Pathways: Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking Foundations PDF

On October 16 every year, people celebrate Ada Lovelace Day. But who is Ada Lovelace, and what is she famous for?

When people think of the history of computers, they usually think of men such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. These men had a huge effect on the world of computing. But many historians believe the world’s first computer programmer was a woman: Lady Augusta Ada King, also known as Ada Lovelace.

Ada Lovelace was born in 1815 and grew up in London, England. Her mother was a mathematician’ and, as a young girl, Lovelace was brilliant at math and science. At the age of 13, she even created a design for a flying machine.

When she was 17 years old, Lovelace met a mathematician named Charles Babbage. They became friends and enjoyed discussing math together. At the time, Babbage was working on a design for a machine called an “Analytical Engine.” The machine would be able to work on difficult math problems. Lovelace was very interested.

…….[còn nữa – Trích 1 phần từ Reading 2 của Unit 7]

Look up at the sky on a dark, moonless night. There are many thousands of stars. But are there other planets like Earth? And could humans live there one day?New technology is helping astronomers discover hundreds of new planets. So far, we know of more than 3,500 “exoplanets.” These are planets that move around stars other than the sun. Some exoplanets may be similar to Earth.

An Earthlike exoplanet must have certain features.1 It needs to be the right distance from its star. It will then have a suitable temperature for living things: not too cold and not too hot. A planet at the right distance from its star might also have water. Where there is water, there might also be life.

Recent discoveries have shown that Earthlike exoplanets may be more common than once thought. In 2016, scientists were excited to find seven Earthlike exoplanets around a single star—Trappist-1. Each planet is a similar size to Earth, and each may have water. Although the seven planets are all very close to the star, Trappist-1 is much cooler than our sun. Temperatures could therefore be suitable for life.

….[Trích từ Unit 8]