IELTS Reading: Sentence completion #2

Timekeeper: Invention of Marine Chronometer

A Up to the middle of the 18th century, the navigators were still unable to exactly identify
the position at sea, so they might face a great number of risks such as the shipwreck or running
out of supplies before arriving at the destination. Knowing one’s position on the earth requires
two simple but essential coordinates, one of which is the longitude.
B The longitude is a term that can be used to measure the distance that one has covered
from one’s home to another place around the world without the limitations of naturally
occurring baseline like the equator. To determine longitude, navigators had no choice but to
measure the angle with the naval sextant between Moon centre and a specific star— lunar
distance—along with the height of both heavenly bodies. Together with the nautical almanac,
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was determined, which could be adopted to calculate longitude
because one hour in GMT means 15-degree longitude. Unfortunately, this approach laid great
reliance on the weather conditions, which brought great inconvenience to the crew members.
Therefore, another method was proposed, that is, the time difference between the home time
and the local time served for the measurement. Theoretically, knowing the longitude position
was quite simple, even for the people in the middle of the sea with no land in sight. The key
element for calculating the distance travelled was to know, at the very moment, the accurate
home time. But the greatest problem is: how can a sailor know the home time at sea?
C The simple and again obvious answer is that one takes an accurate clock with him,
which he sets to the home time before leaving. A comparison with the local time (easily
identified by checking the position of the Sun) would indicate the time difference between the
home time and the local time, and thus the distance from home was obtained. The truth was
that nobody in the 18th century had ever managed to create a clock that could endure the
violent shaking of a ship and the fluctuating temperature while still maintaining the accuracy of
time for navigation.
D After 1714, as an attempt to find a solution to the problem, the British government
offered a tremendous amount of £20,000, which were to be managed by the magnificently
named ‘Board of Longitude’. If timekeeper was the answer (and there could be other proposed
solutions, since the money wasn’t only offered for timekeeper), then the error of the required
timekeeping for achieving this goal needed to be within 2.8 seconds a day, which was
considered impossible for any clock or watch at sea, even when they were in their finest
conditions.
E This award, worth about £2 million today, inspired the self-taught Yorkshire carpenter
John Harrison to attempt a design for a practical marine clock. In the later stage of his early
career, he worked alongside his younger brother James. The first big project of theirs was to
build a turret clock for the stables at Brockelsby Park, which was revolutionary because it
required no lubrication. Harrison designed a marine clock in 1730, and he travelled to London
in seek of financial aid. He explained his ideas to Edmond Halley, the Astronomer Royal, who
then introduced him to George Graham, Britain’s first-class clockmaker. Graham provided him
with financial aid for his early-stage work on sea clocks. It took Harrison five years to build
Harrison Number One or HI. Later, he sought the improvement from alternate design and
produced H4 with the giant clock appearance. Remarkable as it was, the Board of Longitude
wouldn’t grant him the prize for some time until it was adequately satisfied.
F Harrison had a principal contestant for the tempting prize at that time, an English
mathematician called John Hadley, who developed the sextant. The sextant is the tool that
people adopt to measure angles, such as the one between the Sun and the horizon, for a
calculation of the location of ships or planes. In addition, his invention is significant since it can
help determine longitude.
G Most chronometer forerunners of that particular generation were English, but that
doesn’t mean every achievement was made by them. One wonderful figure in the history is the
Lancastrian Thomas Earnshaw, who created the ultimate form of chronometer escapement—
the spring detent escapement—and made the final decision on format and productions system
for the marine chronometer, which turns it into a genuine modem commercial product, as well
as a safe and pragmatic way of navigation at sea over the next century and half.
Questions 1-6. Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO
WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
1. Sailors were able to use the position of the Sun to calculate _________.
2. An invention that could win the competition would lose no more than _________ every
day.
3. John and James Harrison’s clock worked accurately without ___________.
4. Harrison’s main competitor’s invention was known as ___________.
5. Hadley’s instrument can use _________ to make a calculation of location of ships or
planes.
6. The modem version of Harrison’s invention is called the ____________.
 The Connection Between Culture and Thought
A. The world’s population has surpassed 7 billion and continues to grow. Across the globe,
humans have many differences. These differences can be influenced by factors such as geography,
climate, politics, nationality, and many more. Culture is one such aspect that can change the way people
behave.
B. Your culture may influence your clothing, your language, and many aspects of your life. But is
culture influential enough to change the way an individual thinks? It has long been believed that people
from different cultures would think differently. For example, a young boy from a farm would talk about
cows while a boy from New York will talk about cars. If two young children from different countries are
asked about their thoughts about a painting, they would answer differently because of their cultural
backgrounds.
