CCT Test English Class XI

I. Read the passage given below.

1. NASA’s Perseverance rover is exploring a long-dry river delta on Mars, and it has
seen signs that indicate that the region is full of organics – molecules containing
carbon that are widely considered to be the building blocks of life.
The rover has taken measurements and samples in an area called Skinner Ridge
made of layered sedimentary rocks, some of which contain materials that were most
likely transported from hundreds of kilometres away by running water billions of
years ago. The goal was to look at areas similar to those on Earth that harbour signs
of ancient life, he said.

“With the samples we’re taking now in this more sedimentary area, we’re of course
right at the heart of what we wanted to do to start with,” said NASA science lead
Thomas Zurbuchen during a press conference.

These sedimentary rocks contain complex organic molecules called aromatics, as

well as clays and sulphate minerals, which can be produced when water interacts
with rocks. While none of these materials are definitely signs of life, known as
biosignatures, they do mean we are looking in the right place.

“This is really important that this has sulphate in it and also clays, because that
means that this rock has high potential for biosignature preservation, meaning that if
there were biosignatures in this vicinity when that rock formed, this is precisely the
type of material that will preserve that for us to study when [the samples] come back
to Earth,” said David Shuster at the University of California, Berkeley, during the
press conference.

The prevalence of organic matter has increased over the course of Perseverance’s
drive through the crater in which it landed towards the river delta. “If this is a treasure
hunt for potential signs of life on another planet, organic matter is a clue,” said
Sunanda Sharma at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California during the press
conference. “We’re getting stronger and stronger clues as we’re moving through our
delta campaign.”
Answer the following questions. (10*1=10m)
1. What is NASA’s Perseverance rover exploring?
2. What is considered to be the building blocks of life?
3. Where has the rover taken measurements and samples?
4. What was the goal?
5. What do these sedimentary rocks contain? How are these formed?
6. What are biosignatures?
7. Why is it important that the rock has sulphate in it?
8. What has increased over the course of Perseverance’s drive through the crater?
9. Write the meaning of the word ‘perseverance’.
10. Write the meaning of the word ‘crater’.

II. Read the passage given below.

In July 1976, my wife Mary, son Jonathan, 6, daughter Suzanne, 7, and I set sail
from Plymouth, England, to duplicate the roundthe- world voyage made 200 years
earlier by Captain James Cook. For the longest time, Mary and I — a 37-year-old
businessman — had dreamt of sailing in the wake of the famous explorer, and for
the past 16 years we had spent all our leisure time honing our seafaring skills in
British waters. Our boat Wavewalker, a 23 metre, 30 ton wooden-hulled beauty, had
been professionally built, and we had spent months fitting it out and testing it in the
roughest weather we could find. The first leg of our planned three-year, 105,000
kilometre journey passed pleasantly as we sailed down the west coast of Africa to
Cape Town. There, before heading east, we took on two crewmen — American Larry
Vigil and Swiss Herb Seigler — to help us tackle one of the world’s roughest seas,
the southern Indian Ocean.

On our second day out of Cape Town, we began to encounter strong gales. For the
next few weeks, they blew continuously. Gales did not worry me; but the size of the
waves was alarming — up to 15 metres, as high as our main mast. December 25
found us 3,500 kilometres east of Cape Town. Despite atrocious weather, we had a
wonderful holiday complete with a Christmas tree. New Year’s Day saw no
improvement in the weather, but we reasoned that it had to change soon. And it did
change — for the worse.

At dawn on January 2, the waves were gigantic. We were sailing with only a small
storm jib and were still making eight knots. As the ship rose to the top of each wave
we could see endless enormous seas rolling towards us, and the screaming of the
wind and spray was painful to the ears. To slow the boat down, we dropped the
storm jib and lashed a heavy mooring rope in a loop across the stern. Then we
double-lashed everything, went through our life-raft drill, attached lifelines, donned
oilskins and life jackets — and waited. The first indication of impending disaster
came at about 6 p.m., with an ominous silence. The wind dropped, and the sky
immediately grew dark. Then came a growing roar, and an enormous cloud towered
aft of the ship.

Answer the following questions. (10*1=10m)

1. From where did the ship sail for the voyage?

A. America
B. Mexico
C. Germany
D. Plymouth, England
2. Why did the author decide to go for a round-the-world voyage?
A.to duplicate the voyage made 200 years ago by Captain James Cook
B. to see the world
C. to settle down in different country
D. to show his children the world through ship
3. What was the occupation of the author?
A. Businessman
B. Sailor
C. Teacher
D. None of the above
4. What was the name of the ship of the author?
A. Amazon
B. Wavewalker
C. Waveship
D. Sailorship
5. What part of the journey was pleasant for them?
A. First leg – from England to Cape town
B. Last part of the journey
C. First few months
D. Never
6. What were the names of the two crewmen whom the author hired?
A. Shelly and Cabil
B. Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler
C. Herb Seigler and Shelly Cooper
D. Larry Vigil and Adam Moore
7. Why did the author hire the two crewmen?
A. to take rest from long the voyage
B. to help tackle one of the world’s roughest seas, the southern Indian Ocean
C. because he could no longer sail the ship
D. he wanted to spend some time with his family
8. When did the waves start getting gigantic?
A. December 25
B. January 2
C. November 30
D. December 31
9. What did they do to slow down the boat in the storm?
A. Stopped sailing
B. dropped the storm jib and lashed a heavy mooring rope
C. just dropped the storm jib
D. did nothing and waited for storm to calm down
10. What was the first indication of disaster?
A. around 6 pm when winds dropped and sky grew darker
B. next morning when the ship started creaking
C. when it started raining
D. when winds were strong