Abdelkader Ouadha Secondary School.Abadia Level: 3rd y. G/E.

March 2014 Name:

…………………. Time: 01 hour
Second Term English Test

PART ONE: READING.

Read the text carefully then do the activities.

The solar system consists of the sun and everything that orbits around it: the nine
planets and their moons, comets, asteroids, and various other objects. The solar system itself
is a relatively tiny part of the enormous Milky Way galaxy. It orbits around the center of the
galaxy once every 225 million years. The Milky Way galaxy is just one of billions of galaxies
in the universe.

  At the center of the solar system is the sun, which is an average star. The sun contains
99 percent of the mass of the entire solar system. It is a huge ball of hydrogen and helium gas
that is 1,392,000 kilometers in diameter. It has a temperature, at its core, of more
than15,600,000° C. The intense radiation emitted by the sun provides almost all the energy to
heat the planets, and, in the case of Earth, to allow life to exist.
 
After the sun, the largest bodies in the solar system are the planets. The nine planets in
the solar system are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and
Pluto. They all have roughly circular orbits in the same direction, and most have at least one
moon. They vary widely in size, temperature, composition, and distance from the sun

(www.nasa.org/solarsystem)
A) Comprehension

1.Choose the best answer. The text is:

a radio report.
b.net article.
c. newspaper article

2.Are the following statements are true or false?

a-the solar system contains only the sun and the planets……
b-The Milky Way Galaxy is the only galaxy in the universe…….
c--The Sun’s heat is vital for life existence on Earth……….
d-Planets are similar in composition ….

3.Answer the following questions according to the text.

a- What is the source of energy in the solar system?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
b-In which term are plants different?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
4.In which paragraph is it mentioned
a. Description of the Sun.
b. The planets of the Solar system.

B)Text Exploration
1. Find in the text words that are closet in meaning to the following:

1
a. different ( §1) =……………. b. very small ( §1) =…………….. c. give off( §2) =…………...

2– Complete the following table.

singular plural

Knife …………………
…………………. Phenomena
Analysis ……………………
…………………. Data
Medium ……………………..
Volcano ……………………..

3 – Give the correct forms of the verbs in brackets.

Today, technology (play) ……………an important role in exploring the space. So, satellites are
used for (collect) …………… images and information about the outer space. These images and
information may (give) …………….us an idea about other bodies founded in our solar system. But
a lot of people (to think) …………….that the money which is spent in astronomical studies (to be )
…………..more profitable if it ( to be invest ) ……………….in other fields.

4- Classify the following words according to the pronunciation of their final “s”.
stars – telescopes – advances- galaxies

/S/ /Z/ /IZ/

5-Reorder the following sentences to have a coherent paragraph.

a – but manmade satellites are classified by types
b –A satellite can be defined as any object that orbits around something else
c - and there are over ten types including astronomical satellites
d - For example, the moon orbits around Earth and is thus a natural satellite

Good Luck