Text 2: <<From>> “Live fast, love hard, die young” The Economist, 2007

Text 1: <<From>> Galaxy Has Billions of Earths www.bbc.co.uk

There could be one hundred billion Earth-like planets in our galxy, a United States conference has heard. Dr. Alan Boss of the Carnegie institution of Science said many of these worlds could be inhabited by simple life forms. He was speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago. So far, telescopes have been able to detect just over 300 planets outside our Solar System. Very few of these would be capable of supporting life, however. Most are gas giants like our Jupiter, and many orbit so close to their parent stars that any microbes would have to survive roasting temperatures. But, based on the limited number of planets found so far, Dr. Boss has estimated that each Sun-like star has on average one “Earth-like” planet. This simple calculation means there would be huge numbers capable of supporting life.

“Not only are they probably habitable but they probably are also going to be inhabited,” Dr. Boss told BBC News. “But I think that most likely ‘Earths’ are going to be inhabited with things which are perhaps more common to what Earth was like three or four billion years ago.” That means bacterial life forms. Dr. Boss estimates that NASA’s Kepler mission, due to launch in March, should begin finding some of these Earth-like planets within the next few years. Recent work at Edinburgh University tried to quantify how many intelligent civilizations might be out there. The research suggested there could be thousands of them.

Statements 1 through 10 (on your answer sheet mark + if the statement is true, - if it is false)

1. According to the text, there could be one hundred billion Mars-like planets in our galaxy.

2. Scientists’ telescopes have seen fewer than 300 planets outside our galaxy.

3. According to the text, each Sun-like star in the galaxy has about one “Earth-like” planet.

4. Very few Earth-like planes are capable of sustaining life.

5. Most gas-giants orbit so close to their parent stars the heat from the stars makes life on gas-giants impossible.

6. Research at London University suggests there could be huge numbers of other Earth-like planets.

7. Dr. Boss reports that many Earth-like planets could be inhabited by simple life forms.

8. Dr. Boss thinks BASA’s Kepler mission will begin finding some of these planets in the next few months.

9. Dr. Boss told BBC news, “Not only are they probably habitable but they probably are also

going to be inhabited.”

10. Edinburgh University quantified that there are thousands of intelligent civilizations.

Text 2: <<From>> “Live fast, love hard, die young” The Economist, 2007

In the cause of equal rights, women have had much to complain about. But one striking piece of inequality has been conveniently overlooked: lifespan. In this area, women have the upper hand. All round the world, they live longer than men. Why they should do so is not immediately obvious. But the same is true in many other species. From lions to antelope and from sea lions to deer, males, for some reason, simply can’t go the distance.

One theory is that males must compete for female attention. That means evolution is busy selecting for antlers, aggression and alloy wheels in males, at the expense of longevity. Females are not subject to such pressures. If this theory is correct, the effect will be especially noticeable in those species where males compete for the attention of lots of females. Conversely, it will be reduced or absent where they do not.

To test that idea, Tim Clutton-Brock of Cambridge University and Kavita Isvaran of the Indian Institute of Science decided to compare monogamous and polygynous species (in the latter, a male monopolizes a number of females). They wanted to find out whether polygynous males had lower survival rates and aged faster than those of monogamous species. To do so, they collected the relevant data for 35 species of long-lived birds and mammals.

As they report, the pattern was much as they expected. In 16 of the 19 polygynous species in their sample, males of all ages were much more likely to die during any given period than were females. Furthermore, the older they got, the bigger the mortality gap became. In other words, they aged faster. Males from monogamous species did not show these patterns.

Questions 11 through 15 (on your answer sheet mark the correct letter A, B, C, or D)

11. According to the article, females…

A. live longer than males.

B. die earlier than males.

C. must compete for male attention.

D. were not important in this study.

12. All of the following are reasons why males die earlier, EXCEPT:

A. males must compete for female attention.

B. males in polygynous species monopolize a number of females.

C. males age faster.

D. they must provide food for a large number of females.

13. How many polygynous species did Clutton-Bullock and Isvaran test?