Questões de Inglês

The Red Planet

 

Mars is a small rocky body once thought to be very Earthlike. Like the other terrestrial planets - Mercury, Venus, and Earth - its surface has been changed by volcanism, impacts from other bodies, movements of its crust, and atmospheric effects such as dust storms. It has polar ice caps that grow and recede with the change of seasons; areas of layered soils near the Martian poles suggest that the planet\\'s climate has changed more than once, perhaps caused by a regular change in the planet\\'s orbit.

 

Martian tectonism, the formation and change of a planet\\'s crust, differs from Earth\\'s. Where Earth tectonics involve sliding plates that grind against each other or spread apart in the seafloors, Martian tectonics seem to be vertical, with hot lava pushing upwards through the crust to the surface.

 

Periodically, great dust storms engulf the entire planet. The effects of these storms are dramatic, including giant dunes, wind streaks, and wind-carved features.

 

Scientists believe that 3.5 billion years ago, Mars experienced the largest known floods in the solar system. This water may even have pooled into lakes or shallow oceans. But where did the ancient flood water come from, how long did it last, and where did it go?

 

At present, Mars is too cold and its atmosphere is too thin to allow liquid water to exist at the surface for long. There\\'s water ice close to the surface and more water frozen in the polar ice caps, but the quantity of water required to carve Mars\\'s great channels and flood plains is not evident on - or near - the surface today. Images from NASA\\'s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggest that underground reserves of water may break through the surface as springs. The answers may lie deep beneath Mars\\'s red soil.

 

Unraveling the story of water on Mars is important to unlocking its past climate history, which will help us understand the evolution of all planets, including our own. Water is also believed to be a central ingredient for the initiation of life; the evidence of past or present water on Mars is expected to hold clues about past or present life on Mars, as well as the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. And, before humans can safely go to Mars, we need to know much more about the planet\\'s environment, including the availability of resources such as water.

 

Mars has some remarkable geological characteristics, including the largest volcanic mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons; volcanoes in the northern Tharsis region that are so huge they deform the planet\\'s roundness; and a gigantic equatorial rift valley, the Valles Marineris. This canyon system stretches a distance equivalent to the distance from New York to Los Angeles; Arizona\\'s Grand Canyon could easily fit into one of the side canyons of this great chasm.

 

Mars also has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. Although no one knows how they formed, they may be asteroids snared by Mars\\'s gravity.

 

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/mars-article/Text courtesy NASA/JPL-2015.

The synonym of the word engulf in the 3rd paragraph is

The Red Planet

 

Mars is a small rocky body once thought to be very Earthlike. Like the other terrestrial planets - Mercury, Venus, and Earth - its surface has been changed by volcanism, impacts from other bodies, movements of its crust, and atmospheric effects such as dust storms. It has polar ice caps that grow and recede with the change of seasons; areas of layered soils near the Martian poles suggest that the planet\\'s climate has changed more than once, perhaps caused by a regular change in the planet\\'s orbit.

 

Martian tectonism, the formation and change of a planet\\'s crust, differs from Earth\\'s. Where Earth tectonics involve sliding plates that grind against each other or spread apart in the seafloors, Martian tectonics seem to be vertical, with hot lava pushing upwards through the crust to the surface.

 

Periodically, great dust storms engulf the entire planet. The effects of these storms are dramatic, including giant dunes, wind streaks, and wind-carved features.

 

Scientists believe that 3.5 billion years ago, Mars experienced the largest known floods in the solar system. This water may even have pooled into lakes or shallow oceans. But where did the ancient flood water come from, how long did it last, and where did it go?

 

At present, Mars is too cold and its atmosphere is too thin to allow liquid water to exist at the surface for long. There\\'s water ice close to the surface and more water frozen in the polar ice caps, but the quantity of water required to carve Mars\\'s great channels and flood plains is not evident on - or near - the surface today. Images from NASA\\'s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggest that underground reserves of water may break through the surface as springs. The answers may lie deep beneath Mars\\'s red soil.

 

Unraveling the story of water on Mars is important to unlocking its past climate history, which will help us understand the evolution of all planets, including our own. Water is also believed to be a central ingredient for the initiation of life; the evidence of past or present water on Mars is expected to hold clues about past or present life on Mars, as well as the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. And, before humans can safely go to Mars, we need to know much more about the planet\\'s environment, including the availability of resources such as water.

 

Mars has some remarkable geological characteristics, including the largest volcanic mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons; volcanoes in the northern Tharsis region that are so huge they deform the planet\\'s roundness; and a gigantic equatorial rift valley, the Valles Marineris. This canyon system stretches a distance equivalent to the distance from New York to Los Angeles; Arizona\\'s Grand Canyon could easily fit into one of the side canyons of this great chasm.

