All the material included in this session was used for the 2019-20 Final Exam. It is meant to give you a glimpse of what your Final Exam may look like at the end of the semester.
NOTE You need to revise Cultural Landmarks 1-5 before attempting to do the test.
EXAM UPDATE
FINAL EXAM 80% of the mark (3 January 2023)
Reading comprehension
Culture landmarks 1-6
Grammar
Writing
SUGGESTIONS
Improve your English speaking, listening and writing skills with Duolingo, a free, fun-to-use app.
TEST YOURSELF
You have one hour and thirty minutes to complete the exam. Click on the following video to start the timer (turn down the volume if the music is disturbing).
When you finish, you can check the solutions at the bottom of this page.
Good luck.
Reading
'OUMUAMUA: VISITOR FROM ANOTHER STAR
01Asteroid, comet, alien ship or something else altogether? Astronomers are still unsure about the 02true nature of 'Oumuamua —the first confirmed interstellar object to be detected in our solar 03system.
04 There is an interstellar interloper in our solar system that has astronomers firing shots at each 05 other. Careering through our solar system fast enough to escape the gravitational pull of our 06 Sun, it has excited, inspired and confounded astronomers. Is it an asteroid? Is it a comet? Is it a 07 broken-off solar sail from an alien spacecraft? Or could it even be an alien probe? These are all 08 proposals made in bona fide peer-reviewed scientific papers, based on observations of this 09 mysterious object. As it speeds back out into interstellar space, the debate in the astronomy 10 community continues apace on Earth.
11 Ever since the first news stories about 'Oumuamua broke in mid-October 2017, comparisons 12 with science fiction have filled headlines, especially the mention of aliens. Here is an interstellar 13 object that scientists can't define —in fact, they aren’t even sure what it's doing in our celestial 14 neighbourhood.
15 Planet Earth is teeming with life. Even in the harshest environments, life finds a way. Our galaxy 16 is packed with stars, many of which host their own planetary systems, with many of those home 17 to rocky planets orbiting at a distance conducive to temperate atmospheres. It seems unlikely 18 that we are alone in the galaxy but, as it stands, there has been no convincing evidence of alien 19 life.
20 The name scientists gave 'Oumuamua translates from Hawaiian as "a messenger from the 21 distant past, reaching out to us". On 19 October 2017 —40 days after it had gone past its closest 22 approach to our Sun— 'Oumuamua was spotted by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawaii. 23 One of its primary purposes is to find NEOs that may pose a threat to Earth. Alien conspiracists 24 need not get too excited though. Astronomers are looking for rocks and comets on potential 25 collision courses with Earth, rather than alien spacecraft.
26 The observations showed that 'Oumuamua has a highly irregular shape, unlike anything from 27 our solar system. It appeared to be a cigar-shaped object, roughly 10 times longer than it is 28 wide, rotating on its axis every 7.3 hours. These observations came, principally, from the 29 Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope. As 'Oumuamua spins and tumbles, its brightness fluctuates 30 dramatically and, although its speed and trajectory suggest that it has been inside our solar 31 system since around 1837, it spent much of that time too far from the Sun to reflect enough light 32 for us to see it. Once it got close enough to the Sun it was moving too fast to remain in the field 33 of view of telescopes long enough to be observed or photographed.
34 Observations show that 'Oumuamua has the highest orbital eccentricity ever observed, at 1.20. 35 An eccentricity over 1.0 means an object is moving faster than our Sun's escape velocity, and 36 so is not bound to the solar system. Trajectory calculations also confirmed that it had come from 37 interstellar space, with its origin likely to be somewhere in the constellation Lyra —home to the 38 fictional aliens in Carl Sagan's novel Contact, the possible alien in Gene Brewer's novel K-PAX 39 and the Galactic Empire in Isaac Asimov's Foundation novel trilogy.
40 While frontpage headlines featuring the words "alien" or "extraterrestrial" are sure to sell 41 newspapers, does this kind of extremely speculative research run the risk of undermining 42 science in the mind of the public? A room full of astronomers understands that, in the balance of 43 probability, 'Oumuamua is far more likely to be a strange comet, and that Dr. Loeb's evidence- 44 based wild speculations are just that. The public, however, may not have this nuanced view. So 45 should every research paper be carefully worded with public opinion in mind, or is it acceptable 46 for scientists to speculate within the bounds of science, if the data allows for it?
