Asian Space 2 Satellite Technology

The space age began with the launch of the Russian artificial satellite Sputnik in 1957 and developed further with the race to the moon between the United States and Russia. This rivalry was characterized by advanced technology and huge budgets. In this process there were spectacular successes, some failures, but also many spin-offs.

Europe, Japan, China, and India quickly joined this space club of the superpowers. With the advent of relatively low cost high performance mini-satellites and launchers, the acquisition of indigenous space capabilities by smaller nations in Asia has become possible. How, in what manner, and for what purpose will these capabilities be realized?

A. Rocket technology has progressed considerably since the days of ‘fire arrows' (bamboo poles filled with gunpowder) first used in China around 500 BC, and, during the Sung Dynasty, to repel Mongol invaders at the battle of Kaifeng (Kai-fung fu) in AD 1232. These ancient rockets stand in stark contrast to the present-day Chinese rocket launch vehicles, called the ‘Long March', intended to place a Chinese astronaut in space by 2005 and, perhaps, to achieve a Chinese moon-landing by the end of the decade.

B. In the last decade there has been a dramatic growth in space activities in Asia both in the utilization of space-based services and the production of satellites and launchers. This rapid expansion has led many commentators and analysts to predict that Asia will become a world space power. The space age has had dramatic affects worldwide with direct developments in space technology influencing telecommunications, meteorological forecasting, earth resource and environmental monitoring, and disaster mitigation (flood, forest fires, and oil spills). Asian nations have been particularly eager to embrace these developments.

C. New and innovative uses for satellites are constantly being explored with potential revolutionary effects, such as in the field of health and telemedicine, distance education, crime prevention (piracy on the high seas), food and agricultural planning and production (rice crop monitoring). Space in Asia is very much influenced by the competitive commercial space sector, the emergence of low cost mini-satellites, and the globalization of industrial and financial markets. It is not evident how Asian space will develop in the coming decades in the face of these trends. It is, however, important to understand and assess the factors and forces that shape Asian space activities and development in determining its possible consequences for the region.

D. At present, three Asian nations, Japan, China, and India, have comprehensive end-to-end space capabilities and possess a complete space infrastructure: space technology, satellite manufacturing, rockets, and spaceports. Already self-sufficient in terms of satellite design and manufacturing, South Korea is currently attempting to join then ranks with its plans to develop a launch site and spaceport. Additionally, nations in Southeast Asia as well as those bordering the Indian subcontinent (Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) have, or are starting to develop, indigenous space programmes. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has, in varying degrees, embraced space applications using foreign technology and over the past five years or so its space activities have been expanding. Southeast Asia is predicted to become the largest and fastest growing market for commercial space products and applications, driven by telecommunications (mobile and fixed services), the Internet, and remote sensing applications. In the development of this technology, many non-technical factors, such as economics, politics, culture, and history, interact and play important roles, which in turn affect Asian technology.

E. Asia, and Southeast Asia in particular, suffers from a long list of recurrent large-scale environmental problems including storms and flooding, forest fires and deforestation, and crop failures. Thus the space application that has attracted the most attention in this region is remote sensing. Remote sensing satellites equipped with instruments to take photographs of the ground at different wavelengths provide essential information for natural resource accounting, environmental management, disaster prevention and monitoring, land-use mapping, and sustainable development planning. Progress in these applications has been rapid and impressive. ASEAN members, unlike Japan, China, and India, do not have then own remote sensing satellites, however most of its member nations have facilities to receive, process, and interpret such data from American and European satellites. In particular, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore have world-class remote sensing processing •facilities and research programmes. ASEAN has plans to develop (and launch) its own satellites and in particular remote sensing satellites. Japan is regarded as the dominant space power in Asia and its record of successes and quality of technologies are equal to those of the West In view of the technological challenges and high risks involved in space activities, a very long, and expensive, learning curve has been followed to obtain those successes achieved. Japan' s satellite manufacturing was based on the old and traditional defense and military procurement methodologies as practiced in the US and Europe. 

