1.AEuropeanspacecrafttookofftodaytospearheadthesearchforanother"Earth"amongthestars.
2.TheCorotspacetelescopeblastedoffaboardaRussianSoyuzrocketfromtheBaikonurcosmodromeinKazakhstanshortlyafter2.20pm.
3.Corot,shortforconvectionrotationandplanetarytransits,isthefirstinstrumentcapableoffindingsmallrockyplanetsbeyondthesolarsystem.Anysuchplanetsituatedintherightorbitstandsagoodchanceofhavingliquidwateronitssurface,andquitepossiblylife,althoughaleadingscientistinvolvedintheprojectsaiditwasunlikelytofind"anylittlegreenmen".
4.DevelopedbytheFrenchspaceagency,CNES,andpartneredbytheEuropeanSpaceAgency(ESA),Austria,Belgium,Germany,BrazilandSpain,Corotwillmonitoraround120,000starswithits27cmtelescopefromapolarorbit514milesabovetheEarth.Overtwoandahalfyears,itwillfocusonfivetosixdifferentareasofthesky,measuringthebrightnessofabout10,000starsevery512seconds.
5."Atthepresentmomentwearehopingtofindoutmoreaboutthenatureofplanetsaroundstarswhicharepotentialhabitats.Wearelookingathabitableplanets,notinhabitedplanets.Wearenotgoingtofindanylittlegreenmen,"ProfessorIanRoxburgh,anESAscientistwhohasbeeninvolvedwithCorotsinceitsinception,toldtheBBCRadio4Todayprogramme.
6.ProfRoxburghsaiditwashopedCorotwouldfind"rockyplanetsthatcoulddevelopanatmosphereand,iftheyaretherightdistancefromtheirparentstar,theycouldhavewater".
7.Tosearchforplanets,thetelescopewilllookforthedimmingofstarlightcausedwhenanobjectpassesinfrontofastar,knownasa"transit".Althoughitwilltakemoresophisticatedspacetelescopesplannedinthenext10yearstoconfirmthepresenceofanEarth-likeplanetwithoxygenandliquidwater,Corotwillletscientistsknowwheretopointtheirlenses.
8.MeasurementsofminutechangesinbrightnesswillenablescientiststodetectgiantJupiter-likegasplanetsaswellassmallrockyones.Itistherockyplanets-thatcouldbenobiggerthanabouttwicethesizeoftheEarth-whichwillcausethemostexcitement.Scientistsexpecttofindbetween10and40ofthesesmallerplanets.
9.Corotwillalsoprobeintostellarinteriorsbystudyingtheacousticwavesthatrippleacrossthesurfaceofstars,atechniquecalled"asteroseismology".
10.Thenatureoftheripplesallowsastronomerstocalculateastar’sprecisemass,ageandchemicalcomposition.
11."Aplanetpassinginfrontofastarcanbedetectedbythefallinlightfromthatstar.Smalloscillationsofthestaralsoproducechangesinthelightemitted,whichrevealwhatthestarismadeofandhowtheyarestructuredinternally.Thisdatawillprovideamajorboosttoourunderstandingofhowstarsformandevolve,"ProfRoxburghsaid.
12.Sincethediscoveryin1995ofthefirst"exoplanet"-aplanetorbitingastarotherthantheSun-morethan200othershavebeenfoundbyground-basedobservatories.
13.Untilnowtheusualmethodoffindingexoplanetshasbeentodetectthe"wobble"theirgravityimpartsonparentstars.ButonlygiantgaseousplanetsbiggerthanJupitercanbefoundthisway,andtheyareunlikelytoharbourlife.
14.Inthe2010s,ESAplanstolaunchDarwin,afleetoffourorfiveinterlinkedspacetelescopesthatwillnotonlyspotsmallrockyplanets,butanalysetheiratmospheresforsignsofbiologicalactivity.
15.Ataroundthesametime,theUSspaceagency,Nasa,willlaunchTerrestrialPlanetFinder,anotherspacetelescopedesignedtolocateEarth-likeplanets.
ChoosetheappropriateletterfromA-Dforquestion1.
1.Corotisaninstrumentwhich
(A)canhelptosearchforcertainplanets
(B)isusedtofindplanetsintheorbit
(C)canlocateplanetswithhumanbeings
(D)canspotanyplanetswithwater.
Dothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninthereadingpassage?Forquestions2-5write
TRUEifthestatementagreeswiththeinformation
FALSEifthestatementcontraictstheinformation
NOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationonthisinthepassage
2.Scientistsaretryingtofindoutabouttheplanetsthatcanbeinhabited.
3.BBCRadio4recentlyfocusesonthebroadcastingofCorot.
4.Passingobjectsmightcauseafallinlight.
5.CorotcantellwhetherthereisanotherEarth-likeplanet.
Basedonyourreadingofthepassage,completethesentencesbelowwithwordstakenfromthepassage.UseNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.
