Question 6.Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

            A rather surprising geographical feature of Antarctica is that a huge freshwater lake, one of the world’s largest and deepest, lies hidden there under four kilometers of ice. Now known as Lake Vostok, this huge body of water is located under the ice block that comprises Antarctica. The lake is able to exist in its unfrozen state beneath this block of ice because its waters are warmed by geothermal heat from the earth’s core. The thick glacier above Lake Vostok actually insulates it from the frigid temperatures (the lowest ever recorded on Earth) on the surface.

The lake was first discovered in the 1970s while a research team was conducting an aerial survey of the area. Radio waves from the survey equipment penetrated the ice and revealed a body of water of indeterminate size. It was not until much more recently that data collected by satellite made scientists aware of the tremendous size of the lake; the satellite-borne radar detected an extremely flat region where the ice remains level because it is floating on the water of the lake.

The discovery of such a huge freshwater lake trapped under Antarctica is of interest to the scientific community because of the potential that the lake contains ancient microbes that have survived for thousands upon thousands of years, unaffected by factors such as nuclear fallout and elevated ultraviolet light that have affected organisms in more exposed areas. The downside of the discovery, however, lies in the difficulty of conducting research on the lake in such a harsh climate and in the problems associated with obtaining uncontaminated samples from the lake without actually exposing the lake to contamination. Scientists are looking for possible ways to accomplish this.

1. The purpose of the passage is to ______.

A. explain how Lake Vostok was discovered

B. provide satellite data concerning Antarctica.   

C. discus future plans for Lake Vostok

D. present an expected aspect of Antarctica’s geography

2. The word “hidden” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ____________.

A. undrinkable                B. untouched                         C. exploited               D. undiscovered

3. What is true of Lake Vostok?

A. It is completely frozen                                  B. It is not a saltwater lake

C. It is beneath a thick slab of ice                    D. It is heated by the sun

4. Which of the following is closest in meaning to “frigid” in the first paragraph?

A. extremely cold                       B. never changing                C. quite harsh                        D. rarely recorded

5. All of the following are true about the 1970 survey of Antarctica EXCEPT that it ______.

A. was conducted by air                       

B. made use of radio waves

C. did not measure the exact size of the lake

D. was controlled by a satellite

6. It can be interfered from the passage that ice would not be flat if ______.

A. there were no lake                             B. the lake were not so big

C. Antarctica were not co cold             D. radio waves were not used

7. The word “microbes” in paragraph 3 could be best replaced by which of the following?

A. pieces of  dust                        B. trapped bubbles               C. tiny organisms     D. rays of light

8. The passage mentions which of the following as a reason for the importance of Lake Vostok to scientists?

A. It can be studied using radio waves

B. It may contain uncontaminated microbes

C. It may have elevated levels of ultraviolet light

D. It has already been contaminated.

9. The word “downside” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______.

A. bottom             B. negative aspect                C. underside              D. buried section

10. The paragraph following the passage most probably discusses ______.

A. further discoveries on the surface of America

B. problems with satellite-borne radar equipment

C. ways to study Lake Vostok without contaminating it

D. the harsh climate of Antarctica.