162 Chapter 9

Exercise 10.

importance important

1. He is one of the ____ people in our company.

2. The real _____ of this invention is hard to overestimate.

3. It's ____to learn foreign languages.

(to) recycle recycled recyclable

4. This bag is made of _____ paper.

5. It's possible _____ glass.

6. This plastic is ______.

reliable reliably (un) reliability

7. He may forget about it, he is not very____.

8. I'm _____ informed of it.

9. You can depend only on _____ source of information.

10. _____ is opposite to reliability.

possible possibility possibly

11. They have many ____ to improve the system.

12. This is only one of many ____ answers.

13. Please, do it as soon as ____.

14. It's _____ that the store is still open.

15. Could you _____ lend me 20 dollars ?

16. There is strong____ that they won't come.

17. Let's consider another ____.

responsible responsibility

18. Who is ____ for this work?

19. He is very ____.

20. I take full ____ for this work.

21. It's his _____ to make the decision.

Exercise 11. Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

For many years Antarctica was thought to be only an archipelago with islands tied together above sea level by ice. It was thought to be made up of two small subcontinents — East Antarctica, the larger, and West Antarctica, containing the Antarctic Peninsula. The two continents were supposed to be separated below sea level. Modern geophysical studies, however, have revealed a fairly complete picture of the Antarctic landform below its ice cover. Now we know that West Antarctica is connected to the main part of the continent by a chain of mountains well above the sea level. The bedrock of much of East Antarctica appears to be above sea level; some of it (in the Transantarctic Mountains) is far above sea level. Whether mineral wealth lies hidden by ice is unknown. No deposits rich enough to be economically useful have been found. Interpretation of continental structure is an important objective of any extensive geologic investigation, yet except for the earth's ocean basins, no area the size of Antarctica is so geologically unknown. With 98 percent of the continent covered by ice, it is extremely difficult to decipher the continent's general structure.

Chapter 9 163

1. This text is concerned primarily with the

a. geological composition of Antarctica

b. continents of the world

c. exploration of minerals in Antarctica

d. earth's ocean basins

2. According to the passage, Antarctica is made up of

a. two subcontinents

b. connected land masses

c. several islands

d. two peninsulas

3. It can be inferred from the passage that little is known about Antarctica's

a. climate and size

b. landform

c. bedrock

d. mineral wealth

4. The author implies that

a. Antarctica used to be an archipelago

b. Antarctica supplies rich mineral resources

c. the Earth's ocean basins are not thoroughly investigated

d. much of East Antarctica is above sea level

5. How much of Antarctica is covered by ice?

a. 90 percent

b. 89 percent

c. 88 percent

d. 98 percent

Ecxercise 12.Choose the one word or phrase that best keeps the meaning of the original sentence if it is substituted for it.

1. Virtually all the members were in agreement with the proposal.

a. actually

b. almost

c. eventually

d. seemingly

2. Our project is now under way.

a. under examination

b. being discussed

c. moving forward

d. under consideration

3. Hopefully, the committee's suggestions will be implemented soon.

a. studied

b. discarded

c. discussed

d. carried out

4. These factories seem to pollute the air.

a. make clean

b. make impure

c. harness

d. affect .