How much water we pour
A text in Persian at level B1. The translation sits next to it for checking, not for support: at this level the text is read whole, and an unknown word is usually guessed from the sentence. At school we measured for a week how much water our family spends. The total is almost a thousand liters. A third went…
Text
- یک هفته در مدرسه اندازه گرفتیم که خانواده ما چقدر آب می‌برد. مجموع آن نزدیک هزار لیتر بود. یک سوم برای دوش بود، یک چهارم برای ظرف‌ها، بقیه برای شستن و پختن. وقتی شیر را موقع مسواک می‌بستیم، یک‌دهم آب کم شد. دوش نو دو برابر کمتر آب می‌برد، هرچند مثل قبلی به نظر می‌رسد. آخر کار عددها را گرد کردیم و در مقیاس یک تا ده نشان دادیم.yek hâfte dar mâdrese ândâze gereftim ke khânevâde mâ chekadr âb mi-bârad. madzhmume ân nazdike hezâr litr bud. yek sevvâm barâe dush bud, yek chehârâm barâe zarafhâ, bagie barâe shâstan â pâkhtan. vagti shir râ mavg'ee mesvak mi-bâstim, yek-dahâme âb kam shâd. duzhe nu dâ bârâber kamtar âb mi-bârad, harchand mesele gâbli be nazar mi-resad. âkhare kâr adadhâ râ gerd kardim â dar maghiyose yek tâ dah neshân dâdim.At school we measured for a week how much water our family spends. The total is almost a thousand liters. A third went to the shower, a quarter to the dishes, the rest to laundry and cooking. When we closed the tap while brushing our teeth, the water went down by a tenth. The new shower pours half as much water, though it looks like the old one. At the end we rounded the numbers and showed them on a scale from one to ten.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- How much water does the family spend in a week?
- Where did a third of the water go?
- How much less water was spent because of the closed tap?
- How is the new shower different?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Persian?
B1. That means: everyday topics are behind you, you know about three thousand words, and an unknown word is more often guessed from the sentence than looked up.
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.