Stone

Hard, solid non-metallic mineral matter of which rock is made.  Rubble, ashlar masonry, cap stone, tie stone. They posses characteristics like durability, adaptability to sculptural treatment, and the fact that it can be used in modest structures in its natural state. But it is difficult to quarry, transport, and cut, and its weakness is tension limits its use for beams, lintels, and floor supports. In construction, stones are strong enough to provide monolithic supports (column and piers) and beams (lintels); and in some styles stone slabs are employed even for roofing (ancient Egyptian temples, early Christian basilicas in Syria). But this roofing requires so many columns that unvaulted masonry buildings are almost always combined with floors and covering in wood. Although it has generally been replaced as a structural material by cheaper and more efficient manufactured products, it is still widely used as a surface veneer for its practical and expressive qualities.    Superlative: Comparative:
 * **What are stones? **
 * **How many kinds of stone do you know? **
 * **What characteristics do stones have? **
 * **Why are stones used in construction? **
 * Find 2 definitions in the text
 * 1) The entablatures: the upper sections of a classical order that rest on the capital of a column.
 * 2) Rubble: roughly broken stones of any shape bounded in mortar
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Find 2 statements of comparison and contrast
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stone masonry (in contrast with brick) does not depend on strong bonding for stability where it supports only direct downward loads.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The entablatures of an ancient Greek temple, for example, were bonded by small bronze dowels. But the weight creates problems of stability when loads push at an angle; stone vaults and arches require more support and buttressing than equivalent forms in other materials.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Find 2 statements expressing cause and effect
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The best stone (and brick) bonding is that in which blocks are placed so that the vertical joints in one course are not about the joints in the course above and below, since the stone resists deformation better than any bonding material.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because of its weight and the precision with which it can be shaped, stone masonry (in contrast with brick) does not depend on strong bonding for stability where it supports only direct downward loads.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Find 2 adjectives in the superlative form and 2 in the comparative form.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The best stone.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The strongest.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stone vaults and arches require more support and buttressing than equivalent forms in other materials.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Since the stone resists deformation better than any bonding material.