The Rocket – from East to West — IELTS Reading Answers

Paragraph B

“Despite the fact that rockets had been used sporadically for several hundred years, they remained a relatively minor artefact of civilisation until the twentieth century”

Paragraph B notes rockets were used sporadically for centuries but remained a minor artefact of civilisation until the twentieth century, a limited early role.

Paragraph C

“A simple analogy can help us to understand how a rocket operates. It is much like a machine gun mounted on the rear of a boat. In reaction to the backward discharge of bullets, the gun, and hence the boat, move forwards.”

Paragraph C uses a machine gun mounted on a boat to explain how reaction to ejected particles drives a rocket forward, describing the principle.

Paragraph D

“The invention of rockets is linked inextricably with the invention of ‘black powder’. Most historians of technology credit the Chinese with its discovery”

Paragraph D links the invention of rockets inextricably with black powder and credits the Chinese with its discovery.

Paragraph E

“It was not until the eighteenth century that Europe became seriously interested in the possibilities of using the rocket itself as a weapon of war and not just to propel other weapons”

Paragraph E says only in the eighteenth century did Europe become seriously interested in using the rocket itself as a weapon of war.

The greatest outcome of the discovery of the reaction principle was that

1. Arockets could be propelled into the air.
2. Bspace travel became a reality.correct
3. Ca major problem had been solved.
4. Dbigger rockets were able to be built.

“it wasn’t until the discovery of the reaction principle, which was the key to space travel and so represents one of the great milestones in the history of scientific thought, that rocket technology was able to develop.”

The reaction principle opened the door to exploration of the universe, and the text calls it the key to space travel.

According to the text, the greatest progress in rocket technology was made

1. Afrom the tenth to the thirteenth centuries.
2. Bfrom the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries.
3. Cfrom the early nineteenth to the late nineteenth century.
4. Dfrom the late nineteenth century to the present day.correct

“Despite the fact that rockets had been used sporadically for several hundred years, they remained a relatively minor artefact of civilisation until the twentieth century.”

Rockets remained minor until the twentieth century, and huge efforts accelerated during two world wars produced sophisticated astronautics, so progress came from the late nineteenth century onward.

black powder

“Most historians of technology credit the Chinese with its discovery”

Most historians of technology credit the Chinese with the discovery of black powder.

rocket-propelled arrows for fighting

“By the thirteenth century, powder-propelled fire arrows had become rather common. The Chinese relied on this type of technological development to produce incendiary projectiles of many sorts, explosive grenades and possibly cannons to repel their enemies”

By the thirteenth century powder-propelled fire arrows had become common, and the Chinese produced incendiary projectiles of many sorts to repel enemies.

rockets as war weapons

“The incentive for the more aggressive use of rockets came not from within the European continent but from far-away India, whose leaders had built up a corps of rocketeers and used rockets successfully against the British in the late eighteenth century”

The incentive for more aggressive use of rockets came from India, whose leaders used rockets successfully against the British in the late eighteenth century.

the rocket launcher

“The Americans developed a rocket, complete with its own launcher, to use against the Mexicans in the mid-nineteenth century”

The Americans developed a rocket complete with its own launcher to use against the Mexicans in the mid-nineteenth century.

The Chinese ‘basket of fire’

“One such weapon was the ‘basket of fire’ or, as directly translated from Chinese, the ‘arrows like flying leopards’. The 0.7 metre-long arrows, each with a long tube of gunpowder attached near the point of each arrow, could be fired from a long, octagonal-shaped basket at the same time and had a range of 400 paces”

The basket of fire is the Chinese weapon firing 0.7 metre arrows with gunpowder tubes from an octagonal basket over 400 paces.

The Arab ‘egg which moves and burns’

“At a similar time, the Arabs had developed the ‘egg which moves and burns’. This ‘egg’ was apparently full of gunpowder and stabilised by a 1.5m tail. It was fired using two rockets attached to either side of this tail”

The Arab egg which moves and burns was full of gunpowder, stabilised by a 1.5 metre tail and fired using two attached rockets.

The Indian rocket

“The Indian rockets used against the British were described by a British Captain serving in India as ‘an iron envelope about 200 millimetres long and 40 millimetres in diameter with sharp points at the top and a 3m-long bamboo guiding stick’”

The Indian rocket was described as an iron envelope 200 millimetres long and 40 millimetres wide with sharp points and a 3 metre bamboo stick.

The British barrage rocket

“The British rocket differed from the Indian version in that it was completely encased in a stout, iron cylinder, terminating in a conical head, measuring one metre in diameter and having a stick almost five metres long and constructed in such a way that it could be firmly attached to the body of the rocket”

The British rocket was completely encased in a stout iron cylinder with a conical head and a stick almost five metres long.