Reading Comprehension- Key 006

TEST6
Questions 1-10
The ocean bottom ― a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the
Earth ― is a vast frontier that even today islargely unexplored and uncharted, Until
about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath
Linewaters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense
(5)pressures hundreds of times greater than atthe Earth`s surface, the deep-ocean bottom
is a hostile environment to humans, in someways as forbidding and remote as the void
of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for
over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not
(10)actually start until 1968, with the beginning ofthe National Science Foundation`s Deep
Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and
gas industry, the DSDP`s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a
steady position on the ocean`s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples
of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
(15)The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that
ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and
took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites
around the world. The Glomar Challenger`s core sample have allowed geologists
to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to
(20)calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely
on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger`s voyages, nearly
all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonicsand continental drift that
explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded
(25)information critical to understanding the world`s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments
provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they
are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and
biological
activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has
already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change ―
information that may be used to predict future climates.
1. What is the main topic of the passage?
(A) Marine life deep in the ocean
(B) The Earth`s climate millions of years ago
(C) The first detailed study of the bottom of the ocean
(D) Geologists` predictions for the future environment of the Earth
2. The author refers to the ocean bottom as a "frontier" in line 2 because it
(A) is not a popular area for scientific research
(B) contains a wide variety of life forms
(C) attracts courageous explorers
(D) is an unknown territory
3. The word "inaccessible" in line 3 is closest in meaning to
(A) unrecognizable
(B) unreachable
(C) unusable
(D) unsafe
4. The author mentions outer space in line 7 because
(A) the Earth`s climate millions of years ago was similar to conditions in outer space
(B) it is similar to the ocean floorin being alien to the human environment
(C) rock formations in outer space are similar to those found on the ocean floor
(D) techniques used by scientists to explore outer space were similar to those used in
ocean exploration
5. Which of the following is true of the Glomar Challenger?
(A) It is a type of submarine.
(B) It is an ongoing project.
(C) It has gone on over 100 voyages.
(D) It made its first DSDP voyage in 1968.
6. The word "extracting" in line 13 is closest in meaning to
(A) breaking
(B) locating
(C) removing
(D) analyzing
7. The Deep Sea Drilling Project was signigicant because it was
(A) an attempt to find new sources of oil and gas
(B) the first extensive exploration of the ocean bottom
(C) composed of geologists from all over the world
(D) funded entirely bythe gas and oil industry
8. The word "strength" in line 21 is closest in meaning to
(A) basis
(B) purpose
(C) discovery
(D) endurance
9. The word "they" in line 26 refers to
(A) years
(B) climates
(C) sediments
(D) cores
10. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as being
a result of the Deep Sea Drilling Project?
(A) Geologists were able to determine the Earth`s appearance hundreds
of millions of years ago.
(B) Two geological theories became more widely accepted by scientists.
(C) Information