F. In recent years there have been fundamental changes in the way satellites are designed and built to drastically reduce costs. The emergence of ‘small satellites’ and then quick adoption by Asian countries as a way to develop low-cost satellite technology and rapidly establish a space capability has given these countries the possibility to shorten their learning curve by a decade or more. The global increase of technology transfer mechanisms and use of readily available commercial technology to replace costly space and military standard components may very well result in a highly competitive Asian satellite manufacturing industry.

G. The laws of physics ore the same to Tokyo as in Toulouse, and toe principles of electronics and mechanics know no political or cultural boundaries. However, no such immutability applies to engineering practices and management; they are -very much influenced by education, culture, and history. These factors, in turn, have an affect on costs, lead times, product designs and, eventually, international sales, Marty Aston nations are sending their engineers to be trained in the fast Highly experienced, they return to work in toe growing Aslan space industry. Mil this acquisition of technical expertise, coupled perhaps with the world-renowned Japanese manufacturing and management techniques, be applied to build world-class satellites and reduce costs?

Questions 28-32

The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-G

List of Headings

i Western countries provide essential assistance

ii Unbalanced development for an essential space technology

iii Innovative application compelled by competition

iv An ancient invention which is related to the future

v Military purpose of satellite

vi Rockets for application in ancient China

vii Space development in Asia in the past

viii Non-technology factors counts

ix competitive edge gained by more economically feasible satellite

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-G from the list below. Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet.

28 Paragraph A

29 Paragraph B

30 Paragraph C

Paragraph D Example: Current space technology development in Asia

31 Paragraph E

32 Paragraph F

Questions 33-36

Match the following reasons for each question according to the information given in the passage

Write the correct letter A-F, in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

A Because it helps administrate the crops.

B Because there are some unapproachable areas, c Because the economic level in that area is low.

D Because there are influences from some other social factors.

E Because it can be used in non-peaceful purpose.

F Because disasters such as bush fire happened in Southeast Asia.

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33 Why remote-photographic technology is used to resolve environmental problems?

34 Why satellites technology is used in medicine area?

35 Why Asian countries satellite technology is limited for development?

36 Why satellites technology is deployed in agricultural area?

Questions 37-40

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3 In boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE	if the Statement is true
FALSE	if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN	if the information is not given in the passage

37 Ancient China had already deployed rockets as a military purpose as early as 500 years ago.

38 Space technology has enhanced literacy of Asia.

39 photos taken by satellites with certain technology help predict some natural catastrophes prevention and surveillance.

40 commercial competition constitutes a boosting factor to Asian technology development.

 

Reading Test 10

Section 1

Koalas

A. Koalas are just too nice for their own good. And except for the occasional baby taken by birds of prey, koalas have no natural enemies. In an ideal world, the life of an arboreal couch potato would be perfectly safe and acceptable. 

B. Just two hundred years ago, koalas flourished across Australia. Now they seem to be in decline, but exact numbers are not available as the species would not seem to be 'under threat'. Their problem, however, has been man, more specifically, the white man. Koala and aborigine had co-existed peacefully for centuries.

C. Today koalas are found only in scattered pockets of southeast Australia, where they seem to be at risk on several fronts. The koala's only food source, the eucalyptus tree has declined. In the past 200 years, a third of Australia's eucalyptus forests have disappeared. Koalas have been killed by parasites, chlamydia epidemics and a tumour-causing retro-virus. And every year 11000 are killed by cars, ironically most of them in wildlife sanctuaries, and thousands are killed by poachers. Some are also taken illegally as pets. The animals usually soon die, but they are easily replaced.

D. Bush fires pose another threat. The horrific ones that raged in New South Wales recently killed between 100 and 1000 koalas. Many that were taken into sanctuaries and shelters were found to have burnt their paws on the glowing embers. But zoologists say that the species should recover. The koalas will be aided by the eucalyptus, which grows quickly and is already burgeoning forth after the fires. So the main problem to their survival is their slow reproductive rate - they produce only one baby a year over a reproductive lifespan of about nine years.

E. The latest problem for the species is perhaps more insidious. With plush, grey fur, dark amber eyes and button nose, koalas are cuddliness incarnate. Australian zoos and wildlife parks have taken advantage of their uncomplaining attitudes, and charge visitors to be photographed hugging the furry bundles. But people may not realise how cruel this is, but because of the koala's delicate disposition, constant handling can push an already precariously balanced physiology over the edge.

