Đáp Án Và Giải Thích Science In Space

IELTS Reading Practice Test

Science In Space

How will NASA transform the International Space Station from a building site into a cuttingedge research laboratory?

A premier, world class laboratory in low Earth orbit. That was how the National Aeronautics and Space Administration agency (NASA) sold the International Space Station (ISS) to the US Congress in 2001.Today no one can doubt the agency’s technological ambition. The most complex engineering project ever attempted has created an enormous set of interlinked modules that orbits the planet at more than 27,000 kilometres per hour. It might be travelling fast but, say critics, as a lab it is going nowhere. So far, it has gone through $150 billion. 
So where should its future priorities lie? This question was addressed at the recent 1st annual ISS research and development conference in Colorado. Among the presenters was Satoshi Iwase of Aichi Medical University in Japan who has spent several years developing an experiment that could help solve one of the key problems that humans will face in space: keeping our bodies healthy in weightlessness. One thing that physiologists have learned is that without gravity our bodies begin to lose strength, leaving astronauts with weakened bones, muscles and cardiovascular systems. To counter these effects on a long duration mission to, say, Mars, astronauts will almost certainly need to create their own artificial gravity. This is where Iwase comes in. He leads a team designing a centrifuge for humans. In their preliminary design, an astronaut is strapped into the seat of a machine that resembles an exercise bike. Pedalling provides a workout for the astronaut’s muscles and cardiovascular system, but it also causes the seat to rotate vertically around a central axis so the rider experiences artificial gravity while exercising. 
The centrifuge project highlights the station’s potential as a research lab. Similar machines have flown in space aboard NASA’s shuttles, but they couldn’t be tested for long enough to prove whether they were effective. It’s been calculated that to properly assess a centrifuge’s impact on human physiology, astronauts would have to ride it for 30 minutes a day for at least two months. The only way to test this is in weightlessness, and the only time we have to do that is on the space station,’ says Laurence Young, a space medicine expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
There are certainly plenty of ideas for other experiments: but many projects have yet to fly. Even if the centrifuge project gets the green light, it will have to wait another five years before the station’s crew can take a spin. Lengthy delays like this are one of the key challenges for NASA, according to an April 201 I report from the US National Academy of Sciences. Its authors said they were ‘deeply concerned’ about the state of NASA’s science research, and made a number of recommendations. Besides suggesting that the agency reduces the time between approving experiments and sending them into space, it also recommended setting clearer research priorities. 
NASA has already begun to take action, hiring management consultants ProOrbis to develop a plan to cut through the bureaucracy. And Congress also directed NASA to hire an independent organisation, the Centre for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), to help manage the station’s US lab facilities. One of CASIS’s roles is to convince public and private investors that science on the station is worth the spend because judged solely by the number of papers published, the ISS certainly seems poor value: research on the station has generated about 3,100 papers since 1998.The Hubble Space Telescope, meanwhile, has produced more than I 1,300 papers in just over 20 years, yet it cost less than one tenth of the price of the space station. 
Yet Mark Uhran, assistant associate administrator for the ISS, refutes the criticism that the station hasn’t done any useful research. He points to progress made on a salmonella vaccine, for example. To get the ISS research back on track, CASIS has examined more than 100 previous microgravity experiments to identify promising research themes. From this, it has opted to focus on life science and medical research, and recently called for proposals for experiments on muscle wasting, osteoporosis and the immune system. The organisation also maintains that the ISS should be used to develop products with commercial application and to test those that are either close to or already on the market. Investment from outside organisations is vital, says Uhran, and a balance between academic and commercial research will help attract this. 
The station needs to attract cutting edge research, yet many scientists seem to have little idea what goes on aboard it. Jeanne DiFrancesco at ProOrbis conducted more than 200 interviews with people from organisations with potential interests in low gravity studies. Some were aware of the ISS but they didn’t  know what’s going on up there, she says. ‘Others know there’s science, but they don’t know what kind.’ 
According to Alan Stern, planetary scientist, the biggest public relations boost for the ISS may come from the privately funded space flight industry. Companies like SpaceX could help NASA and its partners when it comes to resupplying the ISS, as it suggests it can reduce launch costs by two-thirds. Virgin Atlantic’s Spaceship Two or Zero2lnfinity's high altitude balloon could also boost the space station’s fortunes. They might not come close to the ISS’s orbit, yet Stern believes they will revolutionise the way we, the public, see space. Soon everyone will be dreaming of interplanetary travel again, he predicts. More importantly, scientists are already queuing for seats on these low gravity spaceflight services so they can collect data during a few minutes of weightlessness. This demand for low-cost space flight could eventually lead to a service running on a more frequent basis, giving researchers the chance to test their ideas before submitting a proposal for experiments on the ISS. Getting flight experience should help them win a slot on the station, says Stern.

What does the writer state about the ISS in the first paragraph?

Its manufacture has remained within the proposed budget.

It is a great example of technological achievement.

There are doubts about the speed it has attained.

NASA should have described its purpose more accurately.