C. In recent years, there has been new research that changed this long-held belief; However, this
new research is not the first to explore the idea that culture can change the way we think. Earlier
research has provided valuable insight to the question. One of the earliest research projects was carried
out in the Soviet Union. This project was designed to find out whether culture would affect peopled way
of thought processing. The researchers focused on how living environment and nationality might
influence how people think. The experiment led by Bessett aimed to question such awareness of
cognitive psychology. Bessett conducted several versions of the experiment to test different cognitive
processes.
D. One experiment led by Bessett and Masuku showed an animated video picturing a big fish
swimming among smaller fish and other sea creatures. Subjects were asked to describe the scene. The
Japanese participants tended to focus on the aquatic background, such as the plants and colour of the
water, as well as the relationship between the big and small fish. American participants tended to focus
on individual fishes, mainly the larger, more unique looking fish. The experiment suggested that
members of Eastern cultures focus more on the overall picture, while members of Western culture
focus more on the individuals.
E. In another experiment performed by Bessett and Choi, the subjects were presented with some
very convincing evidence for a position. Both the Korean and the American showed strong support.
And after they were given some evidence opposing the position, the Korean started to modified or
decreased their support. However, the American began to give more support to the former argument.
This project suggested that in Korean culture, support for arguments is based on context. Ideas and
conclusions are changeable and flexible, so an individual may be more willing to change his or her mind.
For Americans, they were less willing to change their original conclusion.
F. Bessett and Ara devised an experiment to test the thought processing of both oriental and
occidental worlds. Test subject was given an argument “All animals with furs hibernate. Rabbit has fur.
Therefore, rabbit hibernate”. People from the eastern world questioned the argument as not being
logical, because in their knowledge some furry animals just don’t hibernate. But the American think the
statement is right. They assume the logic deduction is based on a correct argument, thus the conclusion
is right since the logic is right.
G. From these early experiments in the Soviet Union, one might conclude that our original
premise— that culture can impact the way we think—was still correct. However, recent research
criticises this view, as well as Bessett’s early experiments. Though these experiments changed the original
belief on thought processing, how much does it result from all factors needs further discussion. Fischer
thinks Bessett’s experiments provide valuable information because his research only provides qualitative
descriptions, not results from controlled environment. Chang partly agrees with him, because there are
some social factors that might influence the results.
H. Another criticism of Bessett’s experiments is that culture was studied as a sub-factor of
nationality. The experiments assumed that culture would be the same among all members of a
nationality. For example, every American that participated in the experiments could be assumed to have
the same culture. In reality, culture is much more complicated than nationality. These early experiments
did not control for other factors, such as socioeconomic status, education, ethnicity, and regional
differences in culture. All of these factors could have a big effect on the individual’s response.
I. A third criticism of Bessett’s experiment is that the content itself should have been more
abstract, such as a puzzle or an IQ test. With objective content, such as nature and animals, people from
different countries of the world might have different pre-conceived ideas about these animals. Prior
knowledge based on geographic location would further complicate the results. A test that is more
abstract, or more quantitative, would provide a more controlled study of how cognitive processing
works for different groups of people.
J. The research on culture’s effect on cognitive processing still goes on today, and while some
criticisms exist of Bessett’s early studies, the projects still provide valuable insight. It is important for
future research projects to control carefully for the variables, such as culture. Something like culture is
complex and difficult to define. It can also be influenced by many other variables, such as geography or
education styles. When studying a variable like culture, it is critical that the researcher create a clear
definition for what is—and what is not—considered culture.
K. Another important aspect of modern research is the ethical impact of the research. A
researcher must consider carefully whether the results of the research will negatively impact any of the
groups involved. In an increasingly globalised job economy, generalisations made about nationalities can
be harmful to prospective employees. This information could also impact the way tests and university
admissions standards are designed, which would potentially favor one group or create a disadvantage for
another. When conducting any research about culture and nationality, researchers should consider all
possible effects, positive or negative, that their conclusions may have when published for the world to
see.
Questions 7-10. Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO
WORDS from the passage for each answer.
7. Researchers in the Soviet Union wanted to find out how __________ and nationality will
control the way people think.
8. Bessett and Ara’s experiment shows, for Americans, so long as the logic deduction is
based on a correct argument, the 11 __________ should be right.
9. Fischer thinks Bessett’s research is quite valuable because it is conducted in a 12
__________ way rather than in controlled environment.
10. Future researchers on culture’s effect on cognitive processing should start with a 13
___________ of culture as a variable.