An experiment with three cups
A short text in Arabic at level A2. The translation sits next to it: reading with a dictionary is still too early at this level, and without support it will not happen at all. At the lesson we did an experiment with water of three kinds. Each group took a sample and weighed it with precision.…
Text
- في الدرس عملنا تجربة بالماء من ثلاثة أنواع. كل مجموعة أخذت عينة ووزنتها بدقة. كانت فرضيتنا أن ماء النهر هو الأوسخ. المراقبة أظهرت شيئا آخر، فنحن دحضنا الفرضية الأولى. قالت المعلمة إن المراقبة أهم من التوقع. وبناء على الأرقام كتبنا النتيجة ووجدنا نمطا ثابتا.фи ад-дарс ʿамильна таджриба би-ль-мааʾ мин саляса анвааʿ. куль муджмууʿа ахазат ʿайинатан ва-вазанатха би-дикка. кянат фардийатуна анн мааʾ ан-нахр хува аль-аусах. аль-мараакаба азхарат шайʾан аахар, фа-дахадна аль-фардийя аль-ууля. каалат аль-муʿаллима инн аль-мараакаба ахамм мина ат-такаʾууд. ва-бинааʾан ʿаля аль-аркаам катабна ан-натийа ва-ваджадна намтан сабитан.At the lesson we did an experiment with water of three kinds. Each group took a sample and weighed it with precision. Our hypothesis was that river water is the dirtiest. The observation showed something else, and we refuted the first hypothesis. The teacher said that observation matters more than expectation. And on the basis of the numbers we wrote the result and found a constant pattern.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- What was the experiment with?
- What was the hypothesis?
- What did the observation show?
- What matters more than expectation, by the teacher's words?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Arabic?
A2. That means: you know the letters and have a stock of everyday words — about two or three hundred.
How to read a text in an unfamiliar language usefully?
First all the way through without peeking at the translation — just to catch the familiar words. Then with the translation. Then all the way through again: the second pass brings noticeably more, and that feeling matters more than any rule.