car.

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 Exercise
The Pilot : Their water's all gone. They probably got lost
and died of thirst.

The Engineer: We'd better get on the radio.

{These words saved the pilot’s life. When the engineer asked
him to call the police on the radio, his hands moved away from
the spider}

The small spiders died of the heat of the sun. They

couldn’t bear the desert heat. The police drove the cars to the
police station at a new town called Hamdayya. The biggest
spider was still alive. It was in the back of one of the two cars.

Hamdayya, a new town

Summary & Dialogue

The police officer, who opened the first box, couldn’t

believe his eyes. The police officer never knew that he had
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 Exercise
been just a few centimeters from death. While he was running
to tell his superior about the treasures, the deadly spider
escaped. The spider can live inside walls and between floors.

The house next to the police station was full of light and
noise. It belonged to Hassan family who consists of four
brothers and sisters, father, and mother. Ayman was twenty
years old. Mohamed who was sixteen. Lamia who was twelve.
Najat who was ten.

Although Ayman loved his younger sisters and brother

dearly, he was glad that he had his own room to practice his
hobby which was the internet. Ayman had a computer which
his uncle gave to him. Ayman used the internet for his
university studies and for making friends in other countries.

He and his internet friends had conversations almost

every day through their computers. The conversations were
like written telephone conversations, but they were much
cheaper than telephone conversations and they could include
more than two people. This is an example from the day the
spider escaped:

ED : What are you going to do when you leave

university?
Ayman : I don’t know. It’s a big problem for me.
ED : What do you mean?
Ayman : It’s not easy to get a good job.
ED : It’s the same in Britain. But maybe you’ll be lucky.
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 Exercise
Ayman : I hope so!
ED : You can’t just trust luck. If you want something,
you have to work for it.
Ali : You can’t always get what you want.
Jill : Right. I think you have to be flexible.
ED : What do you mean by “flexible” ? Just take any
job?
Jill : Yes. Any job is better than not job.

The spider escaped to Hassan’s house. It was crawling

in the room where Najat and Lamia were playing. When the
girls’ mother called them, Najat’s foot landed close to the
spider which moved to attack her. But her foot moved away.

The spider began to look for a safer place. It climbed

out of a window and down to the garden. Ayman saw it in the
garden while he was going to the shops. Although many people
are afraid of spiders, Ayman was more interested than afraid.
He went closer to it. It was black with two yellow lines on its
back. Its body was as big as a small apple. It had eight eyes
like most spiders ( Two of them were more than a centimeter
wide ). It had also eight legs ( the longest of them was as long
as a pencil ) , and two fangs. The spider ran to the next house
which was empty and disappeared. Ayman was amazed
because of the spider’s size and speed.

Ayman began his search for the spider. Ayman phoned

his friend who was a student of Zoology at his university.
Ayman described the spider, and the student looked up the
spider in a book called Spiders of North Africa. But there were
no big black spiders with two yellow lines in the book.

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 Exercise
Ayman searched for the spider on the World Wide Web
in the internet. The web is like a great library, but the
information in this library is not written in books, they move
between thousands of computers around the world.
Ayman : “ That’s funny! Spiders use webs to catch flies, but
I’m going to use the Web to find a spider.”

Ayman searched the internet for the black and yellow

spider. The spiders on the internet were not like the spider
which Ayman had seen. Ayman found an English translation
of a very old Egyptian text. It was about a town in ancient
Egypt.
This was the translation.
Many hundreds of people were killed by black and yellow
spiders in the town. These spiders were so dangerous that the
people decided to burn the town down. They hoped to kill all the
spiders and then rebuild the town. The fire burned for six days
and nights until nothing remained. But many spiders found their
way into underground tombs and passages. The townspeople
had buried their dead in these tombs for a thousand years, so
many of the tombs were in unknown places. The spiders were
safe, where nobody could find them. The townspeople gave up
hope and left the town.
 Translation by Dr Shereen Fakhry, Department of
Egyptology, Oxford University.
 The story may or may not be true. Please contact
{ Ayman wrote an e-mail to Dr Shereen Fakhry at Oxford
s.fakhry@oxford.ac.uk if you have any information about
University }
the town or this species of spider.
Dr Shereen
I’m a university student in Egypt. I have read your translation
of the story about the black and yellow spiders from ancient Egypt. Do
you think the story is true? I have just seen a large black and yellow
spider which I can’t identify.9It had two thick yellow lines on its back. Is
there a picture of the spider with the text?
Ayman Hassan
 Exercise

{ The next day Ayman received this e-mail from Dr Shereen

Fakhry

Ayman
Thank you for your e-mail. I think the town was a real
town, but nobody knows exactly where it was. Many ancient
towns and villages died about 2,000 years ago because the
climate in Egypt became drier, and towns and villages
disappeared under desert sand. The story of the spiders may
be just a story.

Good luck with identifying your spider.

