READING Task 1. Read the text and choose the right answer.The end of life on Earth?It weighed about 10, 000 tons, entered the atmosphere at a speed of 64 000 km/h and explodedover a city with a blast of 500 kilotons. But on 15 February 2013, we were lucky. The meteoritethat showered pieces of rock over Chelyabinsk, Russia, was relatively small, at only about 17metres wide. Although many people were injured by falling glass, the damage was nothingcompared to what had happened in Siberia nearly one hundred years ago Another relativelysmall object (approximately 50 metres in diameter) exploded in mid-air over a forest region, flattening about 80 million trees. If it had exploded over a city such as Moscow or London, millions of people would have been killed By a strange coincidence, the same day that themeteorite terrified the people of Chelyabinsk, another 50m-wide asteroid passed relatively closeto Earth Scientists were expecting that visit and know that the asteroid will return to fly closeby us in 2046, but the Russian meteorite earlier in the day had been too small for anyone tospot. Most scientists agree that comets and asteroids pose the biggest natural threat to humanexistence. It was probably a large asteroid or comet colliding with Earth which wiped out thedinosaurs about 65 million years ago. An enormous object, 10 to 16 km in diameter, struck theYucatan region of Mexico with the force of 100 megatons. That is the equivalent of oneHiroshima bomb for every person alive on Earth today. Many scientists, including StephenHawking, say that any comet or asteroid greater than 20 km in diameter that hits Earth willresult in the complete destruction of complex life, including all animals and most plants. As wehave seen, even a much smaller asteroid can cause great damageThe Earth has been kept fairly safe for the last 65 million years by good fortune and themassive gravitational field of the planet Jupiter. Our cosmic guardian, with its stable circularorbit far from the sun, sweeps up and scatters away most of the dangerous comets and asteroidswhich might cross Earth's orbit. After the Chelyabinsk meteorite, scientists are now monitoringpotential hazards even more carefully but, as far as they know, there is no danger in theforeseeable futureChoose the best option to complete these sentences.1. The damage caused by the Russian meteoriteA) could have been much worseB) was hugeC) was greatly reduced by the early warning systemD) was much worse than the one in Siberia one hundred years ago2. The Siberian meteoriteA) hit a forestB) hit a big cityC) caused glass to shower over peopleD) damaged trees when it exploded3. On the same day as the meteorite exploded over Chelyabinsk, ​