View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the division chief of The Flight Research Division when Katherine Goble Johnson was sent to work there?

2. How did President Eisenhower want America's first spaceflight to be perceived?

3. Which group at Langley had already developed expertise in rockets when the space race began?

4. What was the purpose of the document titled "Introduction to Outer Space" that was prepared by President Eisenhower's Advisory Committee on Science?

5. Who coauthored Mary Jackson's first report?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Dorothy Lee regret agreeing with a reporter when she said that women had to act like ladies in the workplace?

2. Why did the East Computing girls laugh at Mary Jackson when she asked them where the bathroom was?

3. Why was the U.S. Army called to a school in Little Rock, Arkansas?

4. Why did Katherine Goble Johnson decide not to let the engineer who walked away from her when she sat at a desk bother her?

5. Why did Katherine and Jimmy Goble have to stay with relatives when they attended Jimmy's sister's wedding?

6. What happened that allowed Katherine Goble Johnson the opportunity to publish her first research report?

7. Why did the talk that Mary Jackson and Emma Jean gave to a group of girls have such a great impact on the girls?

8. Why did Mary Jackson think it was important for her son to participate in the soap box derby?

9. Why did NASA move the space program to Houston?

10. What happened at Moton High School that drew them into the Brown v. Board of Education case?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Women working at Langley were subjected to gender stereotypes that influenced the way that the men they worked with treated them. Write an essay discussing the gender stereotypes that were in play at the time and how those stereotypes affected the women who worked at Langley. How did their male coworkers feel about the work the women did? How did the stereotypes affect women’s possibilities for advancing in their careers?

Essay Topic 2

Shetterly writes about the way that segregation affected black students both positively and negatively. Write an essay discussing the way segregation both helped and hindered black students. What were the negative effects? What were the positive effects?

Essay Topic 3

Shetterly dedicates an entire chapter to Mary Jackson’s son entering a soap box derby. Write an essay explaining the purpose of this chapter. How does the chapter relate to the themes of the book? What information about the individuals focused on does Shetterly communicate through this chapter? What information does the chapter communicate about racial relations during the time period?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,019 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample