Text # 8 “Project Apollo - NASA's Mission to the Moon”
In 1961 President John F. Kennedy spoke to the American people and promised that the United States would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. America’s goal was to show the world that it had the best technology and was the most powerful nation. On July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the moon and astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first human to put a foot on the lunar surface. Before the Apollo project began NASA’s Mercury and Gemini programs put astronauts into an orbit around the Earth. But Project Apollo was a very difficult and different mission. NASA needed a powerful rocket that could escape the Earth’s gravity and travel all the way to the moon. After Kennedy’s speech, NASA started work on such a rocket. The Saturn V booster was finished in 1967. It was the greatest rocket ever built. The Apollo spacecraft was made up of three parts. The command module was main part. It was where the astronauts lived during the trip to the moon. It had all the instruments and computers that were needed for such a mission and it was the only part of the spacecraft that returned to Earth. The service module had its own rockets. They were used to slow down the Apollo spacecraft when it entered the moon’s orbit. Without these rockets the spacecraft would be too fast and fly right past the moon. The third part of the Apollo spacecraft was the lunar module. It was rather small and had legs that looked like a spider’s. When the astronauts got into the moon’s orbit they separated the lunar module and flew it down to the moon’s surface. The landing craft had two parts: the lower part was used for slowing it down so that it could land gently, the upper part would let the astronauts return to the command module.
Mark the following statements as true or false (T/F):
1. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy promised to the American people that the United States would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. T / F
2. On July 30, 1979 Apollo 11 landed on the moon and John F. Kennedy was the first human to put a foot on the lunar surface. T / F
3. Project Apollo was a very difficult mission NASA needed a powerful rocket that could escape the Earth’s gravity. T / F
4. The Apollo spacecraft was made up of four parts, including the command module being the main part of the spacecraft. T / F
5. The service module had its own rockets used to slow down the Apollo spacecraft when it entered the moon’s orbit. T / F
6. The command module, where astronauts lived, was the main part of the spacecraft, which had all the instruments and computers that were needed for lunar mission. T / F
Text # 9 “Skull Shape”
Scientists say that smartphones are changing the shape of people's skulls. Some people are spending so long looking at smartphones that a small bony bump is appearing above their neck. Doctors say the bump is large enough to feel by pressing the bottom of the skull, just above the neck. Dr David Shahar, a health scientist at the University of The Sunshine Coast in Australia, spoke to the BBC about the discovery. He said: "I have been a clinician for 20 years, and only in the last decade, increasingly, I have been discovering that my patients have this growth on the skull." The bump is becoming more frequent among 18 to 30-year-olds who spend many hours a day hunched over their smartphone.
A study led by Dr Shahar looked at the smartphone use of 1,200 people aged 18 to 86. Shahar said 18 to 30-year-olds were more likely to have the skull bumps than older generations. He said the bumps will probably be more common as we spend longer bending our necks while looking at their phones. Doctors say the bump could come from constantly bending the neck at unnatural angles to look at digital devices. Our head weighs about 4.5 kilograms and bending our head at the same angle for a long time can strain the neck. Doctors are calling this strain "text neck". They say the skull bump rarely causes health issues. They advised people to change their posture if their neck becomes sore.
TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).
- A small bony bump is appearing on the neck of smartphone users. T / F
- The bump is too small to be felt. T / F
- A clinician said he has had a skull bump for 20 years. T / F
- The skull bump is most common in people aged between 18-30. T / F
- Researchers looked at the smartphone use of those aged from 18 to 86. T / F
- The bumps could be caused by bending our heads at unnatural angles. T / F
- Our head weighs about 5.4 kilograms. T / F
- Doctors advised people to change their posture if they have a sore neck. T / F
Text # 10 “Extraterrestrial life”
Is there life on other planets? Are we alone? These are two of the biggest questions humans have been asking for centuries. Now, scientists have launched a new search to find out if there is... anybody... out there. The researchers are from the SETI Institute in California. SETI stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. The mission of SETI is, "to explore, understand and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence". SETI scientists will use new technologies to scan the heavens for signs of alien life. They will share their data with the public. SETI hopes that by sharing data, "citizen scientists" could spot things missed by scientists.
SETI's astronomers will use 28 giant radio telescopes in their search for alien life. The telescopes are located all around the world. It will be the first time that a project will search the entire sky for signs of alien life. The signs they are looking for are called "techno-signatures". These include things like alien chemicals, large amounts of oxygen, non-natural structures, and light from lasers. Astronomer Dr Tony Beasley said: "Determining whether we are alone in the universe as technologically capable life is among the most compelling questions in science." Another scientist, Jill Tarter, said we are getting closer to finding out if alien life exists. She said this science is now no longer fiction, but "almost mainstream".
TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).
- The article asked whether or not we were alone. T / F
- The scientists are from an institute in Hawaii. T / F
- The scientists say they will go to heaven for doing their work. T / F
- Citizen scientists will help real scientists to spot signs of aliens. T / F
- Scientists will use 28 radio telescopes to look for alien life. T / F
- This is the second time scientists have searched the whole sky. T / F
- A scientist said we are getting no closer to finding alien life. T / F
- A scientist said science fiction is now like mainstream science. T / F
Tex # 11 “New device can smell bombs and diseases”
A Nigerian engineer and neuroscientist has created a revolutionary new computer that has artificial intelligence (AI). Dr Oshi Agabi has spent many years trying to make a computer that can smell. He launched his start-up project last year and called it Koniku. He has raised over $1 million in funding. Dr Agabi said his project is already making profits of $10 million. Technology giants like Google and Microsoft are very interested in it. The security industry is also keeping a close watch. Koniku could be put in drones and smell bombs and explosives. It could also be used in airport security systems to smell explosives. An additional use could be in hospitals to smell diseases in humans.
Dr Agabi did not base Koniku on silicon chips. Agabi said computers have used silicon for decades, but it is not powerful enough to deal with the maths needed to recognize smells. Instead, he based his device on neurons from the brain of a mouse. Neurons are cells in the brain that share information. They use electricity and chemical signals to process and send information. Using neurons in computers is called biotechnology. Agabi said biotechnology can make devices that can smell. He said: "Biology is technology. Bio is tech. Our deep learning networks are all copying the brain." Agabi added: "We want to build a…system that has intelligence. We do not want to build a human brain. It's not science fiction."
TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
- Two people invented the new device. T / F
- The new project has made $10 million in profits. T / F
- The security industry is not interested in it. T / F
- The article says the device could make smells in hospitals disappear. T / F
- Silicon chips are not powerful enough to make devices that can smell. T / F
- The inventor used neurons from the brains of mice. T / F
- The use of neurons in computers is called biotechnology. T / F
- The inventor wants to try and build a human brain. T / F