Shereen Fakhry
During these two days, the spider had found a secret
place that was quiet and dark in the house next to Hassan’s. It
was a place with plenty of food. The spider needed a safe place
not just for itself, but for its new family. The spider was a
female and was ready to lay its eggs. It laid 2000 eggs. It
carefully enclosed them in four sacs of white silk and then
began its long wait.
Oxford, England
Summary & Dialogue
{After a week Dr Shereen received a message from an
archaeologist in Egypt}
In reply to your request for information about
deadly spiders in ancient Egypt. I’m sending you a very
old picture that was found in a tomb near Bawiti last
year. As you can see, the 10 picture shows a black and
yellow spider, like the spider in your text.
 Exercise

{ The Egyptian archaeologist sent her a picture of a black and

yellow spider }
The Egyptian Archaeologist : “ It had two thick yellow lines on
its back.”
When the picture appeared on the screen, Dr Shereen
Fakhry felt a cold shiver down the back of her neck! She
forwarded the message and the picture to Ayman and sent
‘Thank you’ message to the archaeologist. Then Dr Shereen
chatted with Ayman and this was the conversation:

Shereen : Hello, Ayman. What did you think of the picture?

Ayman : It’s the same as the spider that I saw.
Shereen : Maybe the spider came from Bawitti to your town.
Ayman : There is another possibility. There’s a new
archaeological site near here.
The day before I saw the spider, the police brought
some boxes from the site to the police station. Maybe they were
in the boxes.
Shereen : I read about that in the newspaper.
Ayman : But this spider can’t be the same as the killer spiders
in the ancient text.
Shereen : Why not?
Ayman : Because there aren’t any killer spiders in modern
Egypt.
Shereen : I hope you’re right. But I think you should tell the
police about all this.
Ayman : If I say, “ I’ve seen a big dangerous spider ” everyone
will just laugh at me!
Shereen : OK. But if you see the spider again, please try to
photograph it. I want to identify
11 it.
Ayman : OK.
Shereen : Thanks. Goodbye for now.
 Exercise

Then Dr Shereen Fakhry received an e-mail from a German

Egyptologist. He told her about an ancient Egyptian medicine,
which was called Echinacea Negra plant, and it was for the bite
of the black and yellow spider.
This medicine is for the bite of the black and yellow
spider that kills. Make this medicine from the root of the
Echinacea Negra plant.
Dr Shereen thought that the spiders were probably real
because they were in a medical text. So the black and yellow
spider in the picture was probably the same as these deadly
spiders and it was probably the same as Ayman’s spider.

The next morning, Dr Shereen went to see a friend at

the university. Her name was Susan Bennett who was a
zoologist. When Susan looked at the picture of the spider, she
couldn’t identify it.

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 Exercise
Susan : “Don’t worry. We’ll find it on the database. On this
CD there’s a list of all the known species of spider in the
world.”
Shereen : “ How many known species are there? ”
Susan : “ About 30,000. The number goes up all the time. ”
Shereen : “ You mean, new species are often discovered ? ”
Susan : “ Oh, yes. Professor Jones finds three or four
unknown species every year on his trips to South Africa and
South America. ”
Shereen : “ Professor Jones? ”
Susan : “ Yes, Professor Malcolm Jones. He’s the head of my
department. He’s a very famous arachnologist. He’s written
books on spiders and other arachnids. ”

{ She typed a description of the spider then six pictures came

onto the screen }
Susan : “ Those all the black and yellow spiders matching
your description. ”

{ Dr Shereen and Susan looked at the six pictures, but

none of them were like the spider in the picture }
Susan : “ I think we should talk to Professor Jones. ”
Susan and Dr Shereen went to Professor Malcolm
Jones. The walls of Jones’ study room were covered with dead
arachnids, mostly spiders and scorpions, in glass boxes. On the
bookshelves, there were books about arachnids. Professor
Jones was speaking angrily on the phone.

Jones : “ What a nuisance! I’ve had to cancel my next trip. ”

Susan : “ Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. ”
Jones: ( angrily ) “ I was ready to go to South America
tomorrow and now I can’t go! It’s too
bad.”
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 Exercise
Shereen : “ Would you like us to come another time ? ”
Jones : “ No, no. Not at all. I’m sorry. I’m not being very
polite, am I? I’m sorry. I was looking forward to that trip. I’ve
been studying arachnids for 25 years, but I’m still excited
about finding unknown species. There really is nothing more
exciting! ” ( smiling to Shereen ) “ You don’t like arachnids,
do you? ”
Shereen : “ How do you know ? ”
Jones : ( laughing ) “ The look on your face. ”
Shereen : “ You’re right. I’m not very keen on spiders! ”
Jones : “ Lots of people aren’t. But spiders are very useful
animals because they eat insects. If there weren’t any spiders,
there would be more flies and mosquitoes and other pests.
Spiders are our friends. Anyway, what can I do for you?

{ After telling Professor Jones what she had found out, Dr

Shereen showed the picture to him. The professor looked at it }

Jones : “ Interesting. I haven’t seen anything like this

before. And it’s not on the database?”
Susan : “ No, it’s not. ”
Jones :“This young man in Egypt – Ayman – did he see the
picture first or did he describe the spider before he saw the
picture?”
Shereen: “He described it before he saw this picture. He said it
was very big and black with two thick yellow lines on its back.
And then I was sent this picture. ”
Jones : “That’s interesting. That’s very interesting.”
Shereen : “ Do you think he really saw this spider ? ”
Jones : “It’s possible. ”
Shereen : “ But, if he saw it why has nobody seen any of these
spiders before ? ”

