Teste de Avaliao de Ingls n.

2
Colgio de So Miguel
Durao: 90 minutos

Outubro 2012
Bom trabalho!

ACTIVITY A Reading

After Safe Landing, Rover Sends Images From Mars

by

Kenneth Chang
PASADENA, California

NASA followed up its picture-perfect landing of a

plutonium-powered rover

Sunday night with a picture of the balletic Mars

landing as well as some well-earned self-congratulation about what the

accomplishment says about NASAs ingenuity.
5

There are many out in the community who say NASA has lost its way, that
we dont know how to explore weve lost our moxie John M. Grunsfeld,
associate administrator for NASAs science mission directorate, said at a
post-landing news conference, where beaming members of the landing team,
all clad in blue polo shirts, crammed in next to the reporters. I want you to

10

look around tonight, at those folks with the blue shirts and think about what
weve achieved.
That achievement, in the early hours of Monday morning Eastern time, was
indeed dramatic: with the eyes of the world watching, the car-size craft called
Curiosity was lowered at the end of 25-foot cables from a hovering rocket

15

stage, successfully touching down on a gravelly Martian plain.

For the world of science, it was the second slam-dunk this summer the first
one being the announcement last month that the Higgs boson, a long-sought
particle theorized by physicists, had likely been found. But while the focus of
high-energy physics world has shifted overseas to CERN, the European

20

laboratory, the United States remains the center of the universe for space,
ahead of Russia, Europe and China, and for NASA, it was a chance to parry
accusations of being slow, bloated and rudderless.
If anybody has been harbouring doubts about the status of U.S. leadership in
space, John P. Holdren, the presidents science adviser, said at the news

25

conference, well, theres a one-ton automobile-size piece of American

ingenuity. And its sitting on the surface of Mars right now.
Now that it has reached Mars, Curiosity ushers in a new era of exploration
that could turn up evidence that the Red Planet once had the necessary
ingredients for life or might even still harbour life today. Far larger than

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earlier rovers, Curiosity is packed with the most sophisticated movable

1.

laboratory that has ever been sent to another planet. It is to spend at least two
years examining rocks within the 96-mile crater it landed in, looking for
carbon-based molecules and other evidence that early Mars had conditions
friendly for life.
5

(...) Only one other country, the Soviet Union, has successfully landed
anything on Mars, and that spacecraft, Mars 3 in 1971, fell silent shortly after
landing. So far, this rover appears to be healthy. Theres a lot ahead of us,
but so far we are just ecstatic about the performance of the vehicle, said
Jennifer Trosper, one of the mission managers. (...)

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The Curiosity landing seemed particularly risky. Engineers chose not to use
the tried-and-true systems used in the six previous successful landings, neither
the landing legs of the Viking missions in 1976 nor the cocoons of air bags that
cushioned the two rovers that NASA placed on Mars in 2004. Those
approaches, they said, would not work for a one-ton vehicle.

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Instead, for the final landing step, they came up with what they called the sky
crane maneuver. The rover would be gently winched to the surface from a
hovering rocket stage.
As the drama of the landing unfolded, each step proceeded without flaw. The
capsule entered the atmosphere at the appointed time (...). Then the rover and

20

rocket stage dropped away from the parachute and began a powered descent
toward the surface, and the sky crane maneuver worked as designed.
GLOSSARY

http://www.nytimes.com/ (abridged and adapted)

rover a vehicle used by astronauts for travelling on the surface of a planet;

drifter; vagrant
moxie energy, confidence, and determination
directorate the directors of a company
beaming if you beam, you smile in a very obvious way; to send out light, heat, or
energy
crammed in jammed
hovering if a bird, insect, or aircraft hovers, it keeps itself in the same position in
the air
gravel small pieces of stone
slam-dunk [Mainly American] something that is very successful
bloated a bloated organization is not effective because it is too large or has too
many workers
rudderless lacking any clear aim, purpose, or direction
usher in to make an activity or process begin
crane a very tall machine used for lifting or moving heavy objects and building
tall buildings
winched to lift someone or something using a winch/crane
For each of the following items, choose the option that best completes each
sentence.
2.

1. In line 2, the word balletic let us know the landing happened

A) softly.
B) problematically.
C) hardly.
D) extensively.
2. The successful landing of Curiosity was particularly important for NASA because
it
A)
B)
C)
D)

overpowered the discovering of the Higgs boson.

made USA the first country to ever successfully land something in Mars.
brought the agencys credibility back.
proved the current existence of liquid water in Mars.

3. According to the author, the focus of high-energy physics goes to

A) the USA.
B) Europe.
C) the Soviet Union.
D) China.
4. The pronoun it in line 21 refers to
A) the landing of Curiosity.
B) peoples doubts.
C) NASA.
D) Curiosity.
5. The underlined word in or might even still harbour life today (l. 23/24) can
be replaced by
A) point towards.
B) mean.
C) indicate.
D) haven.
6. The landing of Curiosity was pulled resorting to a new strategy because
A) all the other way turned out to fail.
B) the sky crane maneuver wasnt effective.
C) the device was too large and heavy.
D) the rover and the rocket stage dropped away from the parachute.
7. The underlined verb in

As the drama of the landing unfolded can be

replaced by
A) closed.
B) increased.
C) opened.
D) developed.

