Reading & Use of English: Part 1
Open
cloze (8 questions)
ACTIVITY 37:Read the text below
and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap.
Then
check the correct answers
THE PLANET MARS
People have always fascinated by the planet Mars. It has been
the subject of countless science-fiction films for many years
and now, with recent advances in technology, has come a better
understanding of this planet.
It now seems that
the atmosphere on Mars is thinner than on Earth, and therefore
unable to support life as we know ,
the planet does share many characteristics with our own. Its surface
is rocky like ours, days are almost the same length, and it has four
distinct seasons. It also has winds, clouds and high mountains with
volcanoes, one of
is three times as high as Everest. Huge cracks on the planets
surface suggest there
once channels, hundreds of miles wide and hundreds of feet deep, and
water is thought to lie under the planet's crust.
However, there are some notable differences in
Mars is smaller than Earth, much further from the Sun, and as a
consequence, has far lower temperatures. Also, years are twice as
long, and it. has two moons. Probably the most significant
difference is that
spacesuits it is impossible to breathe, but scientists are now
developing schemes to give the planet a breathable atmosphere.
Scientists believe that Mars was not always like it is today. It is
thought that several thousand million years ago it was warm and lush,
probably with a thick atmosphere. Today. Mars appears to be a
lifeless desert with nothing
red sand, rock and rubble. However, its crust contains the six
elements essential to life: hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorous and sulphur.
