Scientists Looking for Life on Mars

Please refresh the page to get the latest updates.

All Science & Technology Culture & Entertainment Economy & Business Health Travel & Lifestyle Language & Education Asia & Pacific USA & Americas Europe

Materials

Read Engoo Daily News articles with Engoo tutors

January 11, 2017

Intermediate

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

evidence

Noun

ˈɛvɪdəns

the facts, signs or objects that make you believe that something is true

The lawyer presented an important piece of evidence in court.

The ring he gave me is evidence that he loves me.

Researchers have yet to discover any tangible evidence linking Stonehenge to aliens.

The police found the murder weapon and other concrete evidence.

They won the case although much of the evidence was against them.

Hair fashion among young people is evidence of how quickly times can change.

I have just learned that evidence suggested that Stonehenge was a burial site in the beginning.

The murder weapon was the only evidence.

There is no evidence that he stole the money.

Evidence has shown that rats and humans share the same types of nerve cells.

chemical

Noun

ˈkemɪkl

any basic substance that is used in or produced by a reaction involving changes to atoms or molecules

We examined various chemicals in class today.

Dangerous chemicals need to be handled carefully.

The police suspected that the company might have used illegal chemicals for some of its products.

The winner of the science fair built an apparatus that facilitates the mixing of certain chemicals.

element

Noun

ˈɛləmənt

a simple substance that cannot be reduced to smaller chemical parts

Oxygen is a chemical element.

RNA

Noun

ˌɑːr.enˈeɪ

an important chemical present in all living cells that uses information from DNA to make proteins

Scientists are trying to find ways to alter RNA.

molecule

Noun

ˈmɑːlɪkjuːl

the simplest unit of a chemical substance, usually a group of two or more atoms

Molecules are made up of atoms.

DNA is the molecule that life is built on.

An oxygen molecule consists of two atoms.

building block

Noun

ˈbɪldɪŋ blɑːk

a basic part or component

Respect and trust are the building blocks of a good relationship.

microscope

Noun

ˈmaɪkrəˌskoʊp

a device that uses lenses to make very small objects look larger, so that they can be scientifically examined and studied

She examined the object under a microscope.

This microscope is able to magnify images by several thousand times.

The new laboratory will be outfitted with an electron microscope.

microbe

Noun

ˈmaɪkrəʊb

a very small living thing, especially one that causes disease, that can only be seen with a microscope

Did you know that microbes can be found in the human body?

Exercise 2

Article

AI Generated Audio––:–– / ––:––

Scientists Looking for Life on Mars

NASA has found evidence that, a long time ago, there was surface water on the Red Planet. So since that discovery, they have been looking for chemicals that would be present if there once was – or still is – life on the planet.

At a conference in California, NASA scientists reported a breakthrough. They said for the first time that they had found very small amounts of an interesting element. It is called boron.

Boron is important because it could help build RNA molecules, which are one of the building blocks of life.

One of the next steps in the scientists’ search for life on Mars comes in 2020. That year, the next spacecraft is supposed to launch. It will send rocks from Mars back to Earth.

Scientists in Britain are preparing for those Mars rocks now. Using a powerful microscope, they have already examined 200-million-year-old rocks found deep in the Pacific Ocean.