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

Short Answer Questions

1. In what country did the first man fly in a hot air balloon?

2. What movie do Joan, Frances, and Vanessa see together when Joan spends time with Frances after the wedding?

3. Where is Vanessa in a recurring dream she has?

4. What candy goes into space at the same time as the first woman astronaut?

5. When did Joan's grandfather leave her father?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the one-year mark of the ASCANs' training marked?

2. Why is Joan upset when she goes to pick up Frances, and Frances is sitting on the stoop locked out of the house?

3. What does Vanessa do as a Cape Crusader?

4. What problems does Vanessa have when she tries to close the latches on the payload doors?

5. How has Barbara attained her dream by marrying Daniel?

6. What advice does Joan give Lydia, when Lydia wonders why she was not chosen to fly on the shuttle?

7. When and how does Donna have her and Hank's baby?

8. Why does Joan think she should be assigned time in Mission Control?

9. What does Vanessa tell Frances when Frances shares that she likes being with Joan and Vanessa, but does not like being home?

10. What does Barbara decide to do for Thanksgiving in 1984?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Teamwork involves a group of people working together to achieve a common goal. Why is teamwork important in NASA, and how does teamwork help the astronauts achieve their goals?

Essay Topic 2

Joan, Vanessa, and the other women astronauts are in the second group of candidates that includes women. Why has it taken so long for women to become astronauts and what do their experiences reveal about women’s roles and the way those roles have evolved?

Essay Topic 3

What a reader knows about events and characters is determined by the point of view in a book. What is the point of view in Atmosphere? How does the point of view influence what readers know about events and characters? How does it help readers connect with and understand characters?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,018 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample