Test 03 on astronomy and astronomers

I. Прочитайте текст и выберите вариант ответа, соответствующий содержанию прочитанных фрагментов (А-D).

A. Nicolaus Copernicus is a Polish astronomer, best known for his astronomical theory that the sun is at rest near the center of the universe, and that the earth, spinning on its axis once daily, revolves annually around the sun. This is called the heliocentric, or sun-centered, system. The major ideas of Copernicus's theory are that the earth rotates daily on its axis and revolves yearly around the sun. He argued, furthermore, that the planets also circle the sun. Copernicus's heliocentric theories of planetary motion had the advantage of accounting for the daily and yearly motion of the sun and stars, and it neatly explained the motion of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn and the fact that Mercury and Venus never move more than a certain distance from the sun. But the price of accepting the concept of a moving earth was too high for most 16th-century readers. As a result, parts of his theory were adopted, while the radical core was ignored or rejected.

B. Johannes Kepler is a German astronomer and natural philosopher, noted for formulating and verifying the three laws of planetary motion. These laws are now known as Kepler's laws. He worked out a complex geometric hypothesis to account for distances between the planetary orbits—orbits that he mistakenly assumed were circular. Kepler then proposed that the sun emits a force that diminishes inversely with distance and pushes the planets around in their orbits. Kepler published his account in a treatise entitled Cosmographic Mystery. This work is significant because it presented the first comprehensive account of the geometrical advantages of Copernican theory. One of his major works during this period was New Astronomy, the great culmination of his efforts to calculate the orbit of Mars. This treatise contains statements of two of Kepler's laws of planetary motion.

C. Tycho Brahe is a Danish astronomer, who made precise, comprehensive astronomical measurements of the solar system and more than 700 stars. The data Brahe accumulated was superior to all other astronomical measurements made until the invention of the telescope in the early 17th century. With no instruments other than a globe and a pair of compasses, he succeeded in detecting grave errors in the standard astronomical tables, and set about correcting them. In 1572 he discovered a supernova in the constellation Cassiopeia. Brahe never fully accepted the Copernican theory of the universe and sought a compromise by combining it with the old Ptolemaic system. In Brahe's system, the five known planets were supposed to revolve around the sun, which, with the planets, circled the earth each year. The sphere of the stars revolved around the immobile earth once a day. Although Brahe's theory of planetary motion was flawed, the data he accumulated during his life played a crucial role in developing the correct description of planetary motion.

D. Galileo Galilei is an Italian physicist and astronomer, who initiated the scientific revolution. His main contributions were, in astronomy, the use of the telescope in observation and the discovery of sunspots, lunar mountains and valleys, the four largest satellites of Jupiter, and the phases of Venus. His works opened new vistas in astronomy. In physics, he discovered the laws of falling bodies. Galileo’s most valuable scientific contribution was his founding of physics on precise measurements rather than on metaphysical principles and formal logic. In the history of culture, Galileo stands as a symbol of the battle against authority for freedom of inquiry.

1. The two astronomers who engaged in calculating the planetary orbits were

1. Copernicus and Kepler

2. Galileo and Brahe

3. Brahe and Kepler

4. Galileo and Copernicus

2. The two astronomers who discovered new stars and satellites were

1. Galileo and Copernicus

2. Brahe and Kepler

3. Kepler and Copernicus

4. Galileo and Brahe

3. The two astronomers who never used a telescope were

1. Brahe and Copernicus

2. Galileo and Brahe

3. Kepler and Copernicus

4. Galileo and Kepler

4. The two astronomers who were devoted Copernicans were

1. Galileo and Brahe

2. Galileo and Kepler

3. Brahe and Kepler

4. Copernicus and Brahe

5. The two astronomers who also made contributions to areas other than astronomy were

1. Galileo and Copernicus

2. Brahe and Kepler

3. Copernicus and Kepler

4. Kepler and Galileo

II. Прочитайте текст. Подберите соответствующий заголовок к каждому абзацу (1-5).

(1) According to the controversial sunspot theory, great storms or eruptions on the surface of the sun hurl streams of solar particles into space and eventually into the atmosphere of our planet, causing shifts in the weather on the Earth and interference with radio and television communications.

(2) A typical sunspot consists of a dark central umbra, a word derived from the Latin word for shadow, which is surrounded by a lighter penumbra of light and dark threads extending out from the center like the spokes of a wheel. Actually, the sunspots are cooler than the rest of the photosphere, which may account for their apparently darker color. Typically, the temperature in a sunspot umbra is about 4000 degrees, whereas the temperature in a penumbra registers 5500 degrees, and the granules outside the spot are 6000 degrees.

