(B)

     In the geocentric perspective from which humans viewed the solar system, its nature and structure were long misperceived. The apparent motions of solar system objects as viewed from a moving Earth were believed to be their actual motions about a stationary Earth. In addition, many solar system objects and phenomena are not directly sensible by humans without technical aids. Thus, both conceptual and technological advances were required in order for the solar system to be correctly understood.

     The first and most fundamental of these advances was the Copernican Revolution, which adopted a heliocentric model for the motions of the planets. Indeed, the term “solar system” itself derives from this perspective. But the most important consequences of this new perception came not from the central position of the Sun, but from the orbital position of the Earth, which suggested that the Earth was itself a planet. This was the first indication of the true nature of the planets. Also, the lack of perceptible stellar parallax despite the earth’s orbital motion indicated the extreme remoteness of the fixed stars, which prompted the speculation that they could be objects similar to the Sun, perhaps with planets of their own.

     Since the start of the space age, a great deal of exploration has been performed by unmanned space missions that have been organized and executed by various space agencies. The first probe to land on another planet or moon was the Soviet Union’s Luna 2 probe, which impacted on the moon in 1959. Since then, increasingly distant planets have been reached, with probes landing on Venus in 1965, Mars in 1976, and Saturn’s moon Titan in 2005. Spacecrafts have also made close approaches to other planets: Mariner 10 passed Mercury in 1973, while the Voyager probes performed a grand tour of the solar system following their launch in 1977, with both probes passing Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980-1981. Voyager 2 then went on to make close approaches to Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. The Voyager probes are now far beyond Pluto’s orbit, and astronomers anticipate that they will encounter the heliopause which defines the outer edge of the solar system in the next few years.

     Through these unmanned missions, we have been able to get close-up photographs of most of the planets and, in the case of landers, perform tests of their soil and atmosphere. Manned exploration, meanwhile, has only taken human beings as far as the Moon, in the Apollo program. The last manned landing on the moon took place in 1972, but the recent discovery of ice in deep craters in the polar regions of the moon has prompted speculation that mankind may return to the moon in the next decade or so. The long-mooted manned mission to Mars does not currently look like coming to fruition in the near future.

What is the main idea of the passage?

      Hard automation can be defined as the use of delicate pieces of machinery, typically to produce the same item over long periods of time. This is expensive to build and inherently inflexible to product changes. However, its design can be optimized to produce the maximum amount of product at a minimum cost, so it is more attractive than the use of robots for the large-scale production of a few different items.

      However, much of industry is concerned with batch production where perhaps one type of item is made during the morning and another during the afternoon. Human beings are very good in this environment. From a robotic point of view they are light, mobile structures with exceptionally good sensory perception and intelligence far above that of any current robot. This gives them superb adaptability. However, they tire, may become unreliable, unpredictable, and may well wish to be pursuing other activities which give greater scope for the use of their intelligence, or indeed just give greater pleasure.

      A robot will neither be optimized for a particular application nor have the adaptability of the human. However, it can combine the reliability and predictability (at least until robots are made “intelligent”) of hard automation systems with a little of the adaptability of the human. Robots therefore have a place somewhere between these two extremes. For robots to play a positive part in supporting human activity, not only must they adequately perform a given task but the human aspects of any implementation must be thoroughly considered.

Fighting Pseudoscience

What is implied about the Voyager probes?

According to the passage, since the start of the space age, spacecrafts have reached the planets for _______ times.

In the 20th century, spacecrafts reached the planets EXCEPT_________.

Which of the following is true according to the Copernican Revolution?

                                                               (B)

     In the geocentric perspective from which humans viewed the solar system, its nature and structure were long misperceived. The apparent motions of solar system objects as viewed from a moving Earth were believed to be their actual motions about a stationary Earth. In addition, many solar system objects and phenomena are not directly sensible by humans without technical aids. Thus, both conceptual and technological advances were required in order for the solar system to be correctly understood.

     The first and most fundamental of these advances was the Copernican Revolution, which adopted a heliocentric model for the motions of the planets. Indeed, the term “solar system” itself derives from this perspective. But the most important consequences of this new perception came not from the central position of the Sun, but from the orbital position of the Earth, which suggested that the Earth was itself a planet. This was the first indication of the true nature of the planets. Also, the lack of perceptible stellar parallax despite the earth’s orbital motion indicated the extreme remoteness of the fixed stars, which prompted the speculation that they could be objects similar to the Sun, perhaps with planets of their own.

     Since the start of the space age, a great deal of exploration has been performed by unmanned space missions that have been organized and executed by various space agencies. The first probe to land on another planet or moon was the Soviet Union’s Luna 2 probe, which impacted on the moon in 1959. Since then, increasingly distant planets have been reached, with probes landing on Venus in 1965, Mars in 1976, and Saturn’s moon Titan in 2005. Spacecrafts have also made close approaches to other planets: Mariner 10 passed Mercury in 1973, while the Voyager probes performed a grand tour of the solar system following their launch in 1977, with both probes passing Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980-1981. Voyager 2 then went on to make close approaches to Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. The Voyager probes are now far beyond Pluto’s orbit, and astronomers anticipate that they will encounter the heliopause which defines the outer edge of the solar system in the next few years.

     Through these unmanned missions, we have been able to get close-up photographs of most of the planets and, in the case of landers, perform tests of their soil and atmosphere. Manned exploration, meanwhile, has only taken human beings as far as the Moon, in the Apollo program. The last manned landing on the moon took place in 1972, but the recent discovery of ice in deep craters in the polar regions of the moon has prompted speculation that mankind may return to the moon in the next decade or so. The long-mooted manned mission to Mars does not currently look like coming to fruition in the near future.

What is the main idea of the passage?

By saying “we may one day remember it as a blessing,” the author suggests that having learned about EI Nino, sometime in the future, we will________.

Which of the following is the author most likely to agree?

                                                                  (A)