 

Mars also has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. Although no one knows how they formed, they may be asteroids snared by Mars\\'s gravity.

 

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/mars-article/Text courtesy NASA/JPL-2015.

In the sentence “...Arizona\\'s Grand Canyon could easily fit into one of the side canyons of this great chasm”, the word chasm means

The Red Planet

 

Mars is a small rocky body once thought to be very Earthlike. Like the other terrestrial planets - Mercury, Venus, and Earth - its surface has been changed by volcanism, impacts from other bodies, movements of its crust, and atmospheric effects such as dust storms. It has polar ice caps that grow and recede with the change of seasons; areas of layered soils near the Martian poles suggest that the planet\\'s climate has changed more than once, perhaps caused by a regular change in the planet\\'s orbit.

 

Martian tectonism, the formation and change of a planet\\'s crust, differs from Earth\\'s. Where Earth tectonics involve sliding plates that grind against each other or spread apart in the seafloors, Martian tectonics seem to be vertical, with hot lava pushing upwards through the crust to the surface.

 

Periodically, great dust storms engulf the entire planet. The effects of these storms are dramatic, including giant dunes, wind streaks, and wind-carved features.

 

Scientists believe that 3.5 billion years ago, Mars experienced the largest known floods in the solar system. This water may even have pooled into lakes or shallow oceans. But where did the ancient flood water come from, how long did it last, and where did it go?

 

At present, Mars is too cold and its atmosphere is too thin to allow liquid water to exist at the surface for long. There\\'s water ice close to the surface and more water frozen in the polar ice caps, but the quantity of water required to carve Mars\\'s great channels and flood plains is not evident on - or near - the surface today. Images from NASA\\'s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggest that underground reserves of water may break through the surface as springs. The answers may lie deep beneath Mars\\'s red soil.

 

Unraveling the story of water on Mars is important to unlocking its past climate history, which will help us understand the evolution of all planets, including our own. Water is also believed to be a central ingredient for the initiation of life; the evidence of past or present water on Mars is expected to hold clues about past or present life on Mars, as well as the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. And, before humans can safely go to Mars, we need to know much more about the planet\\'s environment, including the availability of resources such as water.

 

Mars has some remarkable geological characteristics, including the largest volcanic mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons; volcanoes in the northern Tharsis region that are so huge they deform the planet\\'s roundness; and a gigantic equatorial rift valley, the Valles Marineris. This canyon system stretches a distance equivalent to the distance from New York to Los Angeles; Arizona\\'s Grand Canyon could easily fit into one of the side canyons of this great chasm.

 

Mars also has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. Although no one knows how they formed, they may be asteroids snared by Mars\\'s gravity.

 

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/mars-article/Text courtesy NASA/JPL-2015.

In the sentence “Mars has some remarkable geological characteristics, including the largest volcanic mountain in the solar system,” each pair of the underlined words are grammatically classified as

The Red Planet

 

Mars is a small rocky body once thought to be very Earthlike. Like the other terrestrial planets - Mercury, Venus, and Earth - its surface has been changed by volcanism, impacts from other bodies, movements of its crust, and atmospheric effects such as dust storms. It has polar ice caps that grow and recede with the change of seasons; areas of layered soils near the Martian poles suggest that the planet\\'s climate has changed more than once, perhaps caused by a regular change in the planet\\'s orbit.

 

Martian tectonism, the formation and change of a planet\\'s crust, differs from Earth\\'s. Where Earth tectonics involve sliding plates that grind against each other or spread apart in the seafloors, Martian tectonics seem to be vertical, with hot lava pushing upwards through the crust to the surface.

 

Periodically, great dust storms engulf the entire planet. The effects of these storms are dramatic, including giant dunes, wind streaks, and wind-carved features.

 

Scientists believe that 3.5 billion years ago, Mars experienced the largest known floods in the solar system. This water may even have pooled into lakes or shallow oceans. But where did the ancient flood water come from, how long did it last, and where did it go?

 

At present, Mars is too cold and its atmosphere is too thin to allow liquid water to exist at the surface for long. There\\'s water ice close to the surface and more water frozen in the polar ice caps, but the quantity of water required to carve Mars\\'s great channels and flood plains is not evident on - or near - the surface today. Images from NASA\\'s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggest that underground reserves of water may break through the surface as springs. The answers may lie deep beneath Mars\\'s red soil.

 

Unraveling the story of water on Mars is important to unlocking its past climate history, which will help us understand the evolution of all planets, including our own. Water is also believed to be a central ingredient for the initiation of life; the evidence of past or present water on Mars is expected to hold clues about past or present life on Mars, as well as the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. And, before humans can safely go to Mars, we need to know much more about the planet\\'s environment, including the availability of resources such as water.

