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Conversation Two
M: Doctor Cole, thank you for agreeing tothis interview for the Daily Campus News. Can you tell us about what you andyour colleagues discuss at the annual astronomy society meeting last month?
W: Yes. For the first time ever thescientific community has established the existence of planets outside our ownsolar system. Of course we knew that certain distant stars existed, but onlyrecently did we learn that several of them are orbited by their own planets.
M: Why did it take so long to locate theseplanets?
W: Well, you have to understand that theyare a billion times dimmer than their parent stars. It would be like trying tosee the light of a candle next to a huge explosion. We don’t currently have atelescope that can be used to see them.
M: But if the astronomers didn’t see theplanets through a telescope, how did they find them?
W: By a very indirect method. The astronomersmeasured subtle distortions in the frequency of the light from the parent starsand observed that some of the stars seem to rock back and forth. Theydetermined that this was caused by gravitational pull from orbiting planets.
M: There is a powerful new telescope beingbuilt in Arizona. Will that help them see these planets?
W: They should be able to see them at leastin the form of small spots of light. And then the scientists will be able tobreak down and analyze this light. By doing this, they hope to learn about thechemical composition of these planets-oxygen and ozone molecules, for example,would be telltale signs of life on these planets.
M: I’m looking forward to hearing more whenthe telescope is in operation. And I’m sure our readers would be interestedtoo.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on theconversation you have just heard.
23. What is the conversation mainly about?
24. How did the scientists establish theexistence of the planets?
25.What does the professor say the scientists might learn about the planets byusing the new telescope?
