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

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

3. What position was Dorothy Lee subbing in when she impressed the branch chief with her math skills and earned her permanent position in his branch?

4. Why did Dorothy Hoover leave NACA?

5. What country were Americans concerned about their students being able to compete with?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was one major change that occurred when NACA became NASA?

2. Why did Melvin Butler fail to inform the engineering staff that James Williams was black?

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

4. What did Americans fear when Russia launched Sputnik?

5. What was Mary Jackson's reaction the first time she walked into Hampton High School to take engineering classes?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Write an essay discussing Shetterly’s motive for writing Hidden Figures. What does she hope to accomplish with this book? How does she want the world to see the black women who worked as human computers? What is the overall message of the book?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay explaining why Shetterly includes a discussion of the original Star Trek television series. What was important about the series? How did it relate to the civil rights movement? How did the series relate to the work being done at Langley?

(see the answer keys)

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