Part2

Read the text and answer the questions below.

Detection of a meteorite lake

A

At the end of one research season on Lake Bosumtwi, a team of Syracuse University prepared for another day of using state-of-the-art equipment to help unlock the mysteries hidden below the lake bottom. Nestled in the heart of Ghana, the lake holds an untapped reservoir of information that could help scientists predict future climate changes by looking at evidence from the past. This information will also improve the scientist’s understanding of the changes that occur in a region struck by a massive meteorite.

B

The project, led by earth science professor Christopher Scholz of the College of Arts and Sciences and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is the first large-scale effort to study Lake Bosumtwi, Earth’s crater lake. The impacting crater lake is one of the largest and most well-preserved geologic young craters in the world, says Scholz, who is collaborating on the project with researchers from the University of South Carolina, the University of Rhode Island, and several Ghanaian institutions. “Our data should provide information about what happens when an impact hits hard, pre-Cambrian, crystalline rocks that are a billion years old”, he says.

C

Equally important is the fact that the lake, which is about 8 kilometres in diameter, has no natural outlet. The rim of the crater rises about 240 metres above the water’s surface. Streams flow into the lake, Scholz says, but the water leaves only by evaporation, or by seeping through the lake sediments. For the past million years, the lake has acted as a tropical rain gauge, filling and drying with changes in precipitation and the tropical climate. The record of those changes is hidden in sediment below the lake bottom. “This lake is one of the best areas in the world for the study of tropical climate change,” Scholz says. “The tropics are the heat engine for the Earth’s climate. To understand global climate, we need to have records of climate changes from many sites around the world, including the tropics.”

D

Before the researchers could explore the lake’s surface, they used a boat with a large, working deck area that could carry eight tons of scientific equipment. The boat dubbed R/V Kilindi was built in Florida last year. It was constructed in modules that were disassembled, packed inside a shipping container, and reassembled over a 18-day period in late November and early December 1999 in the rural village of Abono, Ghana. The research team then spent the next two weeks testing the boat and equipment before returning to the United States for the holidays.

E

In mid-January, the members of the team Kelly Brunk, an earth sciences graduate student, Peter Cattaneo, a research analyst, and Miriam Lozano, a postdoctoral scholar, all from SU; James McNeil, a geophysical field engineer; and Nick Peters, a Ph.D. student in geophysics from the University of Massachusetts returned to Abono to begin collecting data about the lake’s subsurface using a technique called seismic reflection profiling. In this process, a high-pressure air gun is used to create small, pneumatic explosions in the water. The sound energy penetrates about 1,000 to 2,000 metres into the lake’s subsurface before bouncing back to the surface of the water.

F

The reflected sound energy is detected by underwater microphones-called hydrophones-embedded in a 50-metre long cable that is towed behind the boat as it crosses the lake in a carefully designed grid pattern. On-board computers record the signals, and the resulting data are then processed and analysed in the laboratory. “The results will give us a good idea of the shape of the basin, how thick the layers of sediment are, and when and where there were major changes in sediment accumulation,” Scholz says. “We are now developing three-dimensional perspective of the lake’s subsurface and the layers of sediment that have been laid down.”

G

Team members spent about four weeks in Ghana collecting the data. They worked seven days a week, arriving at the lake just after sunrise. On a good day, when everything went as planned, the team could collect data and be back at the dock by early afternoon. Except for a few relatively minor adjustments, the equipment and the boat worked well. Problems that arose were primarily non-scientific tree stumps, fishing nets, cultural barriers, and occasional misunderstandings with local villagers.

H

Lake Bosumtwi, the largest natural freshwater lake in the country, is sacred to the Ashanti people, who believe their souls come to the lake to bid farewell to their god. The lake is also the primary source of fish for the 20 surrounding villages. Conventional canoes and boats are forbidden. Fishermen travel on the lake by floating on traditional planks they propel with small paddles. Before the research project could begin, Scholz and his Ghanaian counterparts had to secure special permission from tribal chiefs to put the R/V Kilindi on the lake.

I

When the team began gathering data, rumours flew around the lake as to why the researchers were there. “Some thought we were dredging the lake for gold, others thought we were going to drain it or that we had bought the lake,” Cattaneo says, “But once the local people understood why we were there, they were very helpful.”

Question 14-18

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet, write

TRUEFALSENOT GIVEN

14 With the investigation of the lake, scientists may predict the climate changes in the future.

15 The crater resulted from a meteorite impact is the largest and most preserved one in the world.

16 The water stored in Lake Bosumtwi was gone only by seeping through the lake sediments.

17 Historical climate changes can be detected by the analysis of the sediment in the lake.

18 The greatest obstacle to research of scientists had been the interference by the locals due to their indigenous belief.

Question 19-22

There are three steps of collecting data from the lake as following, please filling in the blanks in the Flow Chart below

19 ____________ is needed to create the explosion into the water

The 20 ____________ enters deep into the water and return back

a 50-metre 21 ____________ with many 22 ____________ embedded

Question 23-27

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 23-27 on your answer sheet.

The boat-double R/V Kilindi crossed the lake was disassembled and stored in a 23 ____________.

The technology they used called 24 ____________, they created sound energy to 1000-2000 metres into the bottom of the lake, and separated equipment to collect the returned waves.

Then the data had been analysed and processed in the 25 ____________.

Scholz also added that they were now building 26 ____________ view of the sediment or sub-image in the bottom of the lake.

Whole set of equipment work well yet the ship should avoid physical barrier including tree stumps or 27 ____________ floating on the surface on the lake.