Isi Reading Hard Science 3

8/13/2019 Isi Reading Hard Science 3

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Reading Hard Science

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES88

READING AN ACADEMIC TEXT

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Glass, in one form or another, has long been in noble service to humans. As one ofthe most widely used of manufactured materials, and certainly the most versatile,

it can be as imposing as a telescope mirror the width of a tennis court or as smalland simple as a marble rolling across dirt. The uses of this adaptable materialhavebeen broadened dramatically by new technologies: glass fibre optics - more thaneight million miles - carrying telephone and television signals across nations; glassceramics serving as the nose cones of missiles and as crowns for teeth; tiny glassbeads taking radiation doses inside the body to specific organs; even a new type ofglass fashioned of nuclear waste in order to dispose of that unwanted material.

On the horizons are optical computers. These could store programs and processinformation by means of light - pulses from tiny lasers - rather than electrons. Andthe pulses would travel over glass fibres, not copper wire. These machinescouldfunction hundreds of times faster than todays electronic computers and hold

vastly more information. Today fibre optics are used to obtain a clearer image ofsmaller and smaller objects than ever before - even bacterial viruses. A newgeneration of optical instruments is emerging that can provide detailed imaging ofthe inner workings of cells. It is the surge in fibre optic use and in liquid crystaldisplays that has set the US glass industry to building new plants to meet demand.

But not all the glass technology that touches our lives is ultra-modern. Considerthe simple light bulb; at the turn of the century most light bulbs were hand blown,and the cost of onewas equivalent to half a days pay for the average worker. Ineffect, the invention of the ribbon machine by Corning in the 1920s lighted anation. The price of a bulb plunged. Small wonder that the machine has been

called one of the great mechanical achievements of all time. Yet it is very simple:a narrow ribbon of molten glass travels over a moving belt of steel in which thereare holes. The glass sags through the holes and into waiting moulds. Puffs ofcompressed air then shape the glass. In this way, the envelope of a light bulb ismade by a single machine at the rate of 66,000 an hour, as compared with 1,200 aday produced by a team of four glassblowers.

The secret of the versatility of glass lies in its interior structure. Although it isrigid, and thus like a solid, the atoms are arranged in a random disordered fashion,characteristics of a liquid. In the melting process, the atoms in the raw materialsare disturbed from their normal position in the molecular structure; before they canfind their way back to crystalline arrangements the glass cools. This looseness in

molecular structure gives the material what engineers call tremendousformability which allows technicians to tailor glass to whatever theyneed.

Today, scientists continue to experiment with new glass mixtures and buildingdesigners test their imaginations with applications of special types of glass. ALondon architect, Mike Davies, sees even more dramatic buildings usingmolecular chemistry. Glass is the great building material of the future, thedynamic skin, he said. Think of glass that has been treated to react to electriccurrents going through it, glass that will change from clear to opaque at the push ofa button, that gives you instant curtains. Think of how the tall buildings in NewYork could perform a symphony of colours as the glass in them is made to changecolours instantly. Glass as instant curtains is available now, but the cost is

exorbitant. As for the glass changing colours instantly, that may come true. MikeDavies vision may indeed be on the way to fulfillment.


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ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES 89

A. READING COMPREHENSION

I . Answer the foll owing questions. Your answers shoul d be based on the informationin the above text.

1. In your own words, say briefly what the whole text is about.

2. What are the topics of the following paragraphs?

Paragraph I:

Paragraph II:

Paragraph III:

Paragraph IV:

Paragraph V:

3. How are the future use of fibre optics different from the present one?

4. Describe the stages of the production of light bulbs using the Cornings ribbon machine.

5. How might architects use glass in their design in the future? Give examples in youranswers.

I I .Say whether each of the foll owing statements is TRUE or FALSE. I n either case,explain your answers.

6. In the world of medicine, one of the many uses of glass is in giving radiation to the internalorgans of humans.

7. Although computers using glass fibres are much faster than the electronic ones, theycannot hold as much information as the electronic ones.