47 Adapted from Physics World, Feb 2019 issue.
48 Note: The last observations of 'Oumuamua were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in January 2018 49and astronomers will get no more data unless an unlikely space mission can catch up with the object 50before it leaves our solar system. 'Oumuamua's home star is, unfortunately, something else we just don't 51know yet.
In the text, find the words or groups of words that correspond to the following definitions. (10 points)
Term
Definition
Score
1
Wholly, completely, entirely
1
2
One that intrudes in a place, situation, or activity
1
3
To move rapidly, to go at full speed, to speed
1
4
To cause to become perplexed, uncertain
1
5
To be full of, to swarm, to abound, to be packed with, to be filled with
1
6
To contain, to receive others as guests, to provide the space and other things necessary for a special feature or event
1
7
To turn, to rotate, to revolve
1
8
Restrained, tied, restricted
1
9
To erode, to weaken, to frustrate, to hurt
1
10
Probable, plausible
1
TOTAL:
10
PART 2
Comprehension
Say whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE, and justify your choice by quoting from the text. Indicate the reference AND copy the relevant passage (not just line numbers); add comments in your own words if necessary. (10 points)
Note: In the real test you need to manually copy the fragments. Here you can simply copy the text and paste it into the right box.
Information
True/False
Explanation
Score
1
Space specialists respect their colleagues' opinions on what 'Oumuamua actually is.
1
2
Serious academic publications have been written with the hypothesis regarding alien origins.
1
3
The media reported the fact that 'Oumuamua separated into several pieces a few years ago.
1
4
'Oumuamua was still major news even for the non-scientific community.
1
5
There are probably some forms of extra-terrestrial life somewhere.
1
6
A large alien spaceship would not be detected by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope.
1
5
There are probably some forms of extra-terrestrial life somewhere.
1
7
'Oumuamua rotates several times per hour.
1
8
Had we known about 'Oumuamua before, we could have taken many more pictures over many years.
1
9
9. 'Oumuamua will return to the Lyra constellation, proving that science fiction has great intuition.
1
10
Dr. Loeb supports the alien hypothesis.
1
TOTAL:
10
PART 3
Cultural landmarks
Answer the following questions about the civilisation documents you have studied. (10 points)
Questions
Answer
Score
1
How was segregation present even as late as 1958 when Katherine Johnson worked for NACA?
2
2
How was Ada Lovelace's idea of a computer different from a simple calculator?
2
3
Show that Robert Boyle was an experimenter both in theory and practice.
2
4
What is Joshua Lederberg's main discovery?
2
5
Why was Marie Curie unique concerning the prestigious Nobel prize?
2
TOTAL:
10
PART 4
Writing
In no less than 100 words (indicate the number of words). (20 points)
Do you think we are ready to discover extraterrestrial life? How would society react?
Length: TOTAL: 20 points
PART 5
Grammar
Choose the best answer. (10 points)
1. She .................... before him if she had taken it seriously.
2. The iPad .................... introduced by Bill Gates.
3. Endangered lemurs .................... as we speak, we can’t ignore it!
4. It seemed as if the house .................... some time before.
5. What a .................... car!
6. I found the show .................... whereas my friend looked visibly .................... .
7. .................... given the wrong answer if pressed too hard?
8. The rare teachers to .................... I spoke about my problems have been very understanding.
9. As the person .................... car was stolen, I should complain the most!
10. My dad told me that C4 is .................... gunpowder.
TOTAL: 10 points
SOLUTIONS
Have you finished? Now check your answers and count your points. Since there are 60 points at play, you will need to divide your mark by 3 to obtain your final mark out of 20.
Example: 48 points : 3 = 16/20
Term 1
01 Asteroid, comet, alien ship or something else altogether? Astronomers are still unsure about the
Term 2
04 There is an interstellar interloper in our solar system
Term 3
05 other. Careering through our solar system fast enough to escape the gravitational pull of our
Term 4
06 Sun, it has excited, inspired and confounded astronomers. Is it an asteroid? Is it a comet? Is it a
Term 5
15 Planet Earth is teeming with life. Even in the harshest environments, life finds a way. Our galaxy
Term 6
16 is packed with stars, many of which host their own planetary systems, with many of those home
Term 7
29 Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope. As 'Oumuamua spins and tumbles, its brightness fluctuates
Term 8
36 so is not bound to the solar system. Trajectory calculations also confirmed that it had come from
Term 9
41 newspapers, does this kind of extremely speculative research run the risk of undermining
Term 10
43 probability, 'Oumuamua is far more likely to be a strange comet, and that Dr. Loeb's evidence —
1. FALSE
04 There is an interstellar interloper in our solar system that has astronomers firing shots at each 05 other. Careering through our solar system fast enough to escape the gravitational pull of our
Explanation:
"Firing shots at each other" means astronomers do not agree with each other.
