Task 1. Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.

At its height the population of the city of Rome was probably over 1 million people. However, the Roman Empire was an agricultural society. Most people there made their living from farming. It means that only a small part of the population lived in towns. In the Roman Empire there were two types of people – citizens and non-citizens. Roman citizens had certain privileges. Women had a kind of limited Roman citizenship. They could not vote or hold a public office.

Many of the inhabitants of Rome were slaves. Prisoners of war were made slaves and any children slaves had were also slaves. A slave’s life was terrible. Most were probably treated reasonably just to keep them working well. Slaves who worked in mines probably suffered most. Some slaves did manage to save enough money to buy their freedom. Others were granted their freedom by their owners.