ĐÁP ÁN & GIẢI THÍCH CÂU 1

Locate

Simplify & Connection

Simplify 
 A world-class laboratory in low Earth orbit.   
 That   was   how   the National Aeronautics and Space Administration agency (NASA)   sold the International Space Station (ISS) to the US Congress 
 no one   can doubt the agency’s technological ambition  . 
 The most complex engineering project ever attempted   has created an enormous set of interlinked modules    that orbits the planet at more than 27,000 kilometres per hour . 
 It   might be travelling fast   but   as a lab   it   is going nowhere . 
 it   has gone through $150 billion .
Connection 
→ 2: NASA đã tiếp thị Trạm Vũ trụ Quốc tế (ISS) như một phòng thí nghiệm đẳng cấp thế giới cho Quốc hội.

→ 3: Điều này nhấn mạnh tham vọng công nghệ của NASA.

→ 4: ISS là một thành tựu kỹ thuật khổng lồ, quay quanh Trái đất với tốc độ nhanh.

→ 5: Mỉa mai – nó di chuyển nhanh nhưng về mặt khoa học, nó đang bị trì trệ.

→ 6: Chi phí khổng lồ (150 tỷ đô la) đặt ra câu hỏi về giá trị của nó.

Giải thích chi tiết

﻿﻿ BƯỚC 1: Đọc câu hỏi để hiểu rõ:
﻿ What does the writer    state about the ISS in the first paragraph?   
-----------------------
﻿﻿ BƯỚC 2: Xác định thông tin liên quan
Để tìm câu trả lời cho câu hỏi này, chúng ta chỉ cần tìm thông tin trong đoạn văn đầu tiên.
-------------------
﻿﻿ BƯỚC 3: Áp dụng Linearthinking để hiểu thông tin trong đoạn văn:
Simplify 
1.  A world-class laboratory in low Earth orbit.   
2.  That   was   how   the National Aeronautics and Space Administration agency (NASA)   sold the International Space Station (ISS) to the US Congress 
3.  no one   can doubt the agency’s technological ambition  . 
4.  The most complex engineering project ever attempted   has created an enormous set of interlinked modules    that orbits the planet at more than 27,000 kilometres per hour . 
5.  It   might be travelling fast   but   as a lab   it   is going nowhere . 
6.  it   has gone through $150 billion .
Connection 
1 → 2: NASA đã tiếp thị Trạm Vũ trụ Quốc tế (ISS) như một phòng thí nghiệm đẳng cấp thế giới cho Quốc hội.

2 → 3: Điều này nhấn mạnh tham vọng công nghệ của NASA.

3 → 4: ISS là một thành tựu kỹ thuật khổng lồ, quay quanh Trái đất với tốc độ nhanh.

4 → 5: Mỉa mai – nó di chuyển nhanh nhưng về mặt khoa học, nó đang bị trì trệ.

5 → 6: Chi phí khổng lồ (150 tỷ đô la) đặt ra câu hỏi về giá trị của nó.
=> Sự phát triển ấn tượng của ISS.
 ------------------ 
﻿﻿BƯỚC 4: So sánh câu hỏi:
=> Bài đọc: Highlight the impressive development of the ISS.﻿
So với các lựa chọn câu trả lời, lựa chọn nào thể hiện sự khen ngợi dành cho ISS:
B. It is a great example of technological achievement.﻿
=> Đáp án: B. 
Lưu ý: Lý do tại sao các câu trả lời khác sai

Các câu hỏi trắc nghiệm yêu cầu tìm Ý chính đòi hỏi học sinh phải hiểu mối quan hệ giữa các câu và nắm bắt nội dung tổng thể, chứ không chỉ skim/scan tìm từ khóa. Ví dụ, nếu học sinh chỉ skim/scan mà không hiểu ý chính, họ có thể dễ dàng chọn nhầm các câu trả lời như:

❌ A. Its manufacture has remained within the proposed budget.

Một số học sinh có thể chọn câu trả lời này vì câu cuối cùng của đoạn văn đề cập đến $150 triệu, điều này giống với từ “budget” trong câu trả lời. Tuy nhiên, họ không nên chọn A vì đoạn văn chỉ đề cập đến số tiền đã chi, chứ không phải việc nó có nằm trong ngân sách ban đầu hay không. 💰

❌ C. There are doubts about the speed it has attained.

Một số học sinh có thể chọn câu trả lời này vì họ chú ý đến cụm từ "27,000 km/h" trong đoạn văn, liên quan đến tốc độ. Thêm vào đó, từ “doubt” xuất hiện trong câu 3. Tuy nhiên, câu trả lời này là sai vì "doubt" trong đoạn văn đề cập đến nghi ngờ về tham vọng công nghệ, không phải tốc độ. Đoạn văn không đề cập đến sự nghi ngờ về tốc độ. 🚀

❌ D. NASA should have described its purpose more accurately.

Đoạn văn không đề cập đến việc NASA nên mô tả mục đích của ISS chính xác hơn. Thay vào đó, đoạn văn tập trung vào tham vọng công nghệ của NASA và một số chỉ trích về việc ISS đang được sử dụng như một phòng thí nghiệm nghiên cứu, chứ không phải về việc cơ quan này cần làm rõ mục đích của ISS. 🔍

Lưu ý

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