Two Articles on Mars Exploration – English Effective Communication. English ESL Worksheets to improve reading and develop strong language and Speaking skills.
Two Articles on Mars Exploration – English Effective Communication
Two Articles on Mars Exploration – English Effective Communication
Procedure
Divide the class into pairs. Give each student a copy of either the A or B reading sheets. The students read the short articles silently by themselves and use a dictionary or consult the teacher if they don’t understand a word or phrase. After the students have read and understood the articles, the teacher takes the articles away. Then student A will communicate what was in A’s article to student B, and student B will communicate what was in B’s article to A. Then all of the students take a test to see how much information they were able to communicate.
| The Odds on Mars Some people will bet on anything, even space exploration. When President George Bush said that America will put an astronaut on Mars, British bookies started taking bets. The bookies put the odds on a successful manned mission to Mars by the year 2030 at 50-1 against. That means if you bet $1.00 that an astronaut will land on Mars by 2030 and an astronaut does land on Mars, you will win $50.00. The president also said that American astronauts will land on the moon again by 2015. The British bookies also don’t think it is very likely. They have put the odds on a moon landing by 2015 at 10-1 against. The last time a human landed on the moon was 1972. Part of the reason the bookies are betting against manned missions to other planets is that manned missions are expensive and dangerous. But the bookies have been wrong before. In the early 1960s, they didn’t think it was possible to land on the moon before 1970. They put the odds of landing on the moon by 1970 at 1000-1. But one lucky gambler, David Threfall, bet 10 pounds that people would land on the moon. When Neil Armstrong made his famous ‘one small step’, this gambler collected 10,000 pounds! | Manned Missions to Mars In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in manned space travel. Part of the renewed interest is because of the possibility of water on the moon and Mars. A permanent base on the moon would make it easy to extract water from the moon’s soil. Water is important because it can be used to make rocket fuel and breathable air. If there is no water on the moon, it would be necessary to transport the water from the earth. Transporting water from the earth is extremely expensive. And hence, the existence of water on the moon means that manned missions to Mars will be cheaper. However, not everybody thinks a manned mission to Mars is a good idea. Even if there is water on the moon, a manned mission to Mars will be very expensive. As well, astronauts traveling through space to Mars will be exposed to dangerous solar radiation. This solar radiation will be very harmful to the astronauts’ health. These scientists argue that robotic missions can do everything that manned missions can do and more. So why spend so much money on something so risky? | |
| (1) What is the title of the article? (2) What will some people bet on? (3) Which president said he would put an astronaut on Mars? (4) Who started taking bets? (5) What are the odds on a successful mission to Mars by 2030? (6) When did the President say people would land on the moon again? (7) When was the last time somebody landed on the moon? (8) What are the odds on a successful manned mission to the moon by 2015? (9) Why don’t the bookies think a manned mission to other planets is likely? (10) When have the bookies been wrong before? (11) What were the odds of landing on the moon before 1970? (12) How much did David Threfall bet?(13) When did he collect his money? | (1) What is the title of the article? (2) In recent years, what has there been a renewed interest in? (3) Why has there been a renewed interest in manned space missions? (4) Why is a permanent base on the moon important? (5) What can water be used for? (6) Why is transporting water from the earth not a good idea? (7) What does it mean if there is water on the moon? (8) Why doesn’t everybody think a manned mission to Mars is a good idea?(a)(b) (9) Why is space travel dangerous? (10) Why do some scientists like robotic missions? |
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