Assignment 7

Read and translate the text.

The earth is round; fifteenth- and sixteenth-century explorers like Columbus and Magellan proved it. But there were ancient Greeks who had known this two thousand years earlier. They saw ships descend over the horizon and observed the curved shadow of the earth on the moon during a lunar eclipse. Then, in 200 B.C., the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes noted that at noon on the first day of summer, when the sun was at its highest, its rays shone to the bottom of a vertical well in Syene, Egypt. Yet, on the same day in Alexandria, five hundred miles to the north, it was reported that a vertical post cast a shadow. If the earth had been flat, the post could not have cast a shadow at noon.

The earth spins, or rotates on its axis, once every twenty-four hours, causing us to have day and night. At any given time, the side of the earth facing the sun will have daylight, and the side turned away from the sun will have night. Although the earth is spinning at a speed of over one thousand miles an hour, we do not feel the movement or the wind because everything around us, including the atmosphere, is moving at the same speed. The effect is similar to riding in an airplane. The air moves with you. If you light a match on an airplane, no wind will blow it out.

The earth also revolves around the sun once every year. This yearly revolution, plus the tilting of the earth on its axis, causes the seasons. When the sun's rays are nearly overhead (not when the earth is closest to the sun) and the days are long, great amounts of the sun's radiation are absorbed and the weather is hot. For example, from April through September, the North Pole tilts toward the sun and the northern hemisphere experiences summer while the southern hemisphere has whiter. Then the North Pole tilts away from the sun and the seasons ate reversed. On March 23 and September 21, the North Pole is not leaning toward or away from the sun. If you traveled around the earth on these two dates, you would find the days and nights equal every place you went.

1. Reading Comprehension Questions. Choose the one best answer (A), (B), (C), (D) to finish a sentence.

1. The text primarily discusses

(A) the earth’s speed of revolution.

(B) the earth’s spin on its axis and the earth’s yearly revolution.

(C) the movement of atmosphere.

(D) the distance between the earth and the sun.

2. All of the following noted that the earth was not flat EXCEPT

(A) the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes.

(B) fifteenth-century explorers.

(C) ancient times.

(D) ancient Greeks.

3. According to the text when the earth rotates

(A) the wind blows.

(B) the ships descend over the horizon.

(C) the earth faces the sun and then turns away from it.

(D) it is the centre of the universe.

4. The underlined word ‘ it ’ refers to

(A) airplane. (C) high.

(B) wind. (D) match.

5. The days and nights are equal

(A) at the North Pole.

(B) when the earth's revolution causes the seasons.

(C) from April through September.

(D) on March 23 and September 21.

2. Choose the letter of the answer that best matches the meaning of the underlined word as it used in each of the sentences:

1. Birds and airplanes were seen to defy the law of gravity when they fly away from the earth's surface.

(A) obey (B) resist (C) follow (D) stop

2. The experiment was monitored for errors.

(A) started (B) carried out

(C) designed (D) observed

3. The rag was saturated with oil.

(A) spoken about (B) full of

(C) emptied of (D) made of

4. The seasons of the year recur in cycles.

(A) random periods (B) similar periods

(C) irregular periods (D) regular periods

5. The storm caused irreversible damage.

(A) unchangeable (B) terrific

(C) changeable (D) great