Planet Mars - Can Humans Live There in the Future?

Is the Earth overpopulated? Not enough land to (0)______(transplant, cultivate, grow, breed) and live
--
on? Mars could be the answer - 140 million square kilometres available (1) Válasz  free.

A. for B. on C. in D. -

There could be an interesting land deal coming our way: 140 million square kilometres of dry ground

on Mars at present (2) Válasz  unoccupied. There are no previous owners to

make

A. on the whole B. entirily C. generally D. absolute

trouble, and the selling price per hectare is exactly zero.

(3) Válasz , there are a few difficulties. On a midsummer day, the temperature

A. Since B. Despite C. On the contrary D. Nevertheless

seldom rises above 10°C - woolly jumper weather. On a winter night, though, you would have

to (4) Válasz  a very chilly -120C.

A. catch up with B. get on with C. go along with D. put up with

And there's the small (5) Válasz  of breathing: pressure at ground level is less than

A. test B. conflict C. matter D. situation

one per cent of what you are used to - and 97 per cent of that is carbon dioxide, without any oxygen.

Water could be another problem: there isn't any, (6) Válasz  at first sight.

A. at least B. at last C. neither D. and then

Finally, you'd have to get there. The distance (7) Válasz : sometimes it shrinks to a

A. transform B. varies C. modifies D. alters

mere 60 million kilometres, but the bad news is that with (8) Válasz  technology, you'd

A. topical B. actual C. trendy D. current

have to take the long way. Thus the journey would take almost a year - one way. But we are talking
about a whole planet: the planet Mars. With the land area almost equal to the Earth's, it has to be

worth (9) Válasz  the effort.

A. to have made B. to make C. making D. make

Is it really? In his book The Snow of Olympus Arthur C Clarke, the visionary sci-fi writer and physicist,

says it is. His book is a richly illustrated (10) Válasz  into the future of Mars in which

A. vayage B. crossing C. cruise D. travel

the planet is terraformed1 to make it suitable for human use. First we have to warm the planet, he
says, by causing global warming that environmentalists fear on Earth. By doing (11) Válasz

, water trapped in Martian icecaps will melt. Consequently, the surface of Mars will

A. thus B. --- C. so D. otherwise

be suitable for microbes2 to live there and they will emit oxygen, making the atmosphere suitable for

the first plants. Plants will be followed by animals and, (12) Válasz , humans. In a

A. eventually B. after all C. even D. at the ending

couple of centuries life may flourish on Mars, Clarke claims.

But can we really transform a planet? We have certainly managed to transform our own - though

sometimes (13) Válasz  the worst. We may well need to develop new terraforming

A. on B. for C. in D. to

techniques, but these can save us from making serious mistakes while still here on Earth. As

renowned scientist Carl Sagan once put it: "Human history (14) Válasz  that once
we

A. proposes B. advises C. recommends D. suggests

can do something, we (15) Válasz  to go ahead and do it - if not now, then soon.”
And 140 million square kilometres are waiting.

A. tend B. are capable C. succeed D. make it

1
 to make it look like Earth, to make it suitable for life to prosper
2
 primitive micro-organisms, very small living things that can only be seen if you use a microscope

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2. Reading 1

Read the text below and then read the gapped summary that follows. Your task is to fill the gaps (1-8)
according to what the text says with one word per line. Short forms like “isn't” or “don't” count as two
words. For further acceptable answers please see the word document called "A feladatsorok
megoldókulcsai".

Full text:

Suspended Coffee Movement

It doesn't sound as attractive as a cappuccino, white or latte, but a new coffee product called
the caffé sospeso (the Italian words mean: suspended coffee) has seen great success in the coffee
market and throughout the world.

A suspended coffee is a cup of coffee paid in advance as an anonymous act of charity. The origin of
the movement can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century, in the working-class cafés of
Naples, where someone who had had some good luck would order a sospeso, paying the price of two
coffees or more but receiving and consuming only one. A very poor or a homeless person enquiring
later whether there was a sospeso to get would then be served a coffee for free. Coffee shops in
other countries have adopted the idea of a suspended coffee to increase sales. According to
Facebook pages, some cafés in America have expanded the scope of services and people can order
not only a suspended coffee, but also a sandwich, a whole meal or some biscuits.