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 Exercise
Jones: “Maybe these spiders live in a remote part of the desert.
They probably live in a place that’s cooler than the desert
around them, under the ground perhaps. They’ve never left
that place because the desert around them is too hot and too
dry. But now there’s a new town nearby. People have
disturbed the spiders. Suddenly those spiders have come into
our world again. ”
Shereen : “ How could they live under the desert for thousands
of years? I mean, how could they survive? ”
{ The professor showed them a box with a scorpion inside it }
Jones : “ This is an alacran tartarus, a South American
scorpion. This scorpion lives in caves 800 metres underground.
”
Shereen : “ Why would the spiders live in only one place ? ”
Jones : “Maybe all other spiders died when the climate
changed 2,000 years ago, and these are the only survivors.”
Shereen : “ So this could be the spider that Ayman saw.”
Jones : “ Yes.”
Shereen : “ That means Ayman and his family might be in
danger.”
Jones : “ Not just him and his family. Everyone in
Hamdayya might be in danger.”
Shereen : “ But hospitals can treat spider bites, can’t they ? ”
Jones : “ A doctor can give you an injection of antivenom.
The antivenom works against the venom. But there is no
antivenom for this spider.”
Shereen : “ Why not ? ”
Jones : “ Because every venomous animal has a different
venom. The antivenom for one spider won’t work against the
venom of a different spider. So if these spiders are unknown,
there is no antivenom. Scientists will have to develop new
antivenom.”
Shereen : “ How long would that take ? ”
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 Exercise
Jones : “ It can take years to develop a safe antivenom. ”
Shereen : “ Let’s hope that Ayman was mistaken. ”
Jones : “ And another thing. If he wasn’t mistaken … I
mean … If he really saw that spider, it’s not just Hamdayya
that’s in danger. ”
Shereen : “ What do you mean? ”
Jones : “ He said the spider was very big, didn’t he? Well,
usually female spiders are bigger than males. I think this
spider may have been female. ”
Shereen : “ Is that bad ? ”
Jones : “ Yes, it is. It’s very bad. Most spiders lay a lot of
eggs. Some species lay more than 2,000 eggs at one time. These
eggs develop very quickly. Four weeks is the maximum. Some
spiders take only one week. Imagine what happens if 1,000
female spiders lay 1,000 eggs. Within a few weeks, there will be
millions of these spiders. They will spread to other towns,
where thousands of people could die. And then what? Egypt is
the meeting point of three continents. What will stop these
spiders from spreading through Africa, Asia and Europe? ”
Shereen : “ But professor, we don’t know for sure that this
spider is real. ”
Jones : “ I think it is. And I’ve just decided where I’m going
for this vacation. If there’s an unknown species of spider in
that town, I want to find it! ”
{ The next day, Professor Jones was on a plane to Cairo.
Before he left, he quickly wrote an e-mail to Ayman, which he
forgot to send }

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 Exercise

Ayman speaks up
Summary & Dialogue
{ Ayman was at his computer chatting with some internet
friends }
Ayman : “ I have to go soon. My uncle’s coming to visit. ”
ED : “ What’s he like? ”
Ayman : “ He’s nice. He’s a businessman.
He knows a lot about business and he’s very successful.
He’s always been good to me.”
ED : Have a nice day.
Ayman : Thanks. Talk to you later.

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 Exercise
{ Then he received a new e-mail from Dr Shereen Fakhry }
Ayman
I have discussed the black and yellow spider with
Professor Malcolm Jones, who is the head of Zoology Department
at Oxford University. Professor Malcolm is one of the world’s top
arachnologists and he is quite well known.

He was interested in the picture of the black and yellow spider

and the ancient texts about it. He was also very interested in the
spider that you saw. He thinks the spider may be an unknown
species and he is now on his way to Egypt. He will be in
Hamdayya tomorrow morning. Professor Malcolm thinks the
spider may be very dangerous. Please be careful if you see it
again.
Shereen Fakhry
{ Ayman jumped out of his chair }

Ayman : “ Tomorrow morning! That’s now! Professor

Malcolm may be here at any minute!”
Ayman printed the e-mail and ran to tell his family.
Uncle Walid was just arriving. Ayman told him all about the
spiders. Ayman’s family thought that half of the story was true
and he imagined the other half.
Ayman : “ Dr Shereen thinks I should tell the police about it.”

{ Ayman’s sisters laughed, but his uncle looked serious }

Walid : “ I don’t think you should tell the police. You don’t
want to worry people unnecessarily, do you? ”

Ayman : “ No, I don’t, but ………….. ”

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 Exercise
Walid : “ There is another thing that you should think about.
Stories about dangerous spiders are not good for business.
There are hotels in this town, restaurants, food processing
businesses, and so on. If people believe your story, they won’t
stay in the hotels, they won’t eat in the restaurants, they won’t
buy our food products. A lot of businesses will lose money.
Have you thought about that, Ayman? ”

Ayman : “ No, I didn’t think about that. ”

Walid : “ If you are sure there is a danger, you must tell the
police. But are you really sure? I mean 100% sure? ”

Ayman : “ Well, not really.”

Walid : “ If you’re not sure, I don’t think you should frighten

people. I think you should keep quiet. Don’t tell anyone
outside the family.”
{ Ayman could see his uncle’s point of view. But it was too late!
Because Professor Jones arrived already in Hamdayya }
Ayman : “ Oh dear! What shall I do ? ”

Mother : “ It’s all right, Ayman. There’s no problem.”

Ayman : “ You don’t understand. I’m sorry, you’d better read

this e-mail.”

{ When they read the e-mail, they were too shocked }

Father : “ Ayman! What have you done ? ”

{ At the moment, Professor Jones arrived at the house }

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 Exercise
Jones : “ Good morning. I’m Malcolm Jones. You must be
Ayman. (shaking Ayman’s hand) This is very exciting, isn’t it ?

