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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 1, You Are Here, Chapter 2, Aberrations of Light.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What planet did Sagan spend a great deal of time studying when an important space probe passed near it in 1976?
(a) Mars.
(b) Mercury.
(c) Saturn.
(d) Venus.

2. What is notable about the Sun's light in Sagan's distant picture of the Earth?
(a) It appears to bathe the Earth in light.
(b) It is extremely dim.
(c) It appears as many distinct shafts of light.
(d) It creates a halo around the Earth.

3. Sagan suggests that the image of the "pale blue dot" teaches the need for what?
(a) Peace.
(b) Space exploration.
(c) Science education.
(d) Kindness.

4. What did ancient people notice about planets that set them apart from the stars?
(a) They had complex motions and were not fixed.
(b) They had unique colors.
(c) They were much larger.
(d) They grew closer from time to time.

5. What major component of the Voyager craft was threatened in Sagan's plan to take a distant picture of Earth?
(a) The solar panel array.
(b) The spectral analyzer.
(c) The vidicon system.
(d) The telemetry antenna.

Short Answer Questions

1. At the time of the writing of this book, what is the farthest planet that humans had reached through the use of exploratory probes?

2. What concept does Sagan suggest that the image of the "pale blue dot" mocks?

3. What does Sagan suggest that cavemen were usually looking for when they wandered?

4. What is the major difference between space exploration and human exploration in the past?

5. What astronomical discovery did Galileo make that significantly damaged the geocentric theory?

(see the answer key)

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