Part I: Unseen (15%)
Instructions: Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow.
Passage A (9%)
P1 One of Albert Einstein's greatest works was realizing that time is relative; there is no real or absolute time. It speeds up or slows down depending on how fast one thing is moving relative to (in comparison with) something else.
P2 Think about when you feel like time moves very quickly and sometimes very slowly or like how the hours fly by when you're hanging out with a close friend, or how seconds drag on so slowly when you're stuck in traffic on a hot day. Yet, you can't actually speed time up or slow it down—it always flows at the same rate, right?
P3 Albert Einstein didn't think so. His idea was that, theoretically, the closer/nearer we come to traveling at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), the more time would appear to slow down for us from the eyes of someone who, in relation to us, was not moving. He called the slowing of time due to motion time dilation.
P4 Imagine you're standing on Earth holding a clock. Your friend is in a rocket in space moving past you at nearly 186,000 miles per second. Your friend is also holding a clock. If you could see your friend's clock, you would notice that it seems to be moving a lot more slowly than yours. So, what could be an effect of this time dilation?
P5 Here is the answer: people will age slowly if they travel in space. As an illustration, an astronaut traveling at the speed of light would age at a slower rate than those he/she left behind on earth. If such an astronaut left earth and then returned, everyone they know would have aged at a quick rate while the astronaut remained relatively young. Here's a helpful visual:
P6 Einstein's idea about time slowing down sounds fine in theory, but how can you be sure he's right? One way would be to get into a rocket and travel near the speed of light. Also, there is another major way to put his ideas to the test. One experiment in the 1970s provided some strong evidence.
P7 Atomic clocks are extremely accurate (correct) clocks that can measure tiny amounts of time—billionths of a second. In 1971, scientists used these clocks to test Einstein's ideas. One atomic clock was set up on the ground, while another was sent around the world on a jet traveling at 600 miles per hour (or 0.16 miles per second). At the start, both clocks showed exactly the same time. What happened when the clock on the jet returned to the spot where the other clock was? As Einstein had predicted in a general way, the clocks no longer showed the same time—the clock on the jet was behind by a few billionths of a second.
Source: Adapted from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/hotsciencetwin/
1. What is the passage mainly about? (1 mark)
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2. What will happen to time if we travel close to the speed of light? (1 mark)
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3. How fast is “the speed of light”? (1 mark)
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4. Why did the writer mention an astronaut traveling in space in P5? (1 mark)
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5. Based on the passage, whom do you think will age more quickly, a person traveling in a rocket or a person riding a jet? Also, provide a reason to support your opinion. (2 marks)
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6. How many ways is Einstein’s idea about time tested? And which way is the most important? State your reason. (2 marks)
_________ ways (0.5 mark)
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7. What can atomic clocks do? (1 mark)
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Passage B (6%)
P1 Technology brings problems as well as benefits to humankind. Since Henry Ford began mass-producing automobiles in 1908, they have provided us with a cheap and convenient means of transportation. However, they have also brought us traffic jams and air pollution. A technological development that is changing our lives as much as the automobile is the personal computer. Since the 1980s, computers have become common in homes, schools, and businesses, and just as automobiles have brought unexpected problems, so have personal computers.
P2 To begin with, communication by computer