The Hassans welcomed Professor Jones. Ayman didn’t

know what to do or say. The famous man had come to
Hamdayya and the story of dangerous spider would get into
the newspapers. Businesses in the town would lose money.
Ayman wished he had never told anyone about the spider
which he had seen.

But the lowest points in people’s lives can sometimes

be turning points, too. And this is what happened to Ayman.
Two big lorries, with ten armed police officers in each, stopped
outside the police station next to Ayman’s house. The family
saw Mohamed running from the police station.

Father : “ My son has a friend at the police station. I’ll ask

him what’s going on. What’s up? ”

Mohamed : “ They’re going to guard an archaeological site in

the desert. ”

Father : “ But why so many of them ? ”

Mohamed : “ They say the site’s dangerous. They want to stop

anyone going near it.”

Father : “ Why? ”

Mohamed : “ All the archaeologists at the site are dead. They

were found early this morning. ”
Father : “ Dead? What killed them? ”

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 Exercise
Mohamed : “ Spiders. ”

Father : “ Spiders! Men don’t die from spider bites! How

…. ?

{ Ayman’s father stopped in the middle of the sentence }

{ Walid phoned the police chief Colonel Mikhail who was a

friend of his }

Walid : “ So it is true? …. And archaeologists died from spider

bites? …. Colonel Mikhail, there is something else …. It’s
possible that the danger has already spread to the town ….
Yes, I have good reasons to believe this …. The best person to
explain is my nephew, Ayman Hassan …. I’ll hand you to him
now. ”

Here there was a sudden change in the situation. A

minute before, he had felt a fool. Now everyone wanted to
listen to him. Ayman took the phone. He told the colonel
everything about the spiders. He told him that he had seen the
spider after the police had brought the boxes from the site.
The colonel asked Ayman and the professor to come to the
police station. When they arrived, an officer took them to the
colonel’s office. On the way, they saw men carrying equipment
out to the Lorries.

Officer : “ Protective clothing. We got it from the Fire

Department. They use it when they’re fighting chemical fires.
We’ll wear it to keep the spiders out. ”

They entered the room. Colonel Mikhail was friendly.

He was wise and intelligent because he could judge the
21
 Exercise
usefulness of other men quickly. The colonel began to talk to
them.

Colonel Mikhail : “ My men are going to be in danger from

these spiders until we get the correct antivenom. We can’t do
that until we have identified the spiders. I can get an expert
from Cairo, but that will take time. Could you find one of
these spiders and identify it ? ”

Jones : “ That’s why I came to Egypt. If it’s a known species, I

can identify it. ”

Colonel Mikhail : “ We have protective clothing. Do you need

any other special equipment? ”

Jones : “ I’ve brought equipment with me. ”

Colonel Mikhail : ( to Ayman ) “ We also need to know if these

spiders have reached the town. You will be able to tell us that,
Ayman. If Professor Malcolm finds one of these spiders, you
must tell us whether it is the same as the spider that you saw. ”

Ayman : “OK. ”

Colonel Mikhail : “ Good. Please get your equipment,

Professor. You both leave in thirty minutes with Captain
Ahmed El-Sherif. And thank you, Professor, and you, Ayman.
”

{ While they were leaving }

Colonel Mikhail : “If the spiders are an unknown species, is

there an antivenom that we can use ? ”
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 Exercise

Jones : “If the spiders are an unknown, there is no antivenom

for them. Other antivenoms will not contain the correct
antibodies, so they won’t work. ”

Colonel Mikhail : “ I see. Let’s hope it is a known species. ”

An officer drove the professor to the hotel to get his

equipment. Ayman went to his house. He received another e-
mail from Dr Shereen. He had no time to read it, so he printed
it to read later.

After a few minutes Professor Malcolm, Ayman,

Captain Ahmed, and another officer were in a car. The two
lorries with twenty police officers were behind them. They left
the town to the archaeological site.

Captain Ahmed : “ We have one hour before we reach the site.

Tell me everything about spiders.”
Into The city of the dead : Summary & Dialogue
Before fighting an enemy, you should understand the
enemy. So Captain Ahmed listened carefully to Professor
Jones while he was talking about spiders.

Captain Ahmed : “ How is antivenom made? And why does it

take a long time? ”

Jones : “ You know what happens when you catch a cold:

first a cold virus gets into your blood, and then you make
antibodies to fight the virus. Scientists use the same method to
make antivenom. First, they put small quantities of venom into
animals, usually horses or sheep, and then the animals make
23
 Exercise
antibodies to fight the venom. Scientists can then extract the
antibodies from the animals.
However if these spiders are an unknown species,
scientists will have to develop a new antivenom. That will be a
slow and difficult process with lots of problems.

First, we must get some venom from the spiders, and

then we must send it to an antivenom lab, where scientists will
produce antivenom. But then comes the difficult part:
extracting the antivenom from the blood and making it safe to
use. It could be many years before a safe antivenom can be
produced in large quantities. ”

Captain Ahmed : “ And you think these spiders are an

unknown species ? ”

Jones : “ It seems likely. ”

Captain Ahmed : “ Then we will have no protection against

them for years. ”
At that moment Ayman remembered the e-mail from
Dr Shereen Fakhry. He read it and showed it to Professor
Jones and the captain.

