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Computer Provides More Questions Than Answers
- The island of Antikythera lies 18 miles north of Crete, where the Aegean Sea meets the Mediterranean. Currents there can make shipping treacherous and one ship bound for ancient Rome never made it. The ship that sank there was a giant cargo vessel measuring nearly 500 feet long. It came to rest about 200 feet below the surface, where it stayed for more than 2,000 years until divers looking for sponges discovered the wreck a little more than a century ago.
- Inside the hull were a number of bronze and marble statues. From the look of things, the ship seemed to be carrying luxury items, probably made in various Greek islands and bound for wealthy patrons in the growing Roman Empire. The statues were retrieved, along with a lot of other unimportant stuff, and stored. Nine months later, an enterprising archaeologist cleared off a layer of organic material from one of the pieces of junk and found that it looked like a gearwheel. It had inscriptions in Greek characters and seemed to have something to do with astronomy.
- That piece of “Junk” went on to become the most celebrated find from the shipwreck; it is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Research has shown that the wheel was part of a device so sophisticated that its complexity would not be matched for a thousand years — it was also the world’s first known analogue computer. The device is so famous that an international conference organized in Athens a couple of weeks ago had only one subject: the Antikythera Mechanism.
- Every discovery about the device has raised new questions. Who built the device, and for what purpose? Why did the technology behind it disappear for the next thousand years? What does the device tell us about ancient Greek culture? And does the marvelous construction, and the precise knowledge of the movement of the sun and moon and Earth that it implies, tell us how the ancients grappled with ideas about determinism and human destiny?
- “We have gear trains from the 9th century in Baghdad used for simpler displays of the solar and lunar motions relative to one another — they use eight gears,’ said Frangois Charette, a historian of science in Germany who wrote an editorial accompanying a new study of the mechanism two weeks ago in the journal Nature. “In this case, we have more than 30 gears. To see it on a computer animation makes it mind-boggling. There is no doubt it was a technological masterpiece.”
- The device was probably built between 100 and 140 BC, and the understanding of astronomy it displays seems to have been based on knowledge developed by the Babylonians around 300-700 BC, said Mike Edmunds, a professor of astrophysics at Cardiff University in Britain. He led a research team that reconstructed what the gear mechanism would have looked like by using advanced three- dimensional-imaging technology. The group also decoded a number of the inscriptions. The mechanism explores the relationship between lunar months – the time it takes for the moon to cycle through its phases, say, full moon to the full moon -and calendar years. The gears had to be cut precisely to reflect this complex relationship; 19 calendar years equal 235 lunar months.
- By turning the gear mechanism, which included what Edmunds called a beautiful system of epicyclic gears that factored in the elliptical orbit of the moon, a person could check what the sky would have looked like on a date in the past, or how it would appear in the future. The mechanism was encased in a box with doors in front and back covered with inscriptions — a sort of instruction manual. Inside the front door were pointers indicating the date and the position of the sun, moon, and zodiac, while opening the back door revealed the relationship between calendar years and lunar months, and a mechanism to predict eclipses.
- “If they needed to know when eclipses would occur, and this related to the rising and setting of stars and related them to dates and religious experiences, the mechanism would directly help，,” said Yanis Bitsakis, a physicist at the University of Athens who co-wrote the Nature paper. “It is a mechanical computer. You turn the handle and you have a date on the front.” Building it would have been expensive and required the interaction of astronomers, engineers, intellectuals, and craftspeople. Charette said the device overturned conventional ideas that the ancient Greeks were primarily ivory tower thinkers who did not deign to muddy their hands with technical stuff. It is a reminder, he said, that while the study of history often focuses on written texts, they can tell us only a fraction of what went on at a particular time.
