Directions: Read the selections in Exercises 2 and 3. Write your answers below.
Exercise 2
History of Clowns
The history of clowns can be traced back to ancient times. In ancient Greece, slaves who could make their
masters’ families laugh were treated better, so smart slaves learned to “clown around.” During the Middle
Ages, court jesters diverted kings from their problems with their wit and amusing jokes. Even in William Shakespeare’s plays during England’s Elizabethan period, the “clown” often ruled!
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Exercise 3
Life on Mars
They have no antennas or pointy heads emitting death rays, but scientists now suspect that Martians may well
be real and living comfortably in secluded parts of the red planet. These hidden residents of Mars are not large organisms, but tiny specks of life smaller than a pinprick. They flourish deep underground in the wet and more temporate regions of the planet's hot interior. Although these Martian microbes resemble the scum on a shower
stall, their existence provides enormous possibilities for science.
from Science Times of The New York Times by William J. Broad
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