Ayman
I expect you have met Professor Jones by now. Has he
told you about the ancient medical text? The text describes a
medicine for bites of “the black and yellow spider that kills”. The
ancient Egyptians made this medicine from the roots of a plant
called ‘Echinacea Negra’.
Can you tell the professor that I have more information
about ‘Echinacea Negra’: it is almost extinct and grows only in
Sinai. A researcher in the Department of Botanical Science at
24
Cairo University has studied the plant. Her name is Wafaa Sultan.
Shereen Fakhry
 Exercise

Captain Ahmed : “ What do you think of this, Professor ? ”

Jones : “ I don’t know much of plants. This botanist, Wafaa

Sultan, is the person to ask.”

The captain called the colonel on the radio. After

telling the colonel about the plants, they exchanged these
sentences.
Captain Ahmed : “ Do you think we should investigate this,
sir? ”

Colonel Mikhail : “ What’s your opinion, Captain? ”

Captain Ahmed : “ Well, sir. We don’t have anything better

yet, do we, sir? ”

Colonel Mikhail : “ No, we don’t. I’ll phone the university and

find this Wafaa Sultan. If the spiders are an unknown species,
we’ll send her to Sinai to get some of this Echinacea Negra.”

When the three vehicles reached the site, there was a

high wire fence and a gate guarded by two policemen. There
were also some wooden buildings, and the men unloaded
equipment ( protective clothing, tanks of insecticide, fencing
wire, big lights, weapons, tools, and building materials ).

Ayman, Professor Jones, Captain Ahmed, and three

officers went down into the tomb. They were wearing
protective black suits made of strong plastic with thick
25
 Exercise
transparent windows over the face. There were no openings
for a spider to get through. And the men breathed through a
filter like a gas mask. They were carrying sprays with
insecticide tanks, a smoker, and a bag of equipment for the
professor. They went down into the tomb where the professor
saw all the big spiders’ webs that the robbers had seen.

Captain Ahmed : “ Professor, where is the best place to set up

your equipment ? ”

Jones : “ Over there, I think ”

{ he pointed at a place where many large webs hung from the
ceiling }
First, the professor took a large white sheet from his
bag. He spread the sheet and fixed it over a frame which he
made from metal tubes to catch the falling spiders.

Jones : “ Stand back! I’m going to switch on the smoker! ”

Next, the professor started the smoker. Hot poisonous

smoke poured out of the smoker and went up to the ceiling.
Dead things fell into the white sheet. When he switched off the
smoker, they heard more noises like rain drops because more
dead things dropped onto the sheet.

Jones : “ OK. Let’s see what we’ve got. ”

On the white sheet, there were about twenty small

insects and spiders. The professor picked up three of the
largest spiders. They were black with two yellow lines on their
backs. They were the same as the spider which Ayman had
seen, but Ayman’s spider was bigger.

26
 Exercise
Ayman : “ They’re the same.”

Captain Ahmed : “ Are you sure ? ”

Ayman : “ Yes. They’re the same as the spider I saw in town.

Only that one was larger.”
{ The professor examined them with a magnifying glass }

Jones : “ They’re all adult males.”

A big spider fell on the sheet. It wasn’t dead. It jumped
onto one of the young officers. Its big black body covered the
man’s face mask. The other two officers used their insecticide
sprays and the spider fell to the ground. The professor
examined the spider.

Captain Ahmed : “ The spider’s fangs broke through his face

mask! We must leave here immediately.”

Suddenly the spider moved. It wasn’t dead! It ran into

the darkness and disappeared. The young officer was coughing
badly and fell to the ground.
Captain Ahmed and Ayman carried the injured officer
and the professor carried the bag with three dead spiders in it.
When they went out of the tomb, they took off the young
officer’s suit. There was no blood on his face so they became
sure that he wasn’t bitten.

Jones : “ He’ll be OK. I think he just breathed in some

insecticide.”

Captain Ahmed : “ Can you identify the spiders now ? ”

27
 Exercise
Jones : “ I can tell you that this spider is not a known
species. ”

Captain Ahmed : “ Are you sure ? ”

Jones : “ Before I left Oxford, I searched the database of all

known species. I looked at all the black and yellow spider on
the database and I found no spider like this one.”

Captain Ahmed : “ Professor, what is the best way to destroy

these spiders ? ”

{ Professor Jones looked as if someone had shot him }

Jones : “ You can’t destroy these spiders! ”

Captain Ahmed : “ Why not ? ”

Jones : “ Captain, this is a new species. This is a great

scientific discovery! ”

Captain Ahmed: “ Professor, I understand your scientific

interest, but ten people have died already. My job is to prevent
more deaths. ”
Jones : “You’re right. You must do what is necessary. But, in
my opinion, it’s impossible.”

Captain Ahmed : “ Why ? ”

Jones : “ The spiders are under the ground. We don’t know

where all the underground rooms and passages are. We don’t
even know how big the area is. You can kill some of the

28
 Exercise
spiders, but some of them will live, so the plan will not succeed.
But you will damage this important archaeological site. ”

Captain Ahmed : “ I will pass your opinion to the colonel. This

matter must be decided at a higher level.”

( to other officers ) : “ Do not let anybody come near this site.