3.

8. The relative pronoun in There are many (...) who say NASA has lost its way

(line 4)
A) can be replaced by the relative pronoun whom.
B) can be replaced by the relative pronoun that.
C) can be replaced by the relative pronoun whose.
D) cant be replaced by any other relative pronoun.
9. The phrase Theres a lot ahead of us in line 30 means that
A) NASA is at the finish line.
B) NASA has accomplished a lot.
C) NASAs work is still getting started.
D) NASA has no idea of the work that is still to come.

4.

Olympic Games coverage: HD, robotic cameras and 3D by Paul

Rubens
Somewhere ___________ the streets of London, four miles of fibre optic cables
linking the Olympic Park to the BBC's Television Centre lie in darkness. But
when the Olympic opening ceremony starts on 27 July, data will flash through
them as they transmit the highest definition pictures Olympic coverage has
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ever seen. Technology has come a long way since the last Olympics in London
in 1948, broadcast in black and white. The cables will carry ultra-high definition
video, which at a resolution of 7680x4320 is an astonishing 16 times the
quality of HD television. The video technology was developed and supplied by
Japanese broadcaster NHK, and is known as Super Hi-Vision. It will be sent to

10

the world's first ultra-high definition production centre at the BBC, and then
over high-speed data networks to four giant screens around Britain, two in
Japan and one in the United States. "When you see this type of ultra-high
definition television, it's just like looking though a glass window," said Tim
Plyming, the BBC's Super Hi-Vision project leader. "This is the highest definition

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that the human eye can understand - it's the end of the story in terms of
resolution." (...)
in BBC News (abriged and adapted)

10. The empty gap in line 1 can be filled with the word
A) lower.
B) beneath.
C) down.
D) less.
11. The conjunction as in line 3 stands for
A) since.
B) when.
C) how.
D) while.
12. The phrase Technology has come a long way since the last Olympics
means that
A) technology wasnt present at the last Olympics.
B) technology used during the last Olympics hasnt changed.
C) technology used during the current Olympics is very advanced.
D) technology has evolved a lot from the last Olympics.
5.

13. According to Tim Plyming, the Super Hi-Vision

A) is going to be replaced by the HD television.
B) is the most advanced resolution that will ever exist.
C) has a 16 times higher resolution when compared to the 7680x4320 one.
D) will only be available as a paid service.

6.

ACTIVITY B Use of English

For questions 1-4, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning
to the first sentence, using the given word. Do not change the word given. You must
use between two and five words, including the word given. Here is an example (0).
Example:

Solution:

1. You must do exactly what the manager tells you.

CARRY

0.

You must ___________ instructions exactly.

carry out the

managers

2. Marcella left home very early because she wanted to be sure of catching the train.
ORDER
Marcella left home very early .. miss the train.

3. You must show your student card as you enter the library.
REQUIRED
You student card as you enter the library.

4. Patrick hadnt heard from his uncle in Australia for over five years.
MORE
It was . Patrick had heard from his uncle in Australia.

5. On arriving at an airport, I usually go straight to the check-in desk.

SOON
I usually go straight to the check-in desk as .... to an airport.
(in Cambridge FCE Exam)
Fill each gap of the following text with only one suitable word. Check out the example.

New Biometric Bracelet Lets a Medical Device Recognize its Wearer!

to response ________ a weak

_________ device that measures someone's unique
electric

signal

6
could

let

medical

devices

_________

as

blood-pressure

cuffs

automatically identify the wearer and send measurements straight to his or

__________ electronic medical record.

For __________, nurses, patients, and doctors juggle the job of keeping patients'

identities straight. But computer scientist Cory Cornelius at Dartmouth College,

10 has developed a wristwatch-like device _________ measures

_________ New Hampshire,
a person's "bioimpedance" to identify him or her to medical monitoring devices.

11
12
workshop in Bellevue,

Cornelius and colleagues presented a prototype sensor _______ the Usenix

Advanced Computing System Association

13

Washington, ______

Monday. Individual impedance varies because each person's wrist, ________ example,
is a unique jumble of bone, flesh, and blood vessels.

7.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428755/biometric-bracelet-lets-a-medical-device/
(abridged and adapted)

8.

ACTIVITY C Writing Production

Part 1
1.

This item must be answered.

Technology has come to take our jobs away. This is a common saying that has
been growing in the past few years. Do you agree with it? Why / why not? Justify
your answer.
Use approximately 40 words.
Part 2
Choose only ONE item and write on it, using your own words as far as possible.
Use approximately 100 words. Dont forget to identify the selected item.

2.

There is a huge controversy in whether it is worth to keep applying money into

the space conquer. Using the input from ACTIVITY A state your opinion on this
subject, in the form of an essay.

3.

Technology has been developing very quickly and has been entering in our lives
more and more. With this happening it is vital to ask ourselves whether we are pro
or anti-technology. Basing on your life experience, write an article for a newspaper
where you defend your position. In your article, present at least one real-life
example to support your position.

4.

Considering the theme you have been developing in your English

classes, comment on the following picture.

Points

ACTIVITY A 13 x 5p = 65p
ACTIVITY B 20p + 45p = 65p
ACTIVITY C 20p + 50p = 70p

---------------------------------------- 200p

9.