Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 118
ACADEMIC READING TEST 118 – PASSAGE – 1
ACADEMIC READING TEST – 118
READING PASSAGE – 1
Extraterrestrial National Park
The message to visitors at many beauty spots is “TAKE only pictures, leave only footprints.” Although you won’t see the actual place, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their giant leap for mankind on the moon. It will be the first extraterrestrial national park.
It may still be some years off, but the imminent reality of space tourism is already stimulating some archaeologists to begin to plan how to protect historic sites in space. With further moon missions planned, the fear is that the principal sites like Apollo 11’s landing place may be in danger. According to Beth O’Leary, a researcher in New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, “Technologically, probably the most important event in human history was to land to another celestial body,” “It’s like the discovery of fire or the first stone tools. They should be protected and conserved.”
In September 1959 since the Soviet Union’s Luna 2 crashed into the moon, a total of 40 expeditions have touched down on the moon’s surface. 22 of them were launched by the US with the six crewed Apollo missions launching between 1969 and 1972. The Apollo missions alone left behind 23 large artefacts including the descent and ascent stages of the lunar module landing equipment, the stage there Saturn rockets used to fly them there, and the lunar rovers or “moon buggies” the astronauts used to explore when they arrived.
As well as these, there are also smaller artefacts and personal items scattered around, such as Neil Armstrong’s boots and portable life-support system, scientific instruments and their power generators. Of course, the iconic US flag planted in the moon’s surface is there too. There are also the footprints and rover tread paths. In spite of the passing of the years, these remains are carved into the dust, since the moon has no wind or rain to wash them away.
P.J. Capelotti, an anthropologist at Penn State University in Abington, has mapped out five “lunar parks.” These are the areas where the majority of the artefacts are concentrated and will be used as a basis for future preservation efforts. “Although nobody’s saying that the whole moon has to be off-limits, people are starting to make plans for tourism and mineral extraction, or for putting a base there, needing to be aware of them and work around them.”
More technological developments are also on their way. NASA’s LCROSS mission plans to crash an SUV-sized rocket into one of the moon’s poles later this year with the hope of finding water there. At the same time, teams competing for the Google Lunar X Prize for the first privately funded robot to reach the moon have been offered a $5 million bonus if they take a picture of artefacts like the Apollo 11 landing equipment. Already, a question to be reported is how national governments and private companies should cooperate to ensure that artefacts are protected. There is some evidence that the US government is interested in working alongside other governments.
A space-flight company called TransOrbital, based in Palo Alto, California presented its plans for sending a commercial mission to the moon by the end of the 1990s. these plans include making detailed maps of the moon and landing a capsule containing personal items, like business cards and cremated ashes. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stipulated that TransOrbital’s rockets must crash well away from any historic US artefacts when its flight was over. Although ultimately TransOrbital was unable to fund the mission, it might try again in the near future.
According to Phil Stooke, a planetary cartographer of the University of Western Ontario in London, he agrees Luna 2 also has great significance. “It crashed, but that impact site is every bit as historic as Apollo 11.” Another one is Luna 9, the first spacecraft to land sending back pictures. “They must be preserved.”
On the remaining Apollo sites, Stooke is searching how electronics, metal and paints have degraded after years of exposure to solar radiation and extremes of temperature. Also, he suggests that another Apollo site could be turned into a biological research centre, analysing the DNA and bacteria left behind from astronauts’ life-support packs.
Once a consensus has been reached as to which sites are worthy of conservation, and guidelines have been built up to protect them from being damaged by future missions, the next question will be how future space tourists should be allowed to interact with them. Capelotti says, “Looking at grey dust is going to hold its attraction for only so long,” “People are going to make pilgrimages to these sites.”
There is a suggestion to build domes over historic sites, or perhaps even hotels, with the artefacts displayed in the “lobby.” Another idea is to build up a raised railway track over the sites, so visitors could look at them without touching them. Capelotti says, “If Walt Disney was developing it, he would put a monorail around all five ‘lunar parks,’ so you could do the entire Apollo tour.”
Questions 1-7
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE – if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this
1. Archaeologists have established links between space tourism and Apollo 11.
2. Of the 40 expeditions that landed on the lunar surface, the US embarked on more than half of them.
3. Between 1969 and 1972, there were not remarkable issues in the Apollo missions.
4. Neil Armstrong made up his mind to exploit the natural resources of the moon.
5. Astronauts’ traces marked on the surface of the moon remain unchanged due to the lack of wind and rain.
6. Commercial space-flight companies planned to place both business cards and ashes on the moon.
7. In spite of financial problems, TransOrbital plan to launch their mission again in the foreseeable future.
Questions 8-13
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-H, below.
8. Archaeologists
9. The Apollo missions
10. Anthropologist P.J. Capelotti
11. SUV-sized rocket into the moon’s people
12 TransOrbital
13. The impact site of Luna 2
A. left various artefacts on the moon’s surface.
B. discovered water supported by NASA’s LCROSS mission scheme.
C. aimed to launch a project to preserve relic sites in space.
D. funded a robot to reach the moon.
E. promoted commercial business on the moon.
F. designed the lunar parks for cultural industries and resources.
G. had a similar historic impact to Apollo 11.
H. made detailed maps of the moon and personal items.
ANSWERS ARE BELOW
ANSWERS
1. NOT GIVEN
2. TRUE
3. FALSE
4. NOT GIVEN
5. TRUE
6. TRUE
7. TRUE
8. C
9. A
10. F
11. B
12. E
13. G