Withmeasurements,scientistswillbeabletosearchforsomegaseousandrockyplanets.Theywillbeextremelyexcitediftheycandiscoversomesmall6.__________,theexpectednumberofwhichcouldbeupto7.__________.
Corotwillenablescientiststostudythe8.__________ofstars.Inthisway,astar’smass,ageandchemicalcompositioncanbecalculated.
AccordingtoProfRoxburgh,changesinlightcanbecausedbypassingplanetsorstar9.__________.Therelatedstatisticscangainusabetter10.__________ofthestarformationandevolvement.
Observatorieshavefoundmanyexoplanets,whichare11.__________otherstarsthantheSun.Thecommonwayusedinfindingexoplanetscanonlydetecthugegasplanets,whichdonot12.___________.
WiththelaunchingofDarwin,astronomerswillbeabletoanalysewhetherthoserockyplanetshave13.__________forlife.
Inordertosetupherresearchprogramme,Shonagot____.
Investingthousandsofpoundsintherecruitmentandtrainingofeachnewgraduaterecruitmaybejustthebeginning.Choosingthewrongcandidatemayleaveanorganisationpayingforyearstocome.
Fewcompanieswillhaveescapedallofthefollowingfailures:peoplewhopanicatthefirstsightofstress;thosewithlongimpressivequalificationswhoseemincapableoflearning;hypochondriacswhoseabsenteerecordbecomesastonishing;andtheunstablepersonlaterdiscoveredtobeathieforworse.
Lessdramatic,butjustasmuchaproblem,isthepersonwhosimplydoesnotcomeuptoexpectations,whodoesnotquitedeliver;whoneverbecomesahigh-flierorevenasteadyperformer;theemployeewithafinefuturebehindthem.
Thefirstpointtobearinmindattherecruitmentstageisthatpeopledon’tchange.Intelligencelevelsdeclinemodestly,butchangelittleovertheirworkinglife.Thesameistrueofabilities,suchaslearninglanguagesandhandlingnumbers.
Mostpeopleliketothinkthatpersonalitycanchange,particularlythemorenegativefeaturessuchasanxiety,lowesteem,impulsivenessoralackofemotionalwarmth.Butdatacollectedover50yearsgivesaclearmessage:stillstableafteralltheseyears.Extrovertsbecomeslightlylessextroverted;theacutelyshyappearalittlelessso,butthefundamentalsremainmuchthesame.Personalcrisescanaffectthewaywecopewiththings:wemighttakeupordropdrink,drugs,religionorrelaxationtechniques,whichcanbehaveprettydramaticeffects.Skillscanbeimproved,andnewonesintroduced,butatratherdifferentrates.Peoplecanbegroomedforajob.Justaspoliticiansarecarefullyrepackagedthroughdress,hairstyleandspeechspecialists,sopeoplecanbesentontrainingcourses,diplomasorexperimentalweekends.Butthereisacosttoallthiswhichmaybemorethanthepriceofthecourse.Bettertoselectforwhatyouactuallyseeratherthanattempttochangeit.
()1.Thepurposeofthispassageistogivemanagerstheadvicethat.
A.Employersshouldselectcandidatesfortheirpotential.
B.Employersshouldselectcandidatesforwhattheyareratherthanfortheirpotential.
C.Employersshouldselectthenewlygraduatedandsendthemontrainingcourses,diplomasorexperimentalweekends.
D.Employersshouldselectexperiencedcandidatestoavoidspendingthousandsofpoundsintraining.
()2.Accordingtothepassage,whichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?.
A.Absolutely,Peopledon’tchangeduringtheirworkinglives.
B.Generally,peoplechangetoalargeextentduringtheirworkinglives.
C.Fundamentally,peoplestaythesameduringtheirworkinglives.
D.Normally,peopledon’tchangeatallduringtheirworkinglives.
()3.Whatdoesafinefuturebehindthem(line3ofparagraph3)means?.
A.Somepeoplewillcertainlyhaveapromisingfuturethoughtheyarenotverycompetentintheirpresentwork.
B.Somepeopledon’thaveanypotentialfortheirworkthoughtheyareemployed.
C.Somepeoplecanhaveabrightfuturethoughtheycan’tdotheirworkwell.
D.Somepeoplehavepotentialwhentheyareemployed,butneverrealizethatpotential.
()4.Accordingtothepassage,people’sbasicabilitieslikelanguagelearningandnumeracy.
A.changelittleovertheirworkinglife.
B.neverchangeovertheirworkinglife.
C.changefundamentallyovertheirworkinglife.
D.changeprofoundlyovertheirworkinglife.
()5.Theworddeliver(line2ofparagraph3)means.
A.totakegoodstotheplacesorpeopletheyareaddressedto
B.togiveaspeech
C.todowhatyoupromisedtodo
D.tohelpawomantogivebirthtoababy.
Whileonlyabout300workersreceivedisablementbenefitforindustrialdermatitiseveryyear,theremaybebetween15,000and60,000newcasesofthisconditioneveryyear.