Writing Test 1

Passage 1 is adapted from Michael Slezak, "Space Mining:
the Next Gold Rush?" 2013 by New Scientist. Passage 2 is
from the editors of New Scientist, Taming the Final
Frontier." 2013 by New Scientist.
          Passage 1
          Follow the money and you will end up in space.
          That's the message from a first-of-its-kind forum on
          mining beyond Earth.
Line      Convened in Sydney by the Australian Centre for
  5       Space Engineering Research, the event brought
          together mining companies, robotics experts, lunar
          scientists, and government agencies that are all
          working to make space mining a reality.
          The forum comes hot on the heels of the
  10      2012 unveiling of two private asteroid-mining firms.
          Planetary Resources of Washington says it will
          launch its first prospecting telescopes in two years,
          while Deep Space Industries of Virginia hopes to be
          harvesting metals from asteroids by 2020. Another
  15      commercial venture that sprung up in 2012,
          Golden Spike of Colorado, will be offering trips to
          the moon, including to potential lunar miners.
          Within a few decades, these firms may be
          meeting earthly demands for precious metals, such as
  20      platinum and gold, and the rare earth elements vital
          for personal electronics, such as yttrium and
          lanthanum. But like the gold rush pioneers who
          transformed the western United States, the first space
          miners won't just enrich themselves. They also hope
  25      to build an off-planet economy free of any bonds
          with Earth, in which the materials extracted and
          processed from the moon and asteroids are delivered
          for space-based projects.
          In this scenario, water mined from other
  30      worlds could become the most desired commodity.
          "In the desert, whats worth more: a kilogram of gold
          or a kilogram of water?" asks Kris Zacny of
          HoneyBee Robotics in New York. "Gold is useless.
          Water will let you live."
  35      Water ice from the moons poles could be sent to
          astronauts on the International Space Station for
          drinking or as a radiation shield. Splitting water into
          oxygen and hydrogen makes spacecraft fuel, so
          ice-rich asteroids could become interplanetary
  40      refuelling stations.
          Companies are eyeing the iron, silicon, and
          aluminium in lunar soil and asteroids, which could
          be used in 3D printers to make spare parts or
          machinery. Others want to turn space dirt into
  45      concrete for landing pads, shelters, and roads.

          Passage 2
          The motivation for deep-space travel is shifting
          from discovery to economics. The past year has seen
          a flurry of proposals aimed at bringing celestial riches
          down to Earth. No doubt this will make a few
  50      billionaires even wealthier, but we all stand to gain:
          the mineral bounty and spin-off technologies could
          enrich us all.
          But before the miners start firing up their rockets,
          we should pause for thought. At first glance, space
  55      mining seems to sidestep most environmental
          concerns: there is (probably!) no life on asteroids,
          and thus no habitats to trash. But its consequences
          --both here on Earth and in space--merit careful
          consideration.
  60      Part of this is about principles. Some will argue
          that space's "magnificent desolation" is not ours to
          despoil, just as they argue that our own planets poles
          should remain pristine. Others will suggest that
          glutting ourselves on spaces riches is not an
  65      acceptable alternative to developing more sustainable
          ways of earthly life.
          History suggests that those will be hard lines to
          hold, and it may be difficult to persuade the public
          that such barren environments are worth preserving.
  70      After all, they exist in vast abundance, and even
          fewer people will experience them than have walked
          through Antarctica's icy landscapes.
          There's also the emerging off-world economy to
          consider. The resources that are valuable in orbit and
  75      beyond may be very different to those we prize on
          Earth. Questions of their stewardship have barely
          been broached--and the relevant legal and regulatory
          framework is fragmentary, to put it mildly.
          Space miners, like their earthly counterparts, are
  80      often reluctant to engage with such questions.
          One speaker at last weeks space-mining forum in
          Sydney, Australia, concluded with a plea that
          regulation should be avoided. But miners have much
          to gain from a broad agreement on the for-profit
  85      exploitation of space. Without consensus, claims will
          be disputed, investments risky, and the gains made
          insecure. It is in all of our long-term interests to seek
          one out.

The Consolations of Philosophy
Long viewed by many as the stereotypical useless major, philosophy is now being seen by many students and prospective employers as in fact a very useful and practical major, offering students a host of transferable skills with relevance to the modern workplace. [34] In broad terms, philosophy is the study of meaning and the values underlying thought and behavior. But [35] more pragmatically, the discipline encourages students to analyze complex material, question conventional beliefs, and express thoughts in a concise manner. Because philosophy [36] teaching students not what to think but how to think, the age-old discipline offers consistently useful tools for academic and professional achievement. [37] A 1994 survey concluded that only 18 percent of American colleges required at least one philosophy course. [38] Therefore, between 1992 and 1996, more than 400 independent philosophy departments were eliminated from institutions.
More recently, colleges have recognized the practicality and increasing popularity of studying philosophy and have markedly increased the number of philosophy programs offered. By 2008 there were 817 programs, up from 765 a decade before. In addition, the number of four-year graduates in philosophy has grown 46 percent in a decade. Also, studies have found
that those students who major in philosophy often do better than students from other majors in both verbal reasoning and analytical [39] writing. These results can be measured by standardized test scores. On the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), for example, students intending to study philosophy in graduate school [40] has scored higher than students in all but four other majors.
These days, many [41] students majoring in philosophy have no intention of becoming philosophers; instead they plan to apply those skills to other disciplines. Law and business specifically benefit from the complicated theoretical issues raised in the study of philosophy, but philosophy can be just as useful in engineering or any field requiring complex analytic skills.
[42] That these skills are transferable across professions [43] which makes them especially beneficial to twenty-first-century students. Because today's students can expect to hold multiple jobs--some of which may not even exist yet--during [44] our lifetime, studying philosophy allows them to be flexible and adaptable. High demand, advanced exam scores, and varied professional skills all argue for maintaining and enhancing philosophy courses and majors within academic institutions.