Summarise the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they case doubt on specific points made in the reading passage. (TPO40)
Many scientists believe it would be possible to maintain a permanent human presence on Mars or the Moon. On the other hand, conditions on Venus are so extreme and inhospitable that maintaining a human presence there would be impossible.
First, atmospheric pressure at Venus’ surface is at least 90 times greater than the pressure at Earth’s surface. This means that a force of 100 kilograms is pressing down on every square centimeter of surface. All spacecraft that have landed on Venus have been crushed by this extreme pressure within an hour of landing. Almost anything humans might land on Venus would be crushed as well.
Second, as far as we know, there are no reservoirs of water on Venus' surface, and the planet's atmosphere, made up mostly of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and sulfuric acid, contains hardly any oxygen or water vapor Water and oxygen would therefore probably have to be supplied to Venus from Earth. The idea of ensuring a regular supply of water and oxygen from Earth is impractical in the extreme and would probably defeat the purpose of establishing a permanent station on Venus.
Third, very little sunlight reaches the planet's surface. About 60 percent of the sunlight that hits Venus is reflected back into space by the thick clouds that fill the atmosphere, which means that only 40 percent of the sunlight can get through the clouds Below these clouds is a dense layer of carbon dioxide, which blocks even more light, so very little light reaches the surface. The lack of light would prevent the use of solar power cells, so humans could not get electricity to power their machines and equipment.
The author of the reading believes it is impossible to live on Venus. We should consider living on Mars or the Moon. The lecturer challenges the statement made by the author. He says living on Venus has a challenge. Still, it is possible to establish a station that floods in the atmosphere.
First of all, the reading asserts that Venus has an extreme pressure that causes all spacecraft landed there to crash. Conversely, the lecturer argues that we have a lower pressure in the atmosphere rather than the surface. If we have the station on 15 kilometers on atmosphere, it will not be dangerous, and spacecraft can land without crashing.
Second, the writer claims that there is no water on Venus since there is no oxygen. We have it in a small amount, which would not be enough for a water chemical compound.
On the contrary, the speaker believes that we can provide water with carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid compounds. We can have these chemical activities in the station.
Finally, the reading asserts that we have little sunlight on Venus because of thick clouds, which brings about the lack of solar power, so we cannot access the electricity for our equipment. In contrast, the speaker dismisses this issue because the clouds that are 15 kilometers away from the surface are not very thick. We can consider that the station can collect the sunlight and reflect it.
Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 22 in 30
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 1 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 15 12
No. of Words: 237 250
No. of Characters: 1108 1200
No. of Different Words: 124 150
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 3.924 4.2
Average Word Length: 4.675 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.436 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 82 80
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 59 60
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 37 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 19 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 15.8 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 6.199 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.533 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.344 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.344 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.176 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 1 4