- Imagine a future historian encountering philosophy texts written in our time ~ and an aircraft engine. The books would tell that researcher what a few scholars were thinking today, but the engine would give them a far better window into how technology influenced our everyday lives. Charette said it was unlikely that the device was used by practitioners of astrology, then still in its infancy. More likely, he said, it was bound for a mantelpiece in some rich Roman’s home. Given that astronomers of the time already knew how to calculate the positions of the sun and the moon and to predict eclipses without the device, it would have been the equivalent of a device built for a planetarium today – something to spur popular interest or at least claim bragging rights.
- Why was the technology that went into the device lost? “The time this was built, the jackboot of Rome was coming through,” Edmunds said. “The Romans were good at town planning and sanitation but were not known for their interest in science.” The fact that the device was so complex, and that it was being shipped with a number of other luxury items, tells Edmunds that it is very unlikely to have been the one ever made. “Its sophistication is such that it can’t have been the only one,” Edmunds said. “There must have been a tradition of making them. We’re always hopeful a better one will surface.” Indeed, he said, he hopes that his study and the renewed interest in the Antikythera Mechanism will prompt second looks by both amateurs and professionals around the world. “The archaeological world may look in their cupboards and maybe say, That isn’t a bit of rusty old metal in the cupboard.”
Luyện tập Computer Provides More Questions Than Answers IELTS Reading
Questions 1-5
The Reading Passage has ten paragraphs A-J
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-J, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
Questions 6-9
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet.
An ancient huge sunk 6 was found accidentally by sponges searcher. The ship loaded with 7 such as bronze and sculptures. However, an archaeologist found a junk similar to a 8 which has Greek script on it. This inspiring and elaborated device was found to be the first 9 in the world.
Questions 10-13
Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-C) with opinions or deeds below. Write the appropriate letters A-F in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once
A Yanis Bitsakis
B Mike Edmunds
C François Charette
Điểm số của bạn là % - đúng / câu
Đáp án Computer Provides More Questions Than Answers IELTS Reading
| 1. B | 6. cargo vessel | 10. C |
| 2. H | 7. luxury items | 11. B |
| 3. C | 8. gearwheel | 12. B |
| 4. A | 9. analog | 13. A |
| 5. G |
Giải chi tiết Computer Provides More Questions Than Answers IELTS Reading
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Questions 1-5: Dạng MATCHING HEADINGS Cách làm:
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1 The content inside the wrecked ship Câu hỏi đề cập đến việc trong con tàu có gì hoàn toàn khớp với đoạn B bài viết mô tả rất rõ bên trong thân tàu (inside the hull) có gì: “Inside the hull were… bronze and marble statues” và chở luxury items. ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là B |
Đoạn B: Inside the hull were a number of bronze and marble statues…the ship seemed to be carrying luxury items … |
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2 Ancient astronomers and craftsman might involve Câu hỏi đề cập đến việc có sự tham gia của các nhà thiên văn cổ đại và thợ thủ công khớp với đoạn H nói về việc chế tạo thiết bị đòi hỏi sự phối hợp của nhiều người. ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là H |
Đoạn H: required the interaction of astronomers, engineers, intellectuals, and craftspeople. |
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3 The location of the Antikythera Mechanism Câu hỏi đề cập đến vị trí thiết bị Antikythera Mechanism được trưng bày trùng khớp với thông tin trong đoạn C: nó được trưng bày tại Bảo tàng Khảo cổ Quốc gia ở Athens. ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là C |
Đoạn C: it is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens…had only one subject: the Antikythera Mechanism. |
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4 Details of how it was found Câu hỏi đề cập đến chi tiết cách nó được tìm thấy khớp với thông tin trong đoạn A: quá trình phát hiện xác tàu ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là A |
Đoạn A:...until divers looking for sponges discovered the wreck a little more than a century ago. |
