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CAMBRIDGE IELTS 9 – TEST 1- PASSAGE 2

1. Paragraph B.

The main idea of paragraph B is “In discussing whether we are alone, most SETI scientists adopt

two rules.” Then, the writer details these two rules. The second rule is “a very conservative

assumption that we are looking for a life form that is pretty well like us”.

• 
  ground rules = assumptions
  

• 
  SETI = the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence
  

=>ANSWER: iv

1. Paragraph C

In paragraph C, the writer emphasizes that “our understanding of other life forms is still severely limited”, and “we do not know how likely it is that life will arise naturally”. This is followed by some guesses about life on other planets: “it seems inconceivable that at least one of these planets does not have a life form on it; in
fact, the best educated guess we can make,…, leads us to estimate that perhaps one in 100,000 stars might have a life-bearing planet orbiting it.” In other words, this paragraph is about likelihood of life on other planets.

• 
  likelihood=best educated guess
  

=>ANSWER: vii

1. Paragraph D

In this paragraph, the writer says that “An alien civilisation could choose many different ways of sending information across the galaxy. It turns out that, for a given amount of transmitted power, radio waves in the frequency range 1000 to 3000 MHz travel the greatest distance, and so all searches to date have concentrated on looking for radio waves around the world… “. Then, the writer gives more details about the project of searching for extra-terrestrial life. So, paragraph D is about seeking the transmission of radio signals from planets.

• 
  signals=radio waves
  

• 
  seeking=looking for
  

=>ANSWER:i

1. Paragraph E:

This paragraph details how we should react to a signal from an alien civilisation: “Everybody agrees that we should not reply immediately.” Then he explains why we should not reply at once. Therefore, this paragraph is about appropriate responses to signals from other civilisations.

• 
  response (n)=reply (v)
  

=>ANSWER: ii

1. What is the life expectancy of Earth?

Keywords: life expectancy

In paragraph A, the writer says that “Since the lifetime of a planet like ours is several billion years, we can expect that, if other civilisations do survive in our galaxy, their ages will range from zero to several billion years.”

• 
  Earth=a planet like ours
  

• 
  life expectancy=lifetime
  

=>ANSWER: several billion years

1. What kind of signals from other intelligent civilisations are SETI scientists searching for?

Keywords: signals, scientists looking for

In paragraph D, “An alien civilisation could choose many different ways of sending information across the galaxy. It turns out that, for a given amount of transmitted power, radio waves in the frequency range 1000 to 3000 MHz travel the greatest distance, and so all searchesto date have

concentrated onlooking for radio waves around the world…”

• 
  searching for=looking for
  

=>ANSWER: radio waves/signals

1. How many stars are the world‟s most powerful radio telescopes searching?

Keywords: how many, stars, searching, radio telescopes

At the end of paragraph D, the writer says that “One part is a targeted search using the world‟s largest radio telescopes…This part of the project is searching the nearest 1000 likely stars with high sensitivity for signals in the frequencies range 1000 to 3000 MHz”

• 
  most powerful ~ largest
  

=>ANSWER: 1000

1. Alien civilisations may be able to help the human race to overcome serious problems.

Keywords: alien, help overcome problems

At the end of paragraph A, the writer indicates that “It it even possible that the older civilisation may pass on the benefits of their experience in dealing with threats to survival such as nuclear war and global pollution, and other threats that we haven‟t yet discovered,”

• 
  help ~ pass on the benefits of experience
  

• 
  overcome=deal with
  

• 
  serious problems ~ nuclear war and global pollution, and other threats that we haven‟t yet discovered
  

=>ANSWER: YES

1. SETI scientists are trying to find a life form that resembles humans in many ways.

Keywords: a life form, resemble humans

In paragraph B, the writer argues that “Second, we make a very conservative assumption that we are looking for a life form that is pretty well like us, since if it differs radically from us we may well not recognise it as a form.”

• 
  try to find=look for
  

• 
  resembles=is like
  

• 
  in many ways=pretty well
  

=>ANSWER: YES

1. The Americans and Australians have co-operated on joint research projects.

Keywords: Americans and Australians, co-operated

Paragraph D mentions “The Americans and Australians” However, whether they have co-operated on joint research projects or not is not mentioned. So, the statement is NOT GIVEN.

=>ANSWER: NOT GIVEN

1. So far SETI scientists have picked up radio signals from several stars Keywords: picked up signals, several stars

In paragraph D, the writer indicates that “Until now, there have not been any detections from the few hundred stars which have been searched.” This means that so far, SETI scientists have not picked up any radio signals from other stars.

=>ANSWER: NO

1. The NASA project attracted criticism from some members of Congress.

Keywords: NASA projects, criticism, Congress.


In paragraph D, which mentions “members of Congress”, there is no information about the NASA project‟s attracting criticism from members of Congress. So, the statement is NOT GIVEN.

=>ANSWER: NOT GIVEN

1. If a signal from outer space is received, it will be important to respond promptly.”

Keywords: signal, outer space, respond promptly

In the last paragraph, the writer argues that “There is considerable debate over how we should react if we detect a signal from an alien civilisation. Everybody agrees that we should not reply immediately” This means that if a signal from outer space is received, we should not reply promptly.

• 
  respond=reply
  

• 
  promptly=immediately
  

=>ANSWER: NO