TPO30,integrated

The reading passage casts doubt on historical theory in which Roman navy used ingenious weapon named Burning Mirror attacking to Greek port city of Syracuse and holds forth three reasons for its claim. However, the lecturer tries to prove the accuracy of the Burning Mirror by refuting all three reasons mentioned in the reading passage.

First, according to the reading passage, ancient Greek were not technologically advanced enough to shape the large sheet covered by copper into parabolic sheet in order to intensify light to fire the Greek ship. While, the speech maker rejects that reason by explaining how the mirror could be created by the Roman at the time. He adds it was enough to link small flat pieces of mirror to make a large parabolic sheep.

Second, in the article, it is described that Burning Mirror couldn't be sufficient and effective to burn a ship since an experiment showed that it took long time to get a wooden object burnt by focusing light on the object. Nevertheless, the professor rejects this reason by saying that materials covered the Greek ships weren't wooden and Greeks used some water proof materials called pitch which was easily flammable even when the ship was moving.

Finally, it is described in the reading passage that there was no reason to create that mirror because the Romans could use the flaming arrows which were effective and common. On the other hand, the lecturer states that the Romans was looking for a surprising and magic way so that the Greeks would be shocked and couldn't defend. He also explains that the flaming arrows were predictable by the Greeks and they could recognize and get ready to defend them quickly.