TIẾNG ANH 10 FRIENDS GLOBAL
UNIT 8: SCIENCE
READING TEST
Exercise 1: Read the text and answer the questions. (2,5 points)
INVENTIONS THE WORLD FORGOT
The Telharmonium
The Telharmonium was the world's first electronic musical instrument. It was designed by Thaddeus Cahill in 1897.
Music from the instrument was broadcast to people's homes using a telephone. Before the invention of the radio, people
loved these first home concerts. After Cahill's death in 1934, his brother kept one of the three models, but in 1962 it was
destroyed. No recordings of the music were kept, so the Telharmonium and its unique sound have disappeared forever.
The Writing Ball
Invented in 1865 by Rasmus Malling-Hansen from Denmark, the Writing Ball was a machine for typing onto paper. Its
use of electricity made the movement faster. However, you could not see the paper as you were typing. Nevertheless, the
Writing Ball was very successful. Since each model was made by hand, it was soon replaced by other cheaper machines
produced in factories. A new keyboard with a different key arrangement appeared. The once-popular Writing Ball was
forgotten.
The Antikythera Mechanism
In 1901, parts of an ancient machine were discovered on a ship near the Greek island of Antikythera. It had been made
about 1,900 years earlier, in 2 BCE. For many years after its discovery, nobody understood exactly what the machine was
for. In the 1970s, scientists found that this ancient computer had been designed to predict the movements of the sun, the
moon and the planets. It did this using more than thirty hand-made metal wheels of different sizes. The remains of the
Antikythera mechanism are now kept at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, together with a number of
reconstructions to demonstrate how it may have worked.
1. What was the name of
world's first electronic
musical instrument?
__________________________________________________
2. What happened to the device in 1962?
__________________________________________________
3. When was the Writing Ball invented?
__________________________________________________
4. What was the Antikythera Mechanism used for?
__________________________________________________
5. Where are the remains
of the Antikythera mechanism now?
__________________________________________________
