Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 1...

Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 17 to 26.

        Space debris is no longer a cinematic conceit but a quotidian hazard. In 2024, an ISS battery pallet tore through a Florida home; other fragments spattered Saskatchewan farmland, a separation ring landed in Kenya, and debris crashed in Poland. NASA confirmed the object’s provenance, while scientists warn of a Kessler-style cascade that could render orbits unusable. The question now is not if debris will fall but who pays when it does, and how claims are resolved. [I]

        The governing regime is antiquated. The Outer Space Treaty and the Liability Convention make States internationally responsible and liable, yet responsibility is couched in State-to-State terms that sideline private victims. On Earth or to aircraft, liability is absolute; in space, it is fault-based and difficult to prove. Claims travel diplomatic channels; a Claims Commission’s awards are only binding if pre-agreed. The solitary precedent – Cosmos 954 – settled before decision, and a curious asymmetry persists: foreigners may have stronger international recourse than a State’s own nationals. [II]

        Domestic law fills gaps – sometimes. English courts can hear cases where damage occurs, yet multi-jurisdictional litigation is ruinously expensive and procedurally arcane for ordinary homeowners. Insurance acts as a de facto backstop, yet it does not obviate the need to prove entitlement. Even when operators must carry cover, a claimant must still establish responsibility across borders, actors, and orbital uncertainties. International and domestic tracks seldom dovetail into a citizen-friendly pathway; remedies exist, but they are splintered, state-centric, and slow. [III]

        The draft EU Space Act aims to hard-wire debris mitigation, collision-avoidance, and financial responsibility into a harmonised framework with extraterritorial bite. Compliance might temper disputes through shared data and clearer attribution; however, it does not create a compensation mechanism. Hence the turn to arbitration: neutral, expert-driven, confidential, and globally enforceable under the New York Convention. With PCA space rules and industry familiarity, a binding arbitral track could finally give private parties direct redress at the speed of commercial spaceflight. [IV]

(Adapted from Taylor Wessing, “From orbit to courtroom: the legal black hole of space debris liability,” 6 Oct 2025)

Question 17. Where in the passage does the following sentence best fit?

Public awareness has shifted from awe to accountability, as each headline makes liability feel uncomfortably local.

A. [III]                        B. [IV]                                C. [I]                        D. [II]

Question 18. The word couched in paragraph 2 mostly means ______.

A. harshly limited                                        B. formally framed

C. vaguely concealed                                D. loosely implied        

Question 19. Which of the following best summarises paragraph 2?

A. A State-centred, two-tier regime – absolute on Earth, fault in space – yields diplomatic claims and leaves private parties marginalised.

B. Cold-War treaties impose absolute liability everywhere, eliminating proof problems for satellite collisions in orbit.

C. Modern treaties efficiently compensate private victims through binding commissions and swift cross-border enforcement.

D. Domestic courts supersede international law, ensuring residents receive symmetrical protections regardless of nationality.

Question 20. What does “absolute liability” require, according to paragraph 2?

A. Domestic exhaustion first                                B. Proof of negligence

C. Consent of both States                                D. Payment despite no fault        

Question 21. According to paragraph 3, insurance primarily serves as ______.

A. a temporary bond until any Claims Commission issues binding adjudicatory awards

B. a universal payout replacing litigation across every cross-border debris dispute

C. a government subsidy that removes causation analysis in private damage suits

D. a last-resort fund when diplomacy stalls, though proof hurdles still remain

Question 22. What practical obstacle undermines homeowners bringing cross-border debris claims in domestic courts?

A. Statutes forbidding insurance disclosure to judges during proceedings

B. A universal ban on suing foreign operators in national jurisdictions

C. Automatic transfer of all cases to international criminal tribunals

D. Multi-jurisdictional costs and procedures that few ordinary claimants can sustain

Question 23. The phrase other fragments in paragraph 1 refers to ______.

A. ISS battery pallet                                        B. additional space debris

C. natural meteoroid remnants                        D. satellite separation rings

Question 24. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. Domestic insurance mandates eliminate the need for attribution, allowing claimants to recover regardless of who launched or operated the debris-creating object.

B. Expanding absolute liability to outer space would be redundant because satellite collisions already trigger automatic compensation without any proof of fault.

C. A binding arbitral mechanism could narrow today’s liability gap by giving non-state actors enforceable remedies that bypass slow diplomacy and jurisdictional stalemates.

D. The EU Space Act resolves compensation, replacing international treaties with a comprehensive damages schedule enforceable in all non-EU jurisdictions.

Question 25. Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 3?

Insurance acts as a de facto backstop, yet it does not obviate the need to prove entitlement.

A. Because regulators supervise premiums, entitlement is presumed and proof becomes unnecessary in most multi-state debris incidents involving satellites.

B. Once an operator maintains insurance, victims automatically obtain compensation without demonstrating causation or establishing the chain of control.

C. Insurance fully substitutes for adjudication by guaranteeing payouts regardless of jurisdiction, nationality, or evidentiary shortcomings in claims.

D. Although coverage exists, claimants must still demonstrate responsibility before any insurer will compensate them for cross-border debris damage.

Question 26. Which of the following best summarises the passage?

A. The EU’s harmonised rules end disputes by mandating cross-border payouts, making arbitration obsolete in the commercial space era.

B. Historic treaties and national courts already ensure symmetry for citizens and foreigners, so new mechanisms would only add costly duplication.

C. Rising debris risks reveal that a State-centric regime and fragmented domestic fixes leave victims exposed; arbitration could offer faster, expert, enforceable relief.

D. Liability is straightforward: absolute everywhere, administered by a binding Claims Commission that automatically compensates ordinary homeowners.