Comprehension - Intermediate [ 24 ]

[ 24 ] Comprehension . 

[  24  ] Intermediate 

Read the following , then answer the questions below :

                Some people  consider career prospects in astronomy are poor , arguing from the obvious fact that astronomy is a small profession , but the position in no worse than in the other physical sciences . Anybody seriously interested in a career in astronomy should fix his thoughts firmly on the exciting prospects of being able to use the new telescopes . These instruments , which are among the most advanced pieces of technology in existence , may produce results which completely change our understanding of the structure of the universe .

                  Consider what happened in the field of radio-astronomy to a younger research student at Cambridge . Jocelyn Bell . She was working under Professor Anthony Hewish , who is especially interested in the radio waves , picked up from distant galaxies . He designed and built a new radio telescope which started work in 1967 , scanning different parts of the heavens as the earth spins round . The results appear as a series of marks on a paper chart . It was Miss Bell’s job to check the 100 feet of chart coming out of the machine every day and to note any radio sources that changed rapidly .

              In August that year she noticed something strange , an incoming radio signal which appeared at an old time and lasted only about half as long as signals from the radio stars under observation . She drew Professor Hewish’s attention to it . They carried on with their work . When by the end of September , the new signals had appeared about half a dozen times , the professor started to use a much faster recorder . They picked up a series of about half a dozen radio pulses just over a second apart , each one lasting for a mere 40 milliseconds . This was the first observation of the regular radio pulses which gave pulsars their name . Professor Hewish , who had been in charge of the whole research project was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.

A-] Answer the following questions :

1-] What qualities does an astronomer need ?

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2-] What was Professor Hewish interested in ?

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3-] How did Professor Hewish discover pulsars ?

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4-] Why are the new telescopes important ?

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B-] Choose the correct answer :

1-] A galaxy is

A-] a solar system .                                      B-] a group of planets                                   C-] a very large system of stars .                D-] a distant radio signal

 2-] The new telescopes are among the most advanced pieces of technology because  they

A-]observe the distant stars .      B-] give us a better view of the heavens .               C-] may help change our understanding of the universe .                                             D-] record the regular radio pulses .

3-] The underlined word “ it” refers to

A-] a star . B-] a radio signal . C-] a telescope . D-] Professor Hewish’s attention .