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KTO KARATAY UNIVERSITY ENGLISH PREP PROGRAM Contemporary Topics Unit 1-B - What Causes a Society to Collapse?

Listen to the lecture and complete the blanks with the words you hear. Last time, we talked about archeological discoveries and what they tell us about ancient societies. So what happened to those three societies? Remember? The Incas of South America? The people of Easter Island? And the people of Stonehenge? What made these people 1 ________________ , or disappear? Well, today I want to talk about that, about why these three societies 2 ________________. Why did they collapse? Generally speaking, there are three different reasons: 3 a) _________________________ b) _________________________ c) _________________________ And I want you to understand. These three reasons are also typical causes of societal collapse throughout history. And that may have significant meaning for us today. More on that later. Ok, lets get started on the three reasons. First we have 4________________. Of course it can kill people, right? But a whole society? Our first example describes how the Incan society of Peru disappeared.
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________________ suggests that disease was the cause. Five hundred years ago, the Incan Empire was the largest empire in the world with 10 million people. And it was also the richest. And these riches-consisting of gold and 6________________ stones, for example led to this great societies disappearance. How? Well, when the Europeans heard about the Incas wealth, they wanted it they wanted all of it. So they travelled to Incan Empire to steal the 7________________. And while they were in the Americas, they passed new disease to the Incan people. One of the most deadly diseases was smallpox. Nearly 8________________ of the Incas died because they got small pox. So disease caused the Incan Empire to collapse. And, historically, disease is a big 9________________ why many other societies have collapsed. Now, the second cause of societal collapse I want to discuss is ________________ change. An example of collapse due to it is Easter Island, in the Pacific Ocean. It can be caused by humans. In the case of Easter Island, research ________________ it was caused by people. About 1200 years ago, the first people of Easter Island cut down all trees on the 12________________. They used the trees as rollers to move their 13________________. Can you guess what went wrong? Easter island soon had 14________________ problems because the people the people has used up all of the trees. Without trees they couldnt build boats for fishing or make tools for farming. The shortage of trees led to a major drop in population. We might say that the Easter Islanders disappeared because they couldnt live in this environment this environment without trees. A very sad story isnt it? The third and final big reason societies collapse is cultural
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________________. Archeologists have found evidence that the ______________ people of

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Stonehenge were very peaceful for a time. They had no 17________________ except for hunting. Their culture changed from a very 18________________ one to a culture of war and fighting. Archeologists believe that the people of Stonehenge also began to 19 ________________ within their culture. And soon this society collapsed. Why? Because they experienced _______________ conflict. For next time I want to think about three causes of collapse. Then think about problems in the world today. Which societies are strong, and which face potential collapse? Ill see you the next class.
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