And do not let anything leave here without a careful search.
Not a car, not a box, nothing.”
{ Captain Ahmed called the colonel on the radio. Then he
talked to Jones and Ayman }

Captain Ahmed : “ The colonel wants me to return to the

town. You too. We must bring the dead spiders with us, and
send their venom sacs to an antivenom lab. The scientists there
will begin work on an antivenom. ”

Ayman : “ What about the Echinacea Negra plants ? ”

Captain Ahmed : “ The colonel has organised that. The

botanist from Cairo University is leaving by helicopter for
Sinai. The police there will take her into the mountains to get
the plants. We must find the spider that you saw in
Hamdayya. ”

Jones : “ Let’s hope it hasn’t produced any young yet. ”

29
 Exercise

The Search
Summary & Dialogue
They were on their way to Hamdayya. When they
reached the edge of the town, they found a barrier across the
road and police officers stopped them.

Officer : “ No cars can enter or leave the town. Please walk

this way. There’s another car waiting for you on the other
side.”
When they arrived at the police station next to
Ayman’s house, the streets of the town were empty. In the
police station, they met Colonel Mikhail.

Colonel Mikhail : “ Everybody has left this part of town.

Tomorrow we will search this area and find the spider that
you saw, Ayman.

Extra officers have arrived. Captain, you will lead the

search. Ayman, I’d like you to show us where you saw the
spider. Professor, I want to thank you for your work today.
You are welcome to join us tomorrow. I’ve ordered stronger
protective suits. They’ll be here in the morning.”

Jones : “ I’ll be happy to do what I can.”

30
 Exercise

The next morning, Colonel Mikhail called Jones and

Ayman into his office. Captain Ahmed was already there.

Colonel Mikhail : “ Professor, in your opinion, are we looking

for just one spider or many spiders ? ”

Jones : “ There is probably only one female spider in the town

because the females are very big, and nobody except Ayman
has reported a big spider.
There might be some smaller male spiders, but I think
this is unlikely because nobody has been bitten here. In any
case, the female spider is a thousand times more dangerous
than the male.”

Colonel Mikhail : “ You mean its bite is stronger ? ”

Jones : “ Not only that. If there are any male spiders here, they
will be dead soon.
Spiders don’t live more than a few weeks. But the female
spider probably has a nest. It may produce 1,000 or 2,000
young. Perhaps it has already produced them. They may be
spreading through the town now as we speak.”

Colonel Mikhail : “ So the most urgent task is to find the

female spider’s nest. Where does a spider like to build its
nest ? ”

Jones : “ The nest will be somewhere dark, quiet, and cool.”

Colonel Mikhail : “ for example ? ”

31
 Exercise
Jones : “ In an empty building, or in a room below ground
level.”

Ayman : “ An empty house! That’s where I saw the spider go!

It was in my house, then the garden, and then it ran towards
the empty house next to mine!”

Police officers, in protective suits, carried large

insecticide sprays. They surrounded the empty house. Two
ambulances waited in the street. The black and yellow female
spider rested in the place that was dark, quiet, and cool. It
rested because it had finished its job as its 2,000 eggs had
hatched.

The spiders can feel a footstep before you or I can hear

it. So when they opened the door of the room, two thousands
small spiders moved like the sea waves.

Two men stood for a moment in the doorway. And then

grey clouds of poisonous insecticide filled the room. The
spiders jumped onto the walls and onto the men.

Some of the spiders died in the room. Others escaped

through the door. Spiders covered the men’s face masks, so the
men could hardly see.

Then the female spider attacked one of the officers in

the doorway. It jumped onto his face. But it couldn’t bite
through his strong protective mask. The officer knocked the
spider to the ground. It landed at the feet of another officer.

Captain Ahmed : “ Get that spider! ”

32
 Exercise
Then the officer lifted his insecticide tank and brought
it down heavily on the spider. The tank landed on its leg which
was caught and it couldn’t move. Spiders fell from the wall
onto the officer’s head. They covered his mask so that he was
almost blinded.

Officer : “ I can’t see! ”

Captain Ahmed : “ Don’t move! We’re coming to help you! ”.

{ Ayman and captain Ahmed ran to help him }

But the spider used its fangs. Not against the enemy,
but against itself. It cut its leg by its fangs, and then it jumped
over Ayman’s face. Ayman lost his balance because of the
surprise so he fell to the ground. Small spiders ran all over
him.

Captain Ahmed : “ Ayman! Are you OK ? ”

Ayman : “ Yes, I think so.”

Captain Ahmed : “ Your suit’s torn! Get out! Get out! ”

The captain warning was too late. The small spiders bit
him many times because his suit was torn. Two officers carried
Ayman to an ambulance which took Ayman to the nearby
hospital. By the time, the insecticide killed all the spiders at the
house. The captain ordered his men to spray the whole house
and the surrounding area. He also asked his men to search for
the body of the dead female spider. He went to the hospital
and radioed Colonel Mikhail.

33
 Exercise
Colonel Mikhail : “ Is the female spider definitely dead ? ”

Captain Ahmed : “ My men are looking for the body now, and
the professor is helping them. ”

Colonel Mikhail : “ How is Ayman Hassan ? ”

Captain Ahmed : “ He has only hours to live unless the

Echinacea Negra can get to him in time, and work. What’s the
situation in Sinai ? ”

Colonel Mikhail : “ They’ve found some Echinacea Negra

plants, and the cars are on their way back. A helicopter will
pick up Wafaa Sultan and the plants. She should be here in
two hours. ”

Captain Ahmed : “ Are these plants likely to help Ayman ? ”

Colonel Mikhail : “ Wafaa Sultan says that other species of

Echinacea are already used for some spider bites, but this one
is stronger. She says it might work for these spiders, but only
for the bites of males and young spiders. It might save Ayman.
”
Captain Ahmed : “ She must get here fast.”