F. Koalas only eat the foliage of certain species of eucalyptus trees, between 600 and 1250 grams a day. The tough leaves are packed with cellulose, tannins, aromatic oils and precursors of toxic cyanides. To handle this cocktail, koalas have a specialised digestive system. Cellulose-digesting bacteria in the break down fibre, while a specially adapted gut and liver process the toxins. To digest their food properly, koalas must sit still for 21 hours every day.

G. Koalas are the epitome of innocence and inoffensiveness. Although they are capable of ripping open a man's arm with their needle-sharp claws, or giving a nasty nip, they simply wouldn't. If you upset a koala, it may blink or swallow, or hiccup. But attack? No way! Koalas are just not aggressive. They use their claws to grip the hard smooth bark of eucalyptus trees. 

H. They are also very sensitive, and the slightest upset can prevent them from breeding, cause them to go off their food, and succumb to gut infections. Koalas are stoic creatures and put on a brave face until they are at death's door. One day they may appear healthy, the next they could be dead. Captive koalas have to be weighed daily to check that they are feeding properly. A sudden loss of weight is usually the only warning keepers have that their charge is ill. Only two keepers plus a vet were allowed to handle London Zoo's koalas, as these creatures are only comfortable with people they know. A request for the koala to be taken to meet the Queen was refused because of the distress this would have caused the marsupial. Sadly, London’s Zoo no longer has a koala. Two years ago the female koala died of a cancer caused by a retrovirus. When they come into heat, female koalas become more active, and start losing weight, but after about sixteen days, heat ends and the weight piles back on. London's koala did not. Surgery revealed hundreds of pea-sized tumours.

Almost every zoo in Australia has koalas - the marsupial has become the Animal Ambassador of the nation, but nowhere outside Australia would handling by the public be allowed. Koala cuddling screams in the face of every rule of good care. First, some zoos allow koalas to be passed from stranger to stranger, many children who love to squeeze. Secondly, most people have no idea of how to handle the animals; they like to cling on to their handler, all in their own good time and use his or her arm as a tree. For such reasons, the Association of Fauna and Marine parks, an Australian conservation society is campaigning to ban koala cuddling. Policy on koala handling is determined by state government authorities. "And the largest of the numbers in the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, with the aim of instituting national guidelines. Following a wave of publicity, some zoos and wildlife parks have stopped turning their koalas into photo.

Questions 1-5

Choose the correct letter, A, B, c or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

1. The main reason why koala declined is that they are killed EXCEPT FOR

A by poachers

B by diseases they got

C giving too many birth yet survived little!

D accidents on the road

2. What can help koalas folly digest their food?

A toxic substance in the leaves 

B organs that dissolve the fibres

C remaining inactive for a period to digest

D eating eucalyptus trees

3. What would koalas do when facing the dangerous situation?

A show signs of being offended

B counter attack furiously

C use sharp claws to rip the man

D use claws to grip the bark of trees.

4. In what ways Australian zoos exploit koalas?

A encourage people to breed koalas as pets 

B allow tourists to hug the koalas

C put them on the trees as a symbol

D establish a koala campaign

5. What would the government do to protect koalas from being endangered?  

A introduce koala protection guidelines

B close some of the zoos

C encourage people to resist visiting the zoos

D persuade the public to learn more knowledge

Questions 6-12

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1

In boxes 6-12 on your answer sheet, write

YES	if the Statement is true
NO	if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN	if the information is not given in the passage

6 new coming human settlers caused danger to koalas.

7 Koalas can still be seen in most of the places in Australia.

8 it takes decade for the eucalyptus trees to recover after the fire.

9 Koalas will fight each other when food becomes scarce.

10 It is not easy to notice that koalas are ill.

11 Koalas are easily infected with human contagious disease via cuddling

12 Koalas like to hold a person's arm when they are embraced.

Questions 13

Choose the correct letter, A, B, c or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 13 on your answer sheet.

From your opinion this article written by

A a journalist who write for magazine 

B a zoo keeper in London Zoo.

C a tourist who traveling back from Australia

D a government official who studies koalas to establish a law

 

Section 2