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5 Appearance and structure of the mechanism Câu hỏi đề cập đến hình dáng và cấu trúc của cơ chế khớp với thông tin trong đoạn G mô tả rõ cấu tạo: hộp có cửa trước/sau, đầy inscriptions, bên trong có pointers và mặt sau có phần dự đoán eclipses. ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là G |
Đoạn G: The mechanism was encased in a box with doors in front and back covered with inscriptions…Inside the front door were pointers…opening the back door revealed… and a mechanism to predict eclipses. |
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Questions 6-9: Dạng Summary Completion without a wordlist Cách làm:
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An ancient huge sunk 6___ was found accidentally by sponges searcher. Từ cần điền là cụm danh từ liên quan đến việc một con tàu cổ đại khổng lồ bị chìm. Bài đọc mô tả một con tàu giant cargo vessel được phát hiện bới 1 thợ lặn tìm bọt biển. ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là cargo vessel |
The ship that sank there was a giant cargo vessel … until divers looking for sponges discovered the wreck … |
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The ship loaded with 7___ such as bronze and sculptures. Từ cần điền là cụm danh từ, tên loại hàng con tàu chở. Bài đọc viết: “bronze … statues” và gọi chung là luxury items. ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là luxury items |
…Inside the hull were a number of bronze and marble statues. From the look of things, the ship seemed to be carrying luxury items… |
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However, an archaeologist found a junk similar to a 8___ which has Greek script on it. Một nhà khảo cổ tìm thấy “đồ junk” trông giống một ____, có chữ Hy Lạp trên đó Bài đọc đề cập đến nó trông giống bánh răng, có chữ Hy Lạp khắc trên đó ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là gearwheel |
…archaeologist cleared off a layer of organic material from one of the pieces of junk and found that it looked like a gearwheel. It had inscriptions in Greek characters ... |
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This inspiring and elaborated device was found to be the first 9___ in the world. Thiết bị này được phát hiện là thiết bị đầu tiên thuộc loại gì trên thế giới. Bài đọc nói thiết bị này chính là “the world’s first known analogue computer” ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là analogue computer |
Research has shown that the wheel was part of a device so sophisticated that its complexity would not be matched for a thousand years — it was also the world’s first known analogue computer. |
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Questions 10-13: Dạng Matching Name Cách làm:
Note:
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10 More complicated than the previous device Trong đoạn E, François Charette so sánh thiết bị này với các gear trains trước đó (thế kỷ 9 ở Baghdad):
→ rõ ràng phức tạp hơn. ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là C |
We have gear trains from the 9th century in Baghdad… they use eight gears…In this case, we have more than 30 gears said Frangois Charette |
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11 Anticipate to find more Antikythera Mechanism in the future Câu hỏi đề cập đến hy vọng/tin rằng sau này sẽ tìm được thêm các cơ chế Antikythera khác. Ở đoạn J, Edmunds nói thiết bị không thể là cái duy nhất, chắc chắn phải có truyền thống chế tạo, và ông hy vọng sẽ có cái tốt hơn được tìm thấy. ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là B |
Edmunds said. “There must have been a tradition of making them. We’re always hopeful a better one will surface…it can’t have been the only one…There must have been a tradition of making them. We’re always hopeful a better one will surface |
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12 Antikythera Mechanism was found related to the moon Câu hỏi đề đề cập đến cơ chế liên quan tới mặt trăng Trong bài nói rõ nhóm của Edmunds giải mã cơ chế và mô tả rõ nó nghiên cứu lunar months (tháng âm – chu kỳ Mặt Trăng) và cả quỹ đạo elip của Mặt Trăng. ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là B |
said Mike Edmunds…The mechanism explores the relationship between lunar months… and calendar years...a beautiful system of epicyclic gears that factored in the elliptical orbit of the moon… |
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13 Mechanism assisted ancient people to calculate the movement of stars. Câu hỏi đề cập đến cơ chế giúp người xưa tính/toán việc các vì sao (ví dụ: mọc – lặn) liên hệ với ngày tháng. Bitsakis nói thẳng cơ chế liên quan tới rising and setting of stars và “would directly help”. ⇒ Đáp án chính xác là A |
this related to the rising and setting of stars and related them to dates and religious experiences, the mechanism would directly help，,” said Yanis Bitsakis |