Colonel Mikhail : “ She says that Echinacea Negra won’t work

for the bite of the female. The female’s venom is too strong. So
we must be sure that the female is dead.”
Captain Ahmed : “ Yes, sir. I’ll tell you as soon as we find it.”

{ While they were talking, an officer entered the colonel’s

office }

34
 Exercise
Officer : “ A message from Sinai, sir. There’s a bad storm in
the area. The helicopter can’t get to the cars. They’ll have to
drive through the storm. It’ll take more time.”
Colonel Mikhail : ( looked serious ) “ Ayman Hassan doesn’t
have much more time.”
Sinai
Summary & Dialogue
The convey was three cars. The first car was a big,
powerful 4-wheel drive vehicle; Wafaa Sultan, Farouk -
another botanist, and Captain Osama were in the first car.
The second car was a light jeep with two officers in it. The
third car was similar to the first one. There were two officers
and the plant in it.

The road down the mountain was narrow and steep.

On one side, there was a wall of rock and on the other side;
there was nothing but a valley below it. The cars moved slowly
so as not to slide and go over the edge. Halfway down, there
was lightning and thunder. It rained heavily and the road
became a river.

Captain Osama : “ This is bad. In this weather, the road can

just disappear.”

Wafaa Sultan: “We have to get through. We have a young

man’s life in our hands.”

Captain Osama : “ The road is not our only problem. The rain
will pour down the mountains and flood the wadis below. If
we can’t get to the wadis before they flood, we may not be able
to cross them. We have to cross three wadis. They are usually
dry, but they are probably filling up fast now.”
35
 Exercise

They were able to cross the first wadi. They moved

slowly in the water. After twenty minutes, they reached the
second wadi.

Captain Osama : “ We’re running out of time.”

Wafaa Sultan : “ What do you mean ? ”

Captain Osama : “ The next wadi is twenty minutes away. I’m

afraid it’ll be too deep by that time.”.

Wafaa Sultan : “We have to get across.”

Captain Osama drove at top speed and raced over the

stony ground to be able to cross the third wadi before the
water became too high. When they reached the third wadi,
Captain Osama stopped the car. The water was very fast and
deep. They saw a dead palm tree carried in the water. It
crashed into a rock, and then continued on.

Wafaa Sultan : “ Can we do it ? ”

Captain Osama : “ I don’t know. But do we have a choice ?

We can do it if Allah wishes.”

Captain Osama put the car into a low gear and moved
forward slowly into the water. At the deepest part, water starts
to pour in under the doors. At last, they went out. The second
car moved slowly. At the deepest part, one side of the car went
up and the car moved sideways.

Farouk : “ The water’s taking it.”

36
 Exercise
Captain Osama : “ It’s too light.”
The car was on its side and the water was carrying it
fast. It crashed into rocks, then it got stuck between two big
rocks.
Captain Osama : “ Get the rope! I will have to swim out to
them.”

Farouk : “ You can’t! ”

Wafaa Sultan : “ Look! They’re OK! ”

Officers : “ We’re OK! You go on! ”

The two men climbed onto a rocky island. They

couldn’t swim to them because the water was deep and fast.
There were sharp rocks which would cut them to pieces if they
tried to swim. The captain walked to the edge of the water and
shouted to the third car.
Captain Osama : “ You have the plants. You must come
across.”

Wafaa Sultan : “ It’s too dangerous. Look what happened to

the jeep.”
Captain Osama : “ Their car’s heavier than the jeep. They
can’t get across.”
{ But the car didn’t move }

Wafaa Sultan : “ They’re not coming.”

Captain Osama : “ They have to choose the right route, the

right time and the right gear. They will only get one chance, so
give them time.”

37
 Exercise
Farouk : “ We haven’t got time! ”

{ The car began to move }

Farouk : “ They’re half way.” { The car broke down } “ Look

out! ” { A palm tree smashed into the car which rolled up on
one side and then sank heavily down } “ We have to get them
out.”

Wafaa Sultan : “ And the plants are in there. We mustn’t lose

them. ”
Captain Osama ran to the car and brought the
towrope. He attached one end of it to the first car.

Captain Osama : “ Farouk, come with me. Wafaa, watch out

for us. Press the horn if you see a tree coming.”

Captain Osama and Farouk went into water. When

they got to the car, the captain shouted to the men inside.

Captain Osama : “ Stay in the car. We must keep it away. ”

{ They tried to attach the towrope, but they couldn’t }

Captain Osama : “ It’s no good! You’ll have to get out and
help.”

{ The two officers got out. Finally, the four men attached the
rope to the car }

At that moment, they heard the horn of the car. A tree

hit the car which knocked over the two men who had just got
out. The captain and Farouk were hit by the rope. The rope
held the car, but the water carried all men away from it.
38
 Exercise

The four men managed to climb onto the rocky island with the
other two men from the light jeep. They were all alive! But
Wafaa was now alone.

Captain Osama : “ It’s up to you now, Wafaa. Good luck.”

Wafaa got into the first car. She used the lowest gear and
pulled the third car out of the water. The car reached the land,
but came no further. Wafaa climbed onto the third car,
opened the door, and carried the plants back to her car. Then
she drove off fast in the bad weather. She fought her fear. She
had a young man’s life in her hands.

