THE SPIDERS

Chapter 1
1- Why did the four robbers go to the archaeological site?
They went there to rob it.

2- What did the robbers do in order not to be seen or heard by the

archaeologists?
They used two land cruisers with local number plates.
They switched their lights and engines.
They stopped 200 metres from the tents of the
archaeologists and walked 50 metres through darkness.

3- Why did the four men switch of their lights and engines?
Because they did not want the archaeologists to see or hear
them.

4- What did the archaeologists do with the gold objects?

They sent them to the museum in Cairo.

5- What (equipment) did they use in the robbery?

They used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) , a machine like a
large camera connected to a computer, a pickaxe and a heavy
hammer.

6- What equipment did the men use to see through walls?

They used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).

7- How did the machine (GPR) show what was behind the walls?
It transmitted radio waves through the wall. When the waves
 hit something on the other side, they came back to it. The
computer changed the radio waves into a picture.

8- What did the men find in the underground rooms?

They found ancient Egyptian mummies, gold and other
treasures.

9- Why were the men excited when they went through the gold doors
of the tomb?
Because there were lots of treasures in the room.

10- Why did the small man shout 'Let's go out of here!'?
Because the spiders were biting them all.

11- What did the robbers have to leave the tomb?

The spiders were biting them all.

12- Why did the oldest man of the robbers believe that the spiders were
not deadly?
Because there were not any deadly spiders in Egypt.

13- Why were the spiders an unknown species?

Because no one had seen them and they were not on the
database.

14- What did the pilot do when he saw robber's cars below in the
desert?
He brought the helicopter down. They examined the four
men. They found them all dead.

15- What were the men inside the helicopter doing?

They were on their way to a transmitter in the desert, which
 had a technical problem.

16- In the pilot's opinion, what killed the four men?

They pilot thought they had died of thirst.

17- How did the engineer save the pilot's life?

When the engineer suggested getting on the radio to the
police. His hand had been near the spiders before he moved
away.

18- Where did the police drive the robbers' cars?

The police drove the cars to the police station in Hamadayya.

Chapter 2
19- Why could the police officer 'not believe his eyes' when he opened
the boxes in the land cruisers?
Because he saw the gold and treasures in the boxes.

20- What was Ayman's favourite hobby?

It was using the internet.

21- How was the internet useful for Ayman?

He used it four his studies and for making friends in other
countries.

22- Why didn't the spider attack Najat?

Because her foot moved away.

23- Where and when did Ayman first see the big spider?
He saw it in the garden when he was going to the shops.

24- What showed that Ayman wasn't afraid of the spider?

He was knelling very close to it. He was more interested than
 afraid.

25- Why wasn't the spider that Ayman saw an ordinary one?
Because it was very large, the size of an apple.

26- How did the old Egyptian town disappear?

The people burnt the town. They hoped to kill all the spiders.

27- In Dr Fakhry's opinion, what is another possible reason for the

disappearance of the old town of Bawiti?
The climate became drier, so the town perhaps disappeared
under the desert sand.

28- Why was the spider looking for a quiet and dark home?
Because it was ready to lay eggs and it didn't want anybody
to disturb it.

29- What did the spider do whey it laid eggs?

It enclosed them in sacs of silk and then began its long wait.

Chapter 3
30- Where did Dr Shereen Fakhry work?
She worked at the department of Egyptology at Oxford
University.

31- Why did Dr. Fakhry think Ayman should tell the police about the
spider he saw?
Because she thought that the spider might be dangerous.

32- Why didn't Ayman want to tell the police about the spider?
Because he thought that everyone would laugh at him.

33- Why did Dr Fakhry think that the spiders in the German
 Egyptologist's text were real?
Because they were in a medical text (manuscript).

34- Why did Ayman think that the killer spiders in ancient Egypt were
not the same as the spider he saw?
Because there are not any killer spiders in modern Egypt.

35- Who was Susan Bennett?

She was a zoologist. She worked at Zoology Department at
Oxford University.

36- Why did Professor Jones think spiders are very useful animals?
Because they eat insects like flies, mosquitoes and other
pests.

37- Why did Susan Bennett and Dr Fakhry go to meet Professor Jones?
Because he was a famous arachnologist and he wrote many
books on spiders and other arachnids.

