Free Sample SSAT Middle Level Reading Test

Lasers

I am very interested in the development and use of lasers. I first became interested after I saw the movie Star Wars. Curious if lasers were ever used in the real world, I began studying their origins. I did research at the library and found that a pulse laser is basically a device used for storing energy and then releasing it all at once to give an intense beam of light. Also, the word laser is an acronym for “Light Amplification by means of Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” The different types of lasers are: solid state, gas, semiconductors, or liquid.

The first pulse laser was invented in 1960 by Theodore Maiman. It contained a ruby crystal and produced a short flash of light. His pulse laser has been improved and can now produce light ten million times the intensity of sunlight.

In recent years, the laser has been used for many important tasks. In construction, the laser beam can be used for precise alignment in the building of tunnels and pipelines. Laser beams can also be used to measure distance and speed. For example, the Apollo astronauts used a laser beam and a special mirror to accurately measure the distance from the earth to the moon.

New uses for lasers are currently being developed in the medical world. Eye surgery and skin cancer treatment are performed with lasers. Also, lasers are beginning to replace radio waves in communication. Laser beams can carry many more channels of information than radio waves.

I now understand that laser beams are more than weapons in science fiction movies. Laser beams are instruments of the future. Research should continue to develop new and improved uses for the laser beam.

Lasers

I am very interested in the development and use of lasers. I first became interested after I saw the movie Star Wars. Curious if lasers were ever used in the real world, I began studying their origins. I did research at the library and found that a pulse laser is basically a device used for storing energy and then releasing it all at once to give an intense beam of light. Also, the word laser is an acronym for “Light Amplification by means of Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” The different types of lasers are: solid state, gas, semiconductors, or liquid.

The first pulse laser was invented in 1960 by Theodore Maiman. It contained a ruby crystal and produced a short flash of light. His pulse laser has been improved and can now produce light ten million times the intensity of sunlight.

In recent years, the laser has been used for many important tasks. In construction, the laser beam can be used for precise alignment in the building of tunnels and pipelines. Laser beams can also be used to measure distance and speed. For example, the Apollo astronauts used a laser beam and a special mirror to accurately measure the distance from the earth to the moon.

New uses for lasers are currently being developed in the medical world. Eye surgery and skin cancer treatment are performed with lasers. Also, lasers are beginning to replace radio waves in communication. Laser beams can carry many more channels of information than radio waves.

I now understand that laser beams are more than weapons in science fiction movies. Laser beams are instruments of the future. Research should continue to develop new and improved uses for the laser beam.

Library of Alexandria

1 The Great Library of Alexandria was a
2 marvel of ancient Egypt and of human
3 achievement. Established during the Hellenistic
4 period sometime between 324 and 246 BCE,
5 under Ptolemy I or perhaps Ptolemy II, the
6 Library was reputedly an architectural wonder.
7 More importantly, the Library housed a vast
8 collection of works from all across the ancient
9 world and was a major center of scholarship.
10 The Library was charged with the ambitious
11 mission of collecting all of the world’s books,
12 and it employed numerous methods to acquire
13 new works. A well-funded acquisitions
14 department scoured the book fairs of Rhodes
15 and Athens, purchasing individual texts or even
16 whole libraries. Ships that landed at the harbor
17 of Alexandria were searched for books, and the
18 books were confiscated and copied. The copies
19 were returned to the owners of the originals,
20 but the originals were kept in the library. The
21 Library also employed a number of scholars
22 who produced original works on Astronomy,
23 Mathematics, Physics, and many other subjects.
24 The scribes and scholars of the Great
25 Library not only collected books and conducted
26 research; they also assembled collections and
27 translated texts from around the word into
28 Greek. Many of the works translated or
29 assembled at Alexandria survive to this day:
30 some of the first translations of Biblical texts
31 into Greek may have occurred in the time of
32 Ptolemy I at the Library of Alexandria, although
33 the canonical versions would not be created for
34 some hundreds of years more. In addition,
35 much work was done to compile and edit
36 authoritative versions of the Homeric myths
37 for which the Greeks are so well known today.
38 These texts have played a fundamental role in
39 shaping our culture for hundreds of years, and
40 were only a few of the great works of
41 translation and editing that took place in
42 Alexandria in the Hellenistic period.
43 It is ironic that the fate of the Great
44 Library—an institution dedicated to the
45 collection and preservation of knowledge— is
46 shrouded in myth and mystery. Many sources
47 say it burned down, but they cannot agree
48 upon a date. It may have been burned more
49 than once, either by accident or intentionally.
50 Smaller sister institutions may have survived
51 the original library, only to be destroyed later.
52 The Great Library, or some version of it, could
53 have survived for anywhere from 300 to 1,000
54 years. Though the Library no longer stands,
55 there is little doubt that the scholarship of the
56 Great Library has had a great and lasting
57 impact on history. The works that were kept,
58 translated, or created there have had a
59 profound influence on our culture even to the
60 present day.