 

Mars has some remarkable geological characteristics, including the largest volcanic mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons; volcanoes in the northern Tharsis region that are so huge they deform the planet\\'s roundness; and a gigantic equatorial rift valley, the Valles Marineris. This canyon system stretches a distance equivalent to the distance from New York to Los Angeles; Arizona\\'s Grand Canyon could easily fit into one of the side canyons of this great chasm.

 

Mars also has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. Although no one knows how they formed, they may be asteroids snared by Mars\\'s gravity.

 

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/mars-article/Text courtesy NASA/JPL-2015.

In the 1^st paragraph its refers to

Migrant crisis: Grim find of bodies in Austria lorry

 

Cuba Meeting Between Obama and Castro Exposes Old Grievances

 

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and DAMIEN CAVE

March 21, 2016 - The New York Times

 

HAVANA — President Obama stood beside President Raúl Castro on Monday and declared a “new day” of openness between the United States and Cuba, but old grievances and disputes over human rights marred a groundbreaking meeting and underscored lingering impediments to a historic thaw.

The two presidents, meeting at the Revolutionary Palace for the first such official contact between their two governments in more than a half-century, engaged in a frank and at times awkward exchange with each other and reporters. Mr. Obama at turns prodded Mr. Castro to submit to questions during an extraordinary 55-minute news conference.

Standing at lecterns in a cavernous granite-walled hall in front of Cuban and American flags, the two leaders traded criticism of each other’s countries even as both said they were committed to continuing on the path to normalizing relations.

“Give me a list of the political prisoners and I will release them immediately,” Mr. Castro said, asked by a reporter about dissidents his government has arrested. “Just mention the list. What political prisoners?”

Human rights groups quickly produced rosters, distributed over email and social media, of people they said had been imprisoned in Cuba for demonstrating against or otherwise challenging Mr. Castro’s government.

Mr. Castro sought to turn the human rights criticism on the United States, arguing that countries that do not provide universal health care, education and equal pay are in no position to lecture Cuba. He also said Guantánamo should be returned to Cuba. “It’s not correct to ask me about political prisoners,” Mr. Castro said.

Mr. Obama said he had pressed the Cuban president in their meeting over Cuba’s treatment of dissidents and reaffirmed that he would meet with some dissidents privately on Tuesday. But he also assured Mr. Castro that the United States had no intention of dictating his country’s future.

 

Adapted from: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/ world/americas/obama-and-raul-castro-to-meet-in-pivotal-moment-for-us-cuba-thaw.html?hp&action=click&pgtype= Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

In “Mr. Obama said he had pressed the Cuban president in their meeting over Cuba’s treatment of dissidents and reaffirmed that he would meet with some dissidents privately on Tuesday” the verb tenses involved are, respectively:

Migrant crisis: Grim find of bodies in Austria lorry

 

Cuba Meeting Between Obama and Castro Exposes Old Grievances

 

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and DAMIEN CAVE

March 21, 2016 - The New York Times

 

HAVANA — President Obama stood beside President Raúl Castro on Monday and declared a “new day” of openness between the United States and Cuba, but old grievances and disputes over human rights marred a groundbreaking meeting and underscored lingering impediments to a historic thaw.

The two presidents, meeting at the Revolutionary Palace for the first such official contact between their two governments in more than a half-century, engaged in a frank and at times awkward exchange with each other and reporters. Mr. Obama at turns prodded Mr. Castro to submit to questions during an extraordinary 55-minute news conference.

Standing at lecterns in a cavernous granite-walled hall in front of Cuban and American flags, the two leaders traded criticism of each other’s countries even as both said they were committed to continuing on the path to normalizing relations.

“Give me a list of the political prisoners and I will release them immediately,” Mr. Castro said, asked by a reporter about dissidents his government has arrested. “Just mention the list. What political prisoners?”

Human rights groups quickly produced rosters, distributed over email and social media, of people they said had been imprisoned in Cuba for demonstrating against or otherwise challenging Mr. Castro’s government.

Mr. Castro sought to turn the human rights criticism on the United States, arguing that countries that do not provide universal health care, education and equal pay are in no position to lecture Cuba. He also said Guantánamo should be returned to Cuba. “It’s not correct to ask me about political prisoners,” Mr. Castro said.

Mr. Obama said he had pressed the Cuban president in their meeting over Cuba’s treatment of dissidents and reaffirmed that he would meet with some dissidents privately on Tuesday. But he also assured Mr. Castro that the United States had no intention of dictating his country’s future.

Adapted from: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/ world/americas/obama-and-raul-castro-to-meet-in-pivotal-moment-for-us-cuba-thaw.html?hp&action=click&pgtype= Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

 

What did the Cuban President say when he was asked by a reporter about political prisoners?