The concept is based on good faith by both shops and customers - anyone can enter and ask for a
suspended coffee and they are unlikely to be asked about the financial background, but it is hoped
that only the most needy will make use of it.

A suspended coffee Facebook page, which started at the end of January, has nearly 30,000 likes and
just this past week cafes in Ireland, Germany, Romania, and the United States posted on the page
that they are eager to jump on board. Some of these countries have created their own suspended
coffee Facebook pages and the movement is on Twitter too. The limitless nature of the Internet has
allowed the initiative to go global in days. Media reported this week that there’s even a coffee shop
in China that just started serving suspended coffees and guess where the owner found out about the
idea? That’s right, the answer is Facebook.
But creating internet publicity is not as simple as having a Facebook page and those driving this
movement know that, and this is why they also posted a personal heart-warming story about
suspended coffee. It’s about two friends who are sitting in a coffeehouse. Some people come in and
purchase a coffee for themselves along with an order for a suspended coffee. The two friends are
confused by the suspended coffee orders until eventually a man wearing shabby clothes enters the
shop and asks the server if there are any suspended coffees. The two men could see that, thanks to
some strangers who were generous and wanted to do something good, the man (and others too) is
able to sit and have a hot drink. This short story is accompanied by a photo of an older man sitting in
a café carefully holding a coffee cup to his mouth. It definitely captures your attention and pulls you
into reading the story.

The Facebook page has designed Suspended Coffee Supporter logos which shops can display on their
doors to publicize that they participate in the movement.
The coffee giant Starbucks has become the first chain in the UK to join the suspended coffee
movement. The vice-president of Starbucks said the company wanted to play its part in contributing
to an initiative that gets help straight to those who want and need it the most. The Starbucks
decision to adopt the scheme could now see it followed by chains such as Costa, Segafredo, McCafé
and Mojo Café.

Second text – gapped summary:

According to the article, a new movement called suspended coffee has (1) Válasz  in
the coffee business, but what exactly is it? The suspended coffee movement is a century-old
practice, in which an individual pays for two or more coffee orders but cafés suspend the delivery of
the pre-paid drinks. Later, a less fortunate person might take advantage of the hot drink at

no (2) Válasz . The article mentions that some cafes in America have (3) Válasz  

the idea to cover not just suspended coffee but suspended cookies or suspended food. The concept

is based on the sincere intention of everyone involved, as people do not have to (4) Válasz  
that they are needy enough to claim for a suspended coffee. Many cafés expressed interest in

getting their cafés (5) Válasz  in the movement. A heart-warming story posted on

Facebook lets people in need know that a hot coffee will always be available due to good deeds

done by strangers and their (6) Válasz . The movement has gained popularity around

the world and having Suspended Coffee Supporter logo can be a good (7) Válasz  for
the participating cafés. The article mentions at the end that there are a lot of (8) Válasz

 of suspended coffees among coffeehouse chains like Starbucks.

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3. Reading 2

Read the text below. After the text you will find six questions or unfinished statements about the text,
each with three suggested answers or ways of finishing. You must choose the one which you think fits
best according to the text.

Was the Bard3 a Woman?