(3) Sunspots range in size from tiny granules to complex structures with areas stretching for billions of square miles. About 5 percent of all sunspots are large enough so that they can be seen from Earth without instruments; consequently, observations of sunspots have been recorded for thousands of years. Sunspots have been observed in arrangements of one to more than one hundred spots, but they tend to occur in pairs. There is also a marked tendency for the two spots of a pair to have opposite magnetic polarities. Furthermore, the strength of the magnetic field associated with any given sunspot is closely related to the spot's size.

(4) Sunspots have also been observed to occur in cycles, over a period of eleven years. At the beginning of a cycle, the storms occur between 20 and 40 degrees north and south of the equator on the sun. As the cycle continues, some of the storms move closer to the equator. As the cycle diminishes, the number of sunspots decreases to a minimum and they cluster between 5 and 15 degrees north and south latitude.

(5) Although there is no theory that completely explains the nature and function of sunspots, several models show scientists' attempts to relate the phenomenon to magnetic field lines along the lines of longitude from the north and south poles of the sun.

A. Explanation of the Color Difference

B. Structure of a Sunspot

C. Typical Sunspot Temperature

D. Consequences of Storms on the Sun

E. First Observers of Sunspots

F. Attempts to Explain the Phenomenon

G. Sunspot Cycles and Periodicity of Storms

H. Role of Magnetism in Sunspot Formation

III. Прочитайте текст и выполните послетекстовые задания.

(1) Astronomers at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, have discovered what they claim are the largest structures yet observed in the universe. The structures are glowing blue arcs of light nearly 2 million trillion miles in length.

(2) The discoverers of these arcs think they are actually optical illusions created by light that has been bent due to the immense gravitational pull of a massive galaxy. The arcs are probably formed when the light from a distant galaxy is bent by the gravitational pull of another, less distant, intervening galaxy. Even though such light-bending galaxies contain billions of stars, they still do not contain enough visible stars which alone could exert the pull needed to bend light in such a way.

(3) Therefore, it is theorized that there must be huge amounts of invisible or "dark" matter within these galaxies. Furthermore, astronomers say that there might be enough dark matter in the universe to supply enough gravity to slow the expansion of the universe and then make it eventually collapse.

Выберите вариант ответа, соответствующий содержанию прочитанного текста (задания 1-5).

1. The passage mainly deals with

A. how the universe expands.

B. what "dark matter" is like.

C. how arcs in space are created.

2. According to astronomers, the blue arcs are

A. galaxies.

B. imaginary objects.

C. optical illusions.

3. It can be concluded that galaxies can bend light through their

A. arcs.

B. extreme distance.

C. gravitational field.

4. According to the passage the gravitational pull of some galaxies may be partly supplied by

A. dark matter.

B. blue arcs.

C. light.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that

A. astronomers are not certain about the properties of dark matter.

B. astronomers are not certain whether or not the arcs are visible.

C. only astronomers at Kitt Peak National Observatory have seen the arcs.

Определите значение указанного слова в тексте (задания 6-8).

6. glowing (1)

A. isolated B. luminous C. strange

7. bent (2)

A. broken B. curved C. changed

8. collapse (3)

A. disintegrate B. explode C. continue

Выберите правильный вариант перевода в соответствии с содержанием текста (задания 9-12).

9. … what they claim are the largest structures yet observed in the universe (1).

A. … которые по их требованиям являются крупнейшими структурами во Вселенной.

B. … которые по их утверждению представляют собой самые большие образования во Вселенной.

C.… которые по их представлению являются крупнейшими объектами во Вселенной.

10. … even though such light bending galaxies contain billions of stars (2).

A. … даже если такие галактики, способные сгибать свет, содержат миллионы звёзд.

B. … даже в том случае, когда такие галактики, обладающие свойством сгибать поток света, содержат миллиарды звёзд.

C. … даже если в таких галактиках, способных изгибать поток света, находятся миллиарды звёзд.

11. … it is theorized that there must be huge amounts of invisible "dark matter" within these galaxies (3).

A. … существует теория, что внутри этих галактик должно быть большое количество невидимого "тёмного вещества".

B. … имеется теория, что внутри этих галактик находится большое количество невидимой "тёмной материи".

C. … теоретически предполагается, что внутри этих галактик должно находиться большое количество невидимой "тёмной материи".

12. Furthermore, astronomers say … (3)

A. Более того, астрономы утверждают…

B. В дальнейшем, астрономы утверждают…

C. Далее астрономы говорят …