Comprensión lectora en inglés

Módulo 7: Intermedio 2

Homework task 2
Submission Date: See activities calendar

Read the instructions for Homework Task 2 which are included on Unit 9
Study Guide.

NAME:

Part 1 (50 points)

For questions 1-10 read the text below. Use the words given in capitals at the end of each
line to form a word that fits in the space in the same line.

In the (0) nineteenth century and for most of the NINE

twentieth century up to the 1950s, the exploration of
the Moon was carried out by the use of (1) powerful
telescopes. This research provided (2) valuable POWER
information about the visible side of the Moon was VALUE
revealed to the world. Photographs taken from the
Soviet Lunik III (3) space showed that the
(4) hidden side of the Moon was, in fact, not very SPACE
different from the near side. The HIDE
(5) successful landing of unmanned spacecraft by
the USA and the Russians in the 1960s and finally SUCCESS
the landing of the first man on the Moon in 1969
made possible the direct (6) exploration of the
Moon’s surface. The Apollo astronauts collected EXPLORE
rocks and sent thousands of photographs back to
(7) in Houston. They set up instruments which
calculated the Moon’s HEAD
(8) measurement and through the use of laser
beams they discovered the exact (9) distance MEASURE
between the Moon and our beautiful (10) Earth. DISTANT
BEAUTY

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Módulo 7: Intermedio 2

Question Answer
1 Powerful
2 Valuable
3 Space
4 Hidden
5 Successful
6 Exploration
7
8 Measurement
9 Distance
10 Beautiful

Part 2 (50 points)

Read the following text and answer the questions below. Write your answers in the box at the
end of this exercise.

The planet Mars has always captured the human imagination. There is its
redness. We know now that the color comes from chemical reactions that long
ago locked up Mars’s oxygen in reddish minerals on its surface, causing the
“rusting” of the planet. To the ancients, the red color meant only one thing: blood.
From the earliest times- Mars –named from the Roman god of war. has been 5
associated with bloodshed. Even the astronomical symbol for Mars, a circle with
an arrow pointing at 2 o’clock, is supposed to represent a shield and a spear.

As astronomers acquired telescopes, Mars mythology grew. It was the Italian

astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli who, in 1877, produced the most lasting bit if
Martian folklore. He saw what he took to be long, thin, unnaturally straight lines on 10
the Martian surface. He called them canali, a word that can translate into English
either as “channels” or “canals”. Unfortunately, the latter translation was used,
and the canals of Mars were born. Obviously if there were canals, there had to be
canal builders, so once more mars was peopled with all manner of intelligent life
forms! 15

In 1965 Mariner 4 sent back our first close-up pictures of the Martian surface.
Not only were there no canals, but Mariner 4 and the spacecraft that followed
revealed a planet that was a largely cratered, apparently lifeless desert. We
have subsequently learned that mars is home to Olympus Mons, the largest
volcano in the entire solar system, and to a canyon system stretching for almost 20
3,000 miles around the Martian equator. The atmosphere is extremely thin
(equivalent to that at 130,000 feet above Earth) and made up almost entirely of
carbon dioxide. This surface is cold, almost never getting above freezing even at
the summertime equator.

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Perhaps the greatest surprise were the photographs from the Mariner 8 in 1971- 25
72 that showed channels on the surface. Now these were not Schiaparelli’s
canali- there is no way these channels could be seen by even the most
powerful earthbound telescope. They are unmistakable water courses,
however. There is no water in them now, but they trace out the path of water
that flowed in the past. They resemble the arroyos of the American West, 30
through which water from infrequent cloudburst flows, but which are bone-dry
most of the time. Water once ran on the surface of Mars.

New explorations on Mars by the spacecraft Pathfinder, due to arrive on the

planet’s surface in 1997, are planned to give scientists more information about
possible past life on Mars. One of the Pathfinder’s missions will be to lay the 35
groundwork for future effort to find fossil remains of living things. The landing site
for the Mars Pathfinder is going to be the mouth of an old flood channel called
Ares Vallis.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that myths about Mars

a) are widely believed today.
b) have been dispelled by current space exploration
c) are based on scientific facts
d) depict it as a lifeless planet

2. Which of the flowing have NOT been a source of information about Mars?
a) spacecraft
b) telescopes
c) conjecture
d) astronauts

3. The phrase “the latter” in line 12 refers to

a) canals
b) canali
c) channels
d) unusual straight lines

4. The photographs from Mariner 8 were surprising because

a) they verified Schiaparelli’s canali
b) they show that water may once have existed on Mars
c) they were not as good as the images from Earths telescopes
d) they were first shown in the American West

5. The author implies that the English translation of the Italian word canali as canals was
unfortunate because
a) it contributed to the myth of life on Mars
b) Schiaparelli’s discovery was not given proper credit
c) no telescope on Earth could see canals accurately
d) the misconception held up by scientific space travel for centuries

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6. Where in the passage does the author give information about the topography of Mars?
a) lines 2-3
b) lines 16-19
c) lines 23-28
d) lines 35-37

7. The word “powerful” in line 27 is closes in meaning to

a) expensive
b) dominant
c) influential
d) strong

8. According to the passage, the redness of Mars is a result of

a) a chemical reaction on the planet surface
b) the old age of the planet
c) the reflection of the Sun
d) an abundance oxygen in the planet’s atmosphere

9. Why do scientist think that the channels of Mars were waterways?

a) They resemble a similar system on Earth.
b) They still have a little water in them.
c) Bones have been found there.
d) They are straight and narrow.

10. According to the passage, Pathfinder’s mission to Mars includes

a) preparing for future fossil-finding expeditions.
b) placing specialized equipment on the planet’s surface.
c) checking for flood damage.
d) bringing back fossils for further study.

Question Answer
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

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Módulo 7: Intermedio 2

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