Library of Alexandria

1 The Great Library of Alexandria was a
2 marvel of ancient Egypt and of human
3 achievement. Established during the Hellenistic
4 period sometime between 324 and 246 BCE,
5 under Ptolemy I or perhaps Ptolemy II, the
6 Library was reputedly an architectural wonder.
7 More importantly, the Library housed a vast
8 collection of works from all across the ancient
9 world and was a major center of scholarship.
10 The Library was charged with the ambitious
11 mission of collecting all of the world’s books,
12 and it employed numerous methods to acquire
13 new works. A well-funded acquisitions
14 department scoured the book fairs of Rhodes
15 and Athens, purchasing individual texts or even
16 whole libraries. Ships that landed at the harbor
17 of Alexandria were searched for books, and the
18 books were confiscated and copied. The copies
19 were returned to the owners of the originals,
20 but the originals were kept in the library. The
21 Library also employed a number of scholars
22 who produced original works on Astronomy,
23 Mathematics, Physics, and many other subjects.
24 The scribes and scholars of the Great
25 Library not only collected books and conducted
26 research; they also assembled collections and
27 translated texts from around the word into
28 Greek. Many of the works translated or
29 assembled at Alexandria survive to this day:
30 some of the first translations of Biblical texts
31 into Greek may have occurred in the time of
32 Ptolemy I at the Library of Alexandria, although
33 the canonical versions would not be created for
34 some hundreds of years more. In addition,
35 much work was done to compile and edit
36 authoritative versions of the Homeric myths
37 for which the Greeks are so well known today.
38 These texts have played a fundamental role in
39 shaping our culture for hundreds of years, and
40 were only a few of the great works of
41 translation and editing that took place in
42 Alexandria in the Hellenistic period.
43 It is ironic that the fate of the Great
44 Library—an institution dedicated to the
45 collection and preservation of knowledge— is
46 shrouded in myth and mystery. Many sources
47 say it burned down, but they cannot agree
48 upon a date. It may have been burned more
49 than once, either by accident or intentionally.
50 Smaller sister institutions may have survived
51 the original library, only to be destroyed later.
52 The Great Library, or some version of it, could
53 have survived for anywhere from 300 to 1,000
54 years. Though the Library no longer stands,
55 there is little doubt that the scholarship of the
56 Great Library has had a great and lasting
57 impact on history. The works that were kept,
58 translated, or created there have had a
59 profound influence on our culture even to the
60 present day.

Library of Alexandria

1 The Great Library of Alexandria was a
2 marvel of ancient Egypt and of human
3 achievement. Established during the Hellenistic
4 period sometime between 324 and 246 BCE,
5 under Ptolemy I or perhaps Ptolemy II, the
6 Library was reputedly an architectural wonder.
7 More importantly, the Library housed a vast
8 collection of works from all across the ancient
9 world and was a major center of scholarship.
10 The Library was charged with the ambitious
11 mission of collecting all of the world’s books,
12 and it employed numerous methods to acquire
13 new works. A well-funded acquisitions
14 department scoured the book fairs of Rhodes
15 and Athens, purchasing individual texts or even
16 whole libraries. Ships that landed at the harbor
17 of Alexandria were searched for books, and the
18 books were confiscated and copied. The copies
19 were returned to the owners of the originals,
20 but the originals were kept in the library. The
21 Library also employed a number of scholars
22 who produced original works on Astronomy,
23 Mathematics, Physics, and many other subjects.
24 The scribes and scholars of the Great
25 Library not only collected books and conducted
26 research; they also assembled collections and
27 translated texts from around the word into
28 Greek. Many of the works translated or
29 assembled at Alexandria survive to this day:
30 some of the first translations of Biblical texts
31 into Greek may have occurred in the time of
32 Ptolemy I at the Library of Alexandria, although
33 the canonical versions would not be created for
34 some hundreds of years more. In addition,
35 much work was done to compile and edit
36 authoritative versions of the Homeric myths
37 for which the Greeks are so well known today.
38 These texts have played a fundamental role in
39 shaping our culture for hundreds of years, and
40 were only a few of the great works of
41 translation and editing that took place in
42 Alexandria in the Hellenistic period.
43 It is ironic that the fate of the Great
44 Library—an institution dedicated to the
45 collection and preservation of knowledge— is
46 shrouded in myth and mystery. Many sources
47 say it burned down, but they cannot agree
48 upon a date. It may have been burned more
49 than once, either by accident or intentionally.
50 Smaller sister institutions may have survived
51 the original library, only to be destroyed later.
52 The Great Library, or some version of it, could
53 have survived for anywhere from 300 to 1,000
54 years. Though the Library no longer stands,
55 there is little doubt that the scholarship of the
56 Great Library has had a great and lasting
57 impact on history. The works that were kept,
58 translated, or created there have had a
59 profound influence on our culture even to the
60 present day.