38- Why was Professor Jones interested in the spider Ayman had seen?
Because it was unknown and dangerous.

39- Why did Susan Bennett and Dr Fakhry go to meet Professor Jones?
Because he was a famous arachnologist and he wrote many
books on spiders and other arachnids

40- Why was Professor Jones interested in the spider Ayman had seen?
Because it was unknown and dangerous.

41- Why did Professor Jones think that hospitals couldn't treat the
spider's bites?
Because there was no antivenom for them.
42- Why did Professor Jones think that the spider in Hamdayya was
female?
Because the spider was very big and female spiders are
usually bigger than males.

43- Why hadn't anybody seen the dangerous spider before?

Because they lived under the ground in a remote part in the
desert.

44- Why did Professor Jones decide to go to Egypt?

Because he wanted to find out about the spider Ayman had
seen.

45- What was the ancient Egyptian medicine for the deadly spiders
made from?
It was made from the roots of the Echinacea Negra.

46- How did Dr Fakhry know about this medicine?

She knew about the medicine form a German Egyptologist
who translated a 2.000 years old text about the medicine.

Chapter 4
47- What did Ayman’s family think of Ayman’s story about the spiders?
His family thought that half of the story was true and the
other half was Ayman’s imagination.

48- Why didn’t Ayman’s uncle think that he should tell the police about
the spider?
Because he didn’t want to worry people unnecessarily.

49- How would the stories about dangerous spiders affect the
 businesses in the town?
Businesses in the town would lose money. People wouldn’t
stay in hotels, they wouldn’t eat at restaurants and they
wouldn’t buy the food products.

50- How did Ayman’s family find out that he had already told other
people about the spider?
Ayman sowed them the e-mail from Dr. Fakhry.

51- How was Professor Jones feeling when he arrived at Hamadayya?

He was feeling excited about finding a new species of spider.

52- Ayman’s parents and his uncle were shocked when they read the e-
mail from Dr Fakhry to Ayman. Give a reason.
Because they found out that he had already told other people
about the spiders.

53- Why did Colonel Mikhail invite Professor Jones and Ayman to the
police station?
Because he wanted to get information about the spiders.

54- Why did Colonel Mikhail hope the spiders were known species?
Because they were an unknown deadly species and there was
no antivenom for their bites.

55- Why had men died from these spiders’ bites?

Because they were an unknown deadly species and there was
no antivenom for their bites.

56- Why did Professor Jones, Captain Ahmed and Ayman go to the
archaeological site?
They went there to find the spiders like the one Ayman had
 seen.

57- What did Colonel Mikhail ask Professor Jones to do?

He asked him to find one of the spiders and identify it.

58- Why were the two lorries with armed police officers going to guard
the archaeological site in the desert?
Because the archaeologists at the site were dead and they
wanted to stop anyone going near it.

Chapter 5
59- What equipment did the police officers take with them when they
went to the archaeological site?
They took protective clothing, tanks of insecticides, fencing
wire, big lights, weapons tools and building materials.

60- Why had a fence been built around the archaeological site?
A fence had been built to keep robbers out.

61- Who went down to the tomb?

Professor Malcolm, Ayman, Captain Ahmed and three other
officers.

62- Why did they wear protective clothes when they entered the tomb?
They wore protective clothing to protect themselves against
the deadly spiders and from the insecticides.

63- What things did they take with them when they entered the tomb?
They took with them insecticides sprays, a smoker and a bag
of equipment for the Professor.

64- Where did the Professor put his equipment?

He put it in a place where many large webs hung from the
 ceiling.

65- What happened when Professor Jones switched on the smoker?

When he switched on the smoker, hot poisonous smoke
poured out of the smoker and went up to the ceiling. About
twenty small dead insects and spiders fell into he white
sheet.

66- What did Professor Jones use to examine the spider?

He used a magnifying glass.

67- What happened to the young officer when the spider attacked him?
He was coughing badly and fell to the ground.

68- How did the police officers try to kill the large female spider?
They tried to kill it by using their insecticide sprays.

69- Why do you think the large black and yellow spiders did not die?
Because it was stronger than the others.

70- How did they know that the spider had not bitten the man’s face?
There was no blood on his face.

