Passage 3 - Unsinkable Ship: 7. One Can Understand From The Reading That
Passage 3 - Unsinkable Ship: 7. One Can Understand From The Reading That
Passage 3 - Unsinkable Ship: 7. One Can Understand From The Reading That
Naval architects never claim that a ship is unsinkable, but the sinking of the passenger-and-
car ferry Estonia in the Baltic surely should have never have happened. It was well designed
and carefully maintained. It carried the proper number of lifeboats. It had been thoroughly
inspected the day of its fatal voyage. Yet hours later, the Estonia rolled over and sank in a
cold, stormy night. It went down so quickly that most of those on board, caught in their dark,
flooding cabins, had no chance to save themselves: Of those who managed to scramble
overboard, only 139 survived. The rest died of hypothermia before the rescuers could pluck
them from the cold sea. The final death toll amounted to 912 souls. However, there were an
unpleasant number of questions about why the Estonia sank and why so many survivors were
men in the prime of life, while most of the dead were women, children and the elderly.
A) the lifesaving equipment did not work well and lifeboats could not be
lowered
B) design faults and incompetent crew contributed to the sinking of the
Estonia ferry
C) 139 people managed to leave the vessel but died in freezing water
D) naval architects claimed that the Estonia was unsinkable
E) most victims were trapped inside the boat as they were in their cabins
8. It is clear from the passage that the survivors of the accident ----.
A) helped one another to overcome the tragedy that had affected them
all
B) were mostly young men but women, children and the elderly stood little
chance
C) helped save hundreds of lives
D) are still suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder
E) told the investigators nothing about the accident
10. As we understand from the reading, today, soil erosion in America ----.
11. The author points out in the passage that erosion in America ----.
A) has damaged 282 million acres ever since settlers first put the prairies
and grasslands under the plow
B) has been so severe that it has forced people to abandon their
settlements
C) occurs only in areas with no vegetation
D) can become a more serious problem in the future
E) was on the decline before 1930s