8. Glass can be shaped into any forms because its molecular structure is loose.

9. The best title for the text is :The Advantages and Disadvantages of Glass

10. Referent Words.

What do the following words/phrases refer to?

a) this adaptable material in line 4 refers to ......

b) that unwanted material in line 9 refers to ........


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c) these machines in line 12 refer to ............

d) one in line 21 refers to .........

e) in this way in line 27 refers to .........

f) they in line 36 refer to ............

g) their in line 38 refers to ..............

Matching

Match the words/phrases in Column A (taken f rom the text) wi th their meanings or

synonyms in Column B by wri ting the letters on the space provided.

A B

____ versatile a. dark, nontransparent

____ to dispose of b. quick blast of wind or air

____ vastly c. hard, inflexible

____ surge d. immediately

____ plunge e. flexible, adaptable

____ puffs f. To make or shape for special purposes

____ rigid g. to get rid of

____ to tailor h. decrease sharply

____ opaque i. considerably larger

____ instantly j. increase


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I I . VOCABULARY

Fill in the blanks with the corr ects words/phrases from the li st. Each word/phrase shoul d be used

once only; and two words/phrases are not used.

showwindmillspoweranalysisavailableutilizing

much higherefficiencypurposessuitable

proposedeffective

A study to investigate the feasibility of using wind energy for generating electricity for household in a

remote area was made by a team of engineers from the University of Singapore. The study found that

the wind speed in that region was _______________ for the operation of _______________. In the

offshore islands, the power available is ________________ than that in the mainland. In the former,

_______________ may be generated for about 80 percent of the time. The team said that the

_______________ design method and its verification with model tests _______________ that it can be

used with confidence to design a windmill of fairly high _______________ with known

characteristics. Cost _______________ also shows that the windmill can be profitably used for

household _______________ and irrigation. In conclusion, the prospect for _______________ wind

energy in that region is good.


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READING AN ACADEMIC TEXT

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Read the text carefully

Water-related diseases are human tragedy, killing millions of people each year,preventing millions more from leading healthy lives, and make development effortsineffective. About 2.3 billion people in the world suffer from diseases linked towater. Water-related diseases which vary substantially in their nature ,transmission, effect and management can be organized into three categories: water-borne diseases, water-based diseases and water-related vector diseases.

Millions of people suffer from infections that are transmitted by vectorsinsects orother animals capable of transmitting an infection, such as mosquitoes and tsetseflies that breed and live in or near both polluted and unpolluted water. Suchvectors infect humans with malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, sleeping sickness,and filariasis. Malaria, the most widespread, is endemic in about 100 developingcountries, putting some 2 billion people at risk. In sub-Sahara Africa malaria costsan estimated US$1.7 billion annually in treatment and lost productivity.

The incidence of water-related vector diseases appears to be increasing. There aremany reasons: people are developing resistance to antimalarial drugs; mosquitoesare developing resistance to DDT, the major insecticide used; environmentalchanges are creating new breedingsites; migration, climate change, and creation ofnew habitats means that fewer people build up natural immunity to the disease; andmany malaria control programs have slowed or been abandoned.

Lack of appropriate water management, along with failure to take preventive

measures, contributes to the rising incidence of malaria, filariasis, andonchocerciasis. Construction projects often increase the mosquito population, aspools ofstagnantwater, even if they exist only briefly, become breeding grounds.For example, in West Africa an epidemic of Rift Valley fever in 1987 has beenlinked to the Senegal River Project. The project, which flooded the lower SenegalRiver area, enabled the type of mosquito that carries the virus to expand so muchthat the virus was transmitted to humans rather than remaining in the usual animalhosts.

The solution to water-related vector diseases would appear to be cleareliminatethe insects that transmit the diseases. This is easier said than done, however, aspesticides themselves may be harmful to health if they get into drinking water or

irrigation water. Also, many insects develop resistance to pesticides, and diseasescan emergeagain in new forms.