71- What was the professor’s opinion of what had happened to the
young officer?
He thought that he just breathed in some insecticide.

72- Why did the captain want to destroy the spiders?

Because ten people had died already and his job was to
prevent more deaths. The spiders were dangerous and there
was no antivenom.

73- Why would it be difficult to kill all the spiders in the archaeological
site?
 Because they didn’t know where all the underground rooms
and passage were.

74- Why did the men want to kill the spiders in the tomb?
To collect antivenom from them.

75- Who agreed to take Wafaa Sultan in the mountain?

The police in Sinai.

Chapter 6
76- Why did the police want no one to leave Hamdayya?
Because they didn’t want to take a spider out of the town.

77- Why did extra officers come to the Hamdayya?

They came to the town to search for the large female spider.

78- Why did the professor thing that there was only one female spider?
Because only Ayman had reported seeing a big spider.

79- Why was the female much more dangerous than any male spider?
Because it could produce thousands (1.000 or 2.000) of other
spiders and its bite is stronger.

80- Why did the female spider live in the empty house next to
Ayman’s?
Because it was dark, quiet and cool.

81- What did the officers see when they opened the door of the room?
They saw 2.000 small black and yellow spiders on the floor of
the room. They looked like waves on the sea.

82- What did they use to kill the spiders?

They used poisonous insecticides.
83- What did the officer hope to do with his insecticide tank?
He hoped to kill the large female spider.

84- The large female spider used its fangs not against the enemy but
against itself. Explain how?
When the officer’s insecticide tank landed on one of its legs,
it used its fangs to cut through it.

85- Why did the spiders bite Ayman?

Because his suit was torn.

86- Why were the captain’s men looking for the body of the large
female spider?
Because they wanted to make sure that it was dead.

Chapter 7
87- Why was the road down the mountain dangerous?
Because it was narrow and steep.

88- Why did they drive the cars slowly?

They drove the cars slowly so that the cars could not slide
and go over the edge. The road was narrow and steep.

89- Why did Captain Osama drive at top speed in the second wadi?
Because he wanted to cross the third wadi before the water
became too high.

90- Why did they have to cross the third wadi?

Because they had to get the echincea negra to Ayman.

91- Why did the jeep move sideways?

Because it was too light and the water carried it fast.
92- What happened to the third car when a tree hit it?
It rolled up on one side and sank down in the water.

93- What made Captain Osama and Farouk go into the water?
They went into the water to attach the other end of the
towrope to the third car.
94- Why couldn’t the four men tow the third car?
Because the water carried them away from it.

95- Why did Wafaa leave the four men on the rocky land and drove
alone back?
Because she wanted Ayman to get the medicine in time. She
felt that his life was in her hands. They couldn’t leave it.

96- Why did Wafaa drive too fast on her way back to Hamdayya?
Because she wanted to save Ayman’s life.

Chapter 8
97- Why was Ayman in the intensive care?
Because his state was serious after the spider had bitten
him.

98- What did the doctors do with the plants?

They made a medicine from it.

99- Why didn’t Ayman tell his sister that the spider was behind her?
Because if he had told her, she would have moved and the
spider would have bitten her.

100- How did Ayman catch the female spider?

When he saw the female spider near Lamia’s shoulder he
asked her to keep still to take a photo. The camera’s
 flashlight blinded the spider for a second. Ayman knocked
the spider into the aluminium box and shut it quickly.

101- When did the spider bite Ayman for the second time?
When he knocked it into the aluminium case.

102- Why didn’t Ayman die of the spider’s second bite?

Because he had so much antivenom in his body since he was
bitten the firs time. The bite had a little effect on him.

103- How did Professor Jones reward Ayman?

He presented him a camera and said he could study at Oxford
university if he wished to.

104- Why wouldn’t Ayman have to worry about getting a good job?
Because all the best employers would want a man like him.

105- Why did Ayman feel like a new person with a new future?
Because Professor Jones had said he could study at Oxford
University and his uncle had said he would get a good job
because all the best employers would want a man like him.

106- Why did Ayman become the most popular young man in Egypt?
Because he killed the dangerous spider and saved the world
form it. His picture was on TV and in the newspapers. People
were talking about him.