READING AND USE – PART 3

A 2,000 Year-old Computer

More than a hundred years ago an (0) EXTRAORDINARY mechanism                  ORDINARY
was found by sponge (17) at the bottom of the sea                         DIVE
near the island of Antikythera. It astonished the whole
international community of experts who were (18)       SUCCESSFULLY
trying to understand what the use of the device had been
in the ancient world. Much research was conducted to come
to the conclusion that the Antikythera mechanism is an
ancient Greek (19) device used to calculate and display       MECHANIC
information about astronomical phenomena. The remains of
the “ancient computer,” are now on display in the National
Archaeological Museum in Athens.
The machine dates from around the end of the 2nd century
B.C. and is the most sophisticated mechanism known from
the ancient world. It was fabricated of bronze sheet, and
(20) it would have been in a case about the size of a               ORIGINAL
shoebox. The doors of the case and the faces of the mechanism
are covered with Greek (21) . On the front of the device       INSCRIBE
there is a large dial with pointers for showing the position of
the Sun and the Moon in the zodiac and a half-silvered ball
for displaying all lunar phases.
For decades, scientific (22) failed to shed light on the        INVESTIGATE
use of the mechanism and relied more on (23) than               IMAGINE
the facts. However, research over the last half century has
begun to reveal its secrets. The Antikythera Mechanism is
now (24) understood to be dedicated to astronomical                     CLEAR
studies and operates as a complex mechanical “computer”
which tracks the cycles of the Solar System.