Alternative techniques to control these diseases include the use of bed nets andintroducing naturalpredatorsand sterile insects. In Gujarat, India, for example, animportant part of an integrated project to control disease vectors was breedingguppiesfish that eat mosquito larvaein bodies of water, while eliminating theuse of insecticides altogether. An inexpensive approach to controlling insect vectorsinvolves the use of polystyrene spheres floating on the top of bodies of static water.Because the spheres cover the surface of the water, the mosquito larvae die fromlack of air.

Another way to control the vectors is species sanitationusing biological methodsand habitatmanagement to reduce or eliminate the natural breeding grounds of the


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VII 45disease vectors. Such methods can include: filling and drainingunneeded bodies ofstagnant water; covering water storage containers; eliminating mosquito breedingsites by periodically clearing canals and reservoirs. Also, integrating educationabout disease prevention into health services and encouraging communitydiscussion of prevention would help people to control vectors and to identify and

eliminate breeding sites which are difficult to find.

I.Answer the following questions by basing your answers on the information given in thetext.

1. Explain briefly what the whole text is about.

2. Explain in your own words how people can suffer from infectious diseases such as malariaand dengue fever.

3. Why have efforts to prevent the widespread of these infectious diseases failed?

4. Explain in your own words how the Rift Valley Fever came into existence.

5. Why is it difficult to destroy the vectors that transmit the diseases?

6. Fill in the boxes with techniques that have been taken to control infectious diseases.

No. technique how to perform the technique

a.

b.

c.


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d.

e. Participation of the community identify and eliminate breeding sites

7. Which of the seven paragraphs can be joined together and be given one sub-title? What isthe suitable subtitle for the joined paragraphs?

8. What are the topics of the remaining paragraphs? (Paragraphs which are not included inthe above subtitle). Give the topic for each paragraph.

II.Say whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE. In either case say why.

9. One of the reasons why less developed countries cannot develop its economy rapidly isbecause of the spread of infectious diseases.

10. People living near unpolluted water are likely to be protected from any infectious diseasebecause vectors, the disease transmitters, cannot grow in such waters.

11. The availability of construction projects may endanger people living in its surroundingsbecause considerable supply of fresh water is used by the projects.

12. Controlling the spread of infectious diseases includes conducting health service trainingsfor the community.

III. What do the following words/phrases refer back to?

a. such vectors in line 9/10 refers to ..

b. they in line 23 refers to

c. this in line 30 refers to

d. they in line 31 refers to .

e. these diseases in line 34 refers to


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IV. Match the words in column A with the synonyms or meanings in column B, and fill

in the blanks with the chosen letters.

A B

_______ substantially (line 4) a. Stopped

_______ endemic (line 11) b. not move or flow

_______ sites (line 17) c. natural home of animal

_______ abandoned (line 19) d. Considerably

_______ incidence (line 21) e. Arise

_______ stagnant (line 23) f. animals that kill or eat others

_______ emerge (line 33) g. a place (where something importanthappens)

_______ predators (line 35) h. flowing the water away fromsomething

_______ habitat (line 43) i. disease always present among aparticular group of people

_______ draining (line 44) j. occurrence, bad event

V. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words from the following list:

thirst

scarcity

growing

source

however

approaches

risk

current

faster

survive

Freshwater is emerging as one of the most critical natural resource issues facing

humanity. As the year 2050 ____________________ , the worlds population is

expanding rapidly. Yet there is no more freshwater on earth now than there was 2,000

years ago, when the population was less than 3% of its ____________________ size.

Water is, literally, the source of life on earth. The human body is 70% water. People

begin to feel ____________________ after a loss of only 1% of bodily fluids and


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____________________ death if fluid loss nears 10%. Human beings can

____________________ for only a few days without freshwater. Yet, in a

____________________ number of places people are withdrawing water from rivers,

lakes, and underground sources ____________________ than they can be recharged

unsustainably mining what was once a renewable resource, as one researcher puts it.

Currently, 31 countriesmostly in Africa and the Near Eastface water stress or water

____________________ .

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