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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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 creates a halo around the Earth.
(d) It appears as many distinct shafts of light.

2. The records on the Voyager craft are most like what type of information storage method?
(a) A telegraph code.
(b) Magnetic data storage.
(c) Braille.
(d) A phonograph.

3. Conditions of what type were extremely important in the creation of early life on Earth?
(a) Geological.
(b) Aquatic.
(c) Littoral.
(d) Atmospheric.

4. What innovation was crucial in discovering Titan?
(a) The chemical rocket engine.
(b) The telescope.
(c) The theory of general relativity.
(d) Newton's laws of motion.

5. How old does Sagan state that "fundamentalist monotheists" believe the Earth to be?
(a) 1 million years old.
(b) 10,000 years old.
(c) 6,000 years old.
(d) 300,000 years old.

6. What abstract concept does Sagan specifically say he is optimistic about?
(a) The future.
(b) Human destiny.
(c) The human prospect.
(d) The human capacity for love and discovery.

7. The "great demotions" are changes in thinking about the status of what?
(a) The dominance of religion.
(b) The place of humanity in the universe.
(c) The body of human scientific work.
(d) The age of the Earth.

8. Earth will most likely lose contact with the Voyager probes when what happens?
(a) They reach the Kuiper belt.
(b) They pass the troposphere.
(c) Their radio transmitters die.
(d) Their solar cells die.

9. What is unusual about Uranus's orientation?
(a) It is the only planet that lies perfectly in the ecliptic.
(b) It is laid on its side.
(c) It wobbles constantly.
(d) It shifts from time to time.

10. How does Sagan say that science relates to the existence of a divine being?
(a) Science disproves that divine beings can interact with the universe.
(b) Science explicitly denies such a being can exist.
(c) Science allows for divine beings and miraculous events.
(d) Science does not require such a being.

11. Uranus has an unusual field around it of what type?
(a) Photons.
(b) Magnetism.
(c) Gamma rays.
(d) Radiation.

12. How does Sagan describe his reaction to the difficulties in detecting human life and intelligence on Earth from space?
(a) Sobering.
(b) Disappointing.
(c) Unsurprising.
(d) Aggravating.

13. As of 1990, how many moons did the Voyager craft explore?
(a) Six.
(b) Sixty.
(c) Ten.
(d) Thirty.

14. How many planets were known to ancient people?
(a) Six.
(b) Four.
(c) Five.
(d) Three.

15. What space probe was an important part of Sagan's career, and passed by a major planet in 1976?
(a) Viking.
(b) Tesla.
(c) Ion.
(d) Newton.

Short Answer Questions

1. What scientist is well-known for writing about the differences between species of animals?

2. What is notable about the stars in Sagan's distant picture of the Earth?

3. What hazard threatened the Voyager craft in Sagan's plan to take a distant picture of Earth?

4. What did ancient people notice about planets that set them apart from the stars?

5. What is notable about pictures taken of the Earth from the moon?

(see the answer keys)

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