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A2 Reading • 12 Minutes

🏺 Pottery and Ceramics

Discover how clay changes forever and what ancient cave pots tell us.

💡 How to use this lesson

👩‍🏫 For teachers:

Use this 12-minute reading activity to practice present simple and past simple facts. Read the passage together and check answers using the evidence guides provided.

🎓 For learners:

First, read the school article carefully and look at the word list below it. Next, answer the 8 questions and check your answers with the exact words from the text.

School Website Article

How Clay Becomes Pottery

A detailed artistic scene of traditional ceramic pottery jars, handmade clay pots, and a hot kiln oven with warm glowing

Handmade pottery before and after firing in a kiln.

The Victoria and Albert Museum says that before clay goes into the kiln, people can break it up, soak it in water and make it into new clay again. A kiln is a very hot oven. When clay goes into the kiln, a permanent change happens and the clay becomes hard. Firing a pot is the point of no return. Many pots also need a glaze and a second firing so that liquids cannot go through them.

News reports say that scientists found pieces of pottery about 20,000 years old in Xianrendong Cave in Jiangxi province in China. The scientists think that people used the pots for cooking.

📖 Hard Words (Glossary)

kiln

= a very hot oven for clay.

firing

= putting clay in a kiln to make it hard.

glaze

= a thin glass-like layer on a pot.

point of no return

= the moment after which you cannot go back.

🔍 Sentence Pattern Example

Notice how we speak about facts that happen every time versus completed past actions:

Fact (Every time)

"The kiln makes the clay hard every time."

Past Action (History)

"She made a small pot last week."

✍️ Practice Exercises (8 Questions)

Answer each question based directly on the article above.

1 True / False

You can soak clay in water and use it again before firing.

____ True ____ False

2 True / False

Firing a pot in a kiln means you can change its shape back later.

____ True ____ False

3 Multiple Choice

What does the Victoria and Albert Museum say about a glaze?

____ a. It makes pots soft again. ____ b. It stops liquids from going through pots. ____ c. It turns clay into water.

4 Multiple Choice

What is a kiln?

____ a. A very hot oven for clay. ____ b. A cave located in China. ____ c. A large bowl for cooking soup.

5 Matching Matrix

Match each information source with what it tells us in the passage:

Information Source

Very old pots from a cave

How clay and a kiln make pots

1. The Victoria and Albert Museum

____ Very old pots from a cave ____ How clay and a kiln make pots

2. News reports

____ Very old pots from a cave ____ How clay and a kiln make pots

6 Short Answer

Where did scientists find the old pottery pieces mentioned in news reports?

Type your answer below (e.g., name of the cave or location).

____ (Type your answer here...)

7 Short Answer

How old are the pottery pieces found in the cave?

Type the number of years mentioned in the passage.

____ (e.g., about 20,000 years old)

8 Short Answer

What do scientists think early people used these ancient cave pots for?

Write the activity stated at the end of the text.

____ (e.g., cooking)

Reading: Pottery and Ceramics

🏺 Pottery and Ceramics

💡 How to use this lesson

How Clay Becomes Pottery

📖 Hard Words (Glossary)

🔍 Sentence Pattern Example

✍️ Practice Exercises (8 Questions)

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