39
 Exercise
The hospital : ‫المستشفى‬
Summary & Dialogue
Nurse Huda, who looked tired, was finishing her night shift
when Nurse Mona reached the hospital to start her shift.
Nurse Mona : “ How is Ayman Hassan ? ”
Nurse Huda : “ He’s still in intensive care. His breathing
stopped around 1 a.m. and we’re keeping him alive on a
ventilator.”
Nurse Mona : “ Did the plants get through ? ”
Nurse Huda : “ Yes. There was a storm. Two cars were
damaged and six men were washed down a wadi, but Wafaa
Sultan got through with the plants, and the men are OK. The
doctors made some medicine from the plants and gave it to
Ayman at about midnight.”
Nurse Mona : “ Didn’t it help ? ”
Nurse Huda : “ It’s too soon to say.”
{ Another nurse came into the room }
Nurse : “ Great news! Ayman Hassan is breathing normally
again. He is going to be fine.”
Nurse Huda : “ That’s wonderful! ”
Nurse Mona : “ Do his family know ? ”
Nurse : “ Yes. They’re all there with him. They’ll be there
when he wakes up.”

Ayman woke up a few hours later. His parents,

brother and sisters were all there. In the morning, Ayman felt
well enough to walk around the ward. In the afternoon, he and
his family sat in the roof terrace to enjoy some fresh air. The
roof terrace was above the place where ambulances arrived.
Ayman was still weak, so Mohamed held his arm as he walked.
Ayman : “ Have they found the female spider ? ”

40
 Exercise
Father : “ Not yet. They’re looking for it now. They think it’s
probably dead, but it might be still alive, so they have to keep
looking for it. ”
Mother : “ But your adventure is finished, thank Heaven! ”
Lamia : “ Everyone’s talking about you! ”
Mohamed : “ There was a picture of you in the newspaper,
too. And on television. The newspaper said that you saved
hundreds of lives. It said there would be thousands of killer
spiders in Hamdayya now if you hadn’t warned the police.”
Najat : “ Professor Malcolm says that you saved the world
from the spiders.”
Ayman ( laughed ) : “ The professor gets excited very easily. ”
Mother : “ Professor Malcolm says you can go and study at
Oxford University if you want to.”
Father : “ You won’t have to worry about getting a good job
any more. Uncle Walid says all the best
employers will want a man like you.”
Ayman : “ I feel like a new person with a new future! ”
Lamia : “ Let’s take a family photograph with your new
camera.”

The camera was a generous present from Professor

Jones. The professor was pleased that he had discovered a new
species of spider. He had given the camera to Ayman as a
‘Thank you’. The camera was kept in an expensive aluminium
case.
Ayman : “ Does anyone know what’s going to happen to the
spiders in the desert ? ”
Lamia : “ I don’t think they should be killed. They only hurt
people because people disturb them. If nobody goes there, they
won’t hurt anybody.”
Mohamed : “ But it’s an important archaeological site.
Archaeologists will want to go there. So will tourists.”
41
 Exercise
Ayman : “ I think science will find an answer. Until then, I
agree that we shouldn’t hurt the spiders. ”

At that moment, Ayman saw the black and yellow

spider moving near Lamia’s shoulder. Many thoughts went
through Ayman’s mind. How had the spider come here? It
must have escaped in the ambulance that brought him here.
What would happen if it bit his sister? She would die because
the Echinacea Negra couldn’t treat the female’s bite. Should he
tell her to move? No. She must keep still. If she moved, the
spider would bite.

{ Ayman raised his camera and slowly moved towards his

younger sister }
Ayman : “ Keep very still, Lamia. I want to take a photo.
Don’t move.”

Ayman flashed the camera. The flashlight blinded the

spider for a second. Then he knocked the spider into the
aluminium box and shut it quickly. Everyone congratulated
Ayman as he saved his sister, but suddenly they stopped.
Ayman was looking at his hand. There were two red marks
because the deadly female spider had bitten him. Ayman was
shocked; her eyes closed and fell to the floor.

After many hours, Ayman heard someone talking. He

heard also his name. He opened his eyes. He looked in the
direction of the voice and he saw his own face. He was looking
at TV screen. Then the faces of the minister and a reporter.
The Reporter : “ The minister described Ayman Hassan as a
brave young man who was ready to give his life to save
others.”

42
 Exercise
The Minister : “ We can only guess how many thousands of
people might have died without the intelligence and bravery of
this young man.”
The Reporter : “ But tonight, people throughout Egypt are not
only praising Ayman; they are also celebrating. They are
celebrating because Ayman is still alive! To find out why the
deadly female spider did not kill him, I asked Dr Salah at the
hospital, where Ayman is now.”

( Turned to Dr Salah ) “ Dr Salah, you expected Ayman to die

from the bite of the female spider, didn’t you ? ”

Dr Salah : “ Yes, we did. The female’s bite is very dangerous,

and we have no medicine for it.”
The Reporter : “ So why didn’t he die ? ”
Dr Salah : “ Well, when venom enters the body of a person or
an animal, the body begins to make antivenom to fight the
venom. This is what happened when Ayman was bitten the
first time. His body produced a lot of antivenom. When he was
bitten a second time, he already had so much antivenom in his
body, that the bite had little effect on him! We now expect
Ayman to wake up very soon!”

The Reporter : “ Thank you, Dr Salah. And a very special

thank you to Ayman Hassan, the most popular young man in
Egypt today.”

43