Sophia’s Visions, Part 7. Sophia sees the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the burning of the Temple, the triumph in Rome and the Jewish tax. A C1 English lesson on cleft sentences for emphasis, with a gamebook.
Alexandria · the 754th year since the founding of Rome · 1 CE
Sophia’s Visions, Part 7 · Cleft sentences: It was … who …, What … is … · C1
Think first. When a terrible event happens, why do people care so much about who exactly was responsible?
While you read, look for sentences that begin It was … or What …. They put one piece of information in the spotlight.
Philo: “I went to Jerusalem once, when I was young. Before I went, Sophia held my coin. Read it slowly.”
Philo had been saving for a year. In the spring, he said, he would go to Jerusalem: by ship to Gaza, by road through Ascalon, and up into the hills to the Temple, to pray and offer sacrifice as his fathers had done.
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