2. TRUE
07 broken-off solar sail from an alien spacecraft? Or could it even be an alien probe? These are all 08 proposals made in bona fide peer-reviewed scientific papers, based on observations of this
3. FALSE
11 Ever since the first news stories about 'Oumuamua broke in mid-October 2017, comparisons
Explanation:
"Broke"" in this case means that the first news stories "appeared, were published".
4. TRUE
11 Ever since the first news stories about 'Oumuamua broke in mid-October 2017, comparisons 12 with science fiction have filled headlines, especially the mention of aliens. Here is an interstellar
5. TRUE
17 to rocky planets orbiting at a distance conducive to temperate atmospheres. It seems unlikely 18 that we are alone in the galaxy but, as it stands, there has been no convincing evidence of alien
Explanation:
"Unlikely in this case means "not very probable".
6. FALSE
23 One of its primary purposes is to find NEOs that may pose a threat to Earth. Alien conspiracists
7. FALSE
28 wide, rotating on its axis every 7.3 hours. These observations came, principally, from the
8. FALSE
31 system since around 1837, it spent much of that time too far from the Sun to reflect enough light 32 for us to see it. Once it got close enough to the Sun it was moving too fast to remain in the field 33 of view of telescopes long enough to be observed or photographed.
9. FALSE
36 so is not bound to the solar system. Trajectory calculations also confirmed that it had come from 37 interstellar space, with its origin likely to be somewhere in the constellation Lyra —home to the
10. TRUE
43 probability, 'Oumuamua is far more likely to be a strange comet, and that Dr. Loeb's evidence- 44 based wild speculations are just that. The public, however, may not have this nuanced view. So
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
1. How was segregation present before 1958 when Katherine Johnson worked for NACA?
Johnson and the other African-American women in the computing pool were required to work, eat, and use restrooms that were separate from those of their white peers. Their office was labeled as 'Colored Computers'.
2. How was Ada Lovelace’s idea of a computer different from a simple calculator?
She had grasped that anything that could be converted into numbers, such as music, or the alphabet or images, could then be manipulated by computer algorithms. This was the first ever perception of a modern computer —not just a calculator— but a machine that could contribute to other areas of human endeavor, for example to compose music.
3. Show that Robert Boyle was an experimenter both in theory and practice.
Boyle was an experimenter both in theory and practice. In his series of essays Certain Physiological Essays (1661), he presents a very subtle view of experiment, including two key essays on the significance of unsuccessful experiments, together with others in which he illustrated the way in which such experiments could be used to provide a foundation for his version of the mechanical philosophy, to which he gave the name 'corpuscularianism'. they devised the most famous piece of experimental equipment associated with Boyle, the vacuum chamber or air-pump.
4. What is Joshua Lederberg’s main discovery?
He won the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering that bacteria can mate and exchange genes.
5. Why was Marie Curie unique concerning the prestigious Nobel prize?
She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win twice, the only person to win twice in multiple sciences.
NOTE: 1 element 1 point, 2 or more elements 2 points
CORRECTION
You can self-correct your text by copying & pasting it to an online tool such as Grammarly.com. If you wish to have a manual correction you must create a PDF file and email it to your your teacher.
NOTE: Manual correction only applies to students in groups 301, 302 and 321-346-386N. Students in other groups must contact their English teacher in advance.
CORRECT ANSWERS
1. She .................... before him if she had taken it seriously.
a. would have finished
2. The iPad .................... introduced by Bill Gates.
c. wasn't
3. Endangered lemurs .................... as we speak, we can’t ignore it!
d. are being hunted
4. It seemed as if the house .................... some time before.
b. had been broken into
5. What a .................... car!
b. strange golden American
6. I found the show .................... whereas my friend looked visibly .................... .
a. interesting / bored
7. .................... given the wrong answer if pressed too hard?
b. Wouldn't he have
8. The rare teachers to .................... I spoke about my problems have been very understanding.
c. whom
9. As the person .................... car was stolen, I should complain the most!
b. whose
10. My dad told me that C4 is .................... gunpowder.
c. 10 times as dangerous as
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