Recognizing and Using Complex Noun Phrases

Complex noun phrases are used by all good writers of English because of their efficiency in providing detail. It is important that you be able to recognize and use complex noun phrases in your writing to make it more efficient, academic and ‘reader-friendly’. As you can see in the article entitled ‘Cleaning up space junk’ below, a large percent of the article is made up of complex noun phrases!

Instructions:
Read the article on space junk.  Look at the choices of noun phrases in the text boxes below each part of the passage. Complete each sentence by choosing the letter in the drop down box that corresponds to the noun phrase you think completes each blank. The first one has been done for you.

International Space Station prepares to change orbit
Mini vocabulary lesson:

  1. orbit = track or course of an object around the earth in space
  2. collision = crash / impact
  3. debris = rubbish / junk

 

Part 1:

0) ____C____ is to be moved into a different orbit to avoid 1)____ ____. The station, which is currently
2) ____ ____, will fire 3) ____ ____to avoid a fragment travelling at around 28,000 kilometres per hour. It's estimated there are around 4) ____ ____.

  1. 21,000 pieces of dangerous debris in low earth orbit
  2. the possibility of a collision with a piece of space junk
         C.   the International Space Station
  1. home to six astronauts
  2. booster rockets


Part 2:
Keeping an eye out for dangerous debris is 5) ____ ____. A week ago, Russian controllers were ready to take evasive action when 6) ____ ____ came close . Further inspection indicated
7) ____ ____ wasn't necessary at that point. 8)____ ____ is believed to be slightly more serious.

  1. this new threat
  2. a critical part of operating the international space station
  3. moving the space station
  4. two pieces of junk 


Part 3:
Controllers take 9) ____ ____ with the station - they move it if the risks are greater than one in 10,000. Earlier this year, astronauts had to take 10) ____ ____ , when 11) ____ ____ was detected too late to move the ISS. But 12) ____ ____ missed by about 23 kilometres.

  1. the space junk
  2. shelter in escape capsules
  3. a piece of debris from a satellite
  4. very few risks


Part 4:
NASA tracks pieces of debris bigger than ten centimetres. 13) ____ ____ are estimated to have increased by 50 percent over the past five years, 14) ____ ____ . In 2007 China used a missile to destroy one of its own satellites and, in the process, created more than 3,000 trackable objects. For the six crew currently on board,
15) ____ ____ might provide 16) ____ ____ than recent activities, which have included mending a broken toilet.

  1. a bit more excitement
  2. the move to avoid this piece of junk
  3. their numbers
  4. the result of a collision between two satellites in 2009

 





marks


Reprinted with permission from the BBC (bbc.com)

Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/
2012/10/121005_witn_space_junk.shtml