For more than 150 years, literary detectives have questioned whether William Shakespeare - a man
with grammar school education, at best – could possibly have written some of the greatest works in
the English language. Even Mark Rylance, director of the Globe Theatre in London, tends to agree
with them. But if Shakespeare didn’t write the plays, who did? Dozens of authors have been
proposed, the majority of whom are male. But American scholar Robert Taylor argues that the Bard
was a woman – Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke.
Sidney (as her biographers call her) is a logical suspect. Sister of the Elizabethan poet Sir Philip
Sidney, she was a poet herself and one of the best-educated women in England, along with Queen
Elizabeth I. Perhaps not surprisingly, her name has already come up before as a possible co-author of
Shakespeare’s plays, although never until now as the person who might have written the plays.
Literary experts are unlikely to be convinced. “The fact that there are so many names of writers is
proof that none of them is the author,” says Stanley Wells from Cambridge University. That has not
discouraged Taylor. “One detective specializing in crimes told me, ’In order to find out who wrote the
plays you’re using the same reasoning that we use to track down murderers. In other words, you try
to find out why this person wrote the plays and why he or she didn’t want to be known. If you asked
for my help, I’d say you don’t need it’,” he says.
In short, Mary Sidney had the motive, the means and the opportunity to write the plays. At her
home, she supported a literary circle whose mission was to create better and better works in English
literature – a strong motive. Sidney biographer Margaret Hannay has called her salon ”a starting
point for a literary revolution” and Sidney herself “the first major female literary figure in England”.
With her vast library, education and foreign language skills, Sidney also had the talent to create the
works. And with her extensive connections in the literary world, she had the opportunity to
recommend the plays to theatre companies. It might seem unimportant, but the first eight
Shakespeare plays were published anonymously “and three of them,” says Taylor, “provocatively
note on the first page that they were produced and put on stage by Pembroke’s Men, the acting
company that Mary Sidney and her husband sponsored.”
“My assumption would answer a number of questions,” argues Taylor. It would explain why
Shakespeare wrote love sonnets to a younger man (possibly Sidney’s lover, Matthew Lister?). And it
would explain eulogies4 by contemporary literary figures to the “sweet Swan of Avon”, as Sidney had
an estate on the River Avon – and her personal symbol was the swan. Even her dates match with
Shakespeare’s – which is more than one can say of most of the other candidates. Edward de Vere,
widely regarded as the leading candidate, died twelve years before Shakespeare, requiring a revised
chronology of the plays. Sidney’s dates are more straightforward. She was born 3 years before
Shakespeare and died 5 years after. When she suffered a series of personal losses, the plays turned
dark.
“It all fits,” says Taylor. “Whatever the other scholars may say, I will not give up.” Case closed? Not
yet. Taylor’s argument is interesting, but “his evidence is not enough,” says Margaret Hannay. “Real
proof would require things like letters from contemporaries praising ‘Mary Sidney’s Hamlet’.” Until
that evidence turns up, scholars will stand by the man from Stratford. But that won’t stop mystery
lovers from trying to dethrone him. The debate could prove as immortal as the works of the Bard –
whoever he or she really was.

1. Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke ...

a. was thought to have helped Shakespeare in creating his works.

b. was the only person in her family with literary talent.
c. has been considered to be the real Bard many times during the last 150 years.

Correct answer: Válasz

2. How did Robert Taylor try to prove that Mary Sidney is the No. 1 suspect?

a. He asked a detective to assist him.

b. He used a method similar to that of the police.
c. He proved that all the other theories trying to find the real Bard had some flaws.

Correct answer: Válasz

3. Which is TRUE according to the article?

a. Mary Sidney Herbert used her wealth to improve English literature.

b. Pembroke’s Men were not allowed to put on stage plays by anonymous writers.
c. Mary Sidney Herbert’s biographers disagree whether she was well-educated or not.

Correct answer: Válasz

4. What do we learn about three early Shakespeare plays?

a. They were not signed by the playwright.
b. They were dedicated to Mary Sidney and her husband.
c. Neither a. nor b. is true.

Correct answer: Válasz

5. Which of the following support Robert Taylor’s idea?

a. Mary Sidney was isolated from the theatrical world of her age.
b. When Mary Sidney had a tragic period in her life the plays reflected this.
c. Edward de Vere died much earlier than Mary Sidney.

Correct answer: Válasz

6. The writer of the article ...

a. suggests that we might never learn who wrote the Shakespeare plays.
b. does not state clearly whether he/she believes in Robert Taylor’s theory or not.
c. Both a. and b. are true.

Correct answer: Válasz

3
 the Bard = William Shakespeare
4
 eulogy = a speech or piece of writing that praises someone very much

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4. Writing 1 – Essay

Write an argumentative essay of 190-210 words based on the statement in italics below. You will
have to include all the content points in your essay. Write 2 or 3 ideas to support each content point.
You may use a dictionary.

Please DO NOT write more than 210 words.

The Internet should be censored.

 children should not have access to content that is not meant for them or might pose a
potential danger to them

 internet is the ultimate tool of free speech and it promotes democracy

 your opinion