READING TEST 5
PASSAGE 1 – Questions 1-10
Each advance in microscopic technique has provided scientists with new perspectives on the function of living organisms and the nature of matter itself. The invention of the visible-light microscope late in the sixteenth century introduced a previously unknown realm of single-celled plants and animals. In the twentieth century, electron microscopes have provided direct views of viruses and minuscule surface structures. Now another type of microscope, one that utilize X-rays rather than light or electrons, offers a different way of examining tiny details, it should extend human perception still farther into the natural world.
The dream of building an X-ray microscope dates to 1895, its development, however, was virtually halted in the 1940's because the development of the electron microscope was progressing rapidly. During the 1940's electron microscopes routinely achieved resolution better than that possible with a visible-light microscope, while the performance of X-ray microscopes resisted improvement. In recent years, however, interest in X-ray microscopes has revived, largely because of advances such as the development of new sources of X-ray illumination. As a result, the brightness available today is millions of times that of X-ray tubes, which, for most of the century, were the only available sources of soft X-rays.
The new X-ray microscopes considerably improve on the resolution provided by optical microscopes. They can also be used to map the distribution of certain chemical elements. Some can form pictures in extremely short times, others hold the promise of special capabilities such as three dimensional imaging. Unlike conventional electron microscopy, X-ray microscopy enables specimens to be kept in air and in water, which means that biological samples can be studied under conditions similar to their natural state. The illumination used, so-called soft X-rays in the wavelength range of twenty to forty angstroms (an angstrom is one ten-billionth of a meter), is also sufficiently penetrating to image intact biological cells in many cases. Because of the wavelength of the X-rays used, soft X-ray microscopes will never match the highest resolution possible with electron microscopes. Rather, their special properties will make possible investigations that will complement those performed with light- and electron-based instruments.
What does the passage mainly discuss?
- A. The detail seen through a microscope
- B. Sources of illumination for microscopes
- C. A new kind of microscope
- D. Outdated microscopic technique
- A. see viruses directly
- B. develop the electron microscope later on
- C. understand more about the distribution of the chemical elements
- D. discover single celled plants and animals they had never seen before
- A. circular
- B. dangerous
- C. complex
- D. tiny
- A. a type of microscope
- B. human perception
- C. the natural world
- D. light
- A. To begin a discussion of sixteenth century discoveries
- B. To put the X-ray microscope in historical perspective
- C. To show how limited its uses are
- D. To explain how it functioned
- A. Funds for research were insufficient
- B. The source of illumination was not bright enough until recently
- C. Materials used to manufacture X-ray tubes were difficult to obtain
- D. X-ray microscopes were too complicated to operate
- A. constitutes
- B. specifies
- C. expands
- D. allows
- A. significantly
- B. preferably
- C. somewhat
- D. instead
- A. properties
- B. investigations
- C. microscopes
- D. X-rays
- A. They will probably replace electron microscopes altogether
- B. They will eventually be much cheaper to produce than they are now
- C. They will provide information not available from other kinds of microscopes
- D. They will eventually change the illumination range that they now use
PASSAGE 2 – Questions 11-20
Many trees in the Brackham area were brought down in the terrible storms that March. The town itself lost two great lime trees from the former market square. The disappearance of such prominent features had altered the appearance of the town center entirely, to the annoyance of its more conservative inhabitants.
Among the annoyed, under more normal circumstances, would have been Chief Inspector Douglas Pelham, head of the local police force. But at the height of that week's storm, when the wind brought down even the mature walnut tree in his garden, Pelham had in fact been in no fit state to notice. A large and healthy man, he had for the first time in his life been seriously ill with an attack of bronchitis.
When he first complained of an aching head and tightness in his chest, his wife, Molly, had tried to persuade him to go to the doctor. Convinced that the police force could not do without him, he had, as usual, ignored her and attempted to carry on working. Predictably, though he wouldn't have listened to anyone who tried to tell him so, this had the effect of fogging his memory and shortening his temper.
It was only when his colleague, Sergeant Lloyd, took the initiative and drove him to the doctor's door that he finally gave in. By that time, he didn't have the strength left to argue with her. In no time at all, she was taking him along to the chemist's to get his prescribed antibiotics and then home to his unsurprised wife who sent him straight to bed.
When Molly told him, on the Thursday morning, that the walnut tree had been brought down during the night, Pelham hadn't been able to take it in. On Thursday evening, he had asked weakly about damage to the house, groaned thankfully when he heard there was none, and pulled the sheets over his head.
It wasn't until Saturday, when the antibiotics took effect, his temperature dropped and he got up, that he realized with a shock that the loss of the walnut tree had made a permanent difference to the appearance of the living-room. The Pelhams' large house stood in a sizeable garden. It had not come cheap, but even so Pelham had no regrets about buying it. The leafy garden had created an impression of privacy. Now, though, the storm had changed his outlook.
Previously, the view from the living room had featured the handsome walnut tree. This had not darkened the room because there was also a window on the opposite wall, but it had provided interesting patterns of light and shade that disguised the true state of the worn furniture that the family had brought with them from their previous house.
With the tree gone, the room seemed cruelly bright, its worn furnishings exposed in all their shabbiness. And the view from the window didn't bear looking at. The tall house next door, previously hidden by the tree, was now there, dominating the outlook with its unattractive purple bricks and external pipes. It seemed to have a great many upstairs windows, all of them watching the Pelhams' every movement.
'Doesn't it look terrible?' Pelham croaked to his wife.
But Molly, standing in the doorway, sounded more pleased than dismayed. 'That's what I've been telling you ever since we came here. We have to buy a new sofa, whatever it costs.'
Why were some people in Brackham annoyed after the storm?
- A. The town looked different
- B. The police had done little to help
- C. No market could be held
- D. Fallen trees had not been removed
- A. emphasize that the man had never been sick at all
- B. convey the idea that he wanted to be noticed
- C. remind people of paying closer attention to their health
- D. state that this was the first time he was badly ill
- A. He finds it extremely annoying
- B. He is sure that he fulfils a vital role
- C. He considers the systems are not clear enough
- D. He does not trust the decisions made by his superiors
- A. Molly Pelham
- B. the doctor
- C. the chemist
- D. Sergeant Lloyd
- A. pharmacist
- B. drugstore
- C. chemistry store
- D. laboratory
- A. worried
- B. shocked
- C. saddened
- D. uninterested
- A. its color
- B. its condition
- C. its position
- D. its design
- A. was pleasantly lighter
- B. felt less private
- C. had a better view
- D. was in need of repair
- A. It proved that he was well again
- B. She agreed about the tree
- C. She thought he meant the sofa
- D. It was what she expected him to say
- A. open-minded
- B. well-liked
- C. warm-hearted
- D. strong-willed
