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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is NOT one of the ways that early planets may have been made incapable of bearing life?
(a) Being heavily bombarded by meteors.
(b) Being pushed into a distant orbit.
(c) Falling into the sun.
(d) Being thrown into outer space.

2. Which planet was Voyager 2 intended to visit first?
(a) Jupiter.
(b) Mars.
(c) Venus.
(d) Mercury.

3. What type of waves could be analyzed to demonstrate that there is intelligent life on Earth?
(a) Radio waves.
(b) Microwaves.
(c) Ultraviolet waves.
(d) Cosmic waves.

4. At the time this book was written, how many planets were known to exist around other stars?
(a) About twenty.
(b) Ten.
(c) None.
(d) About fifty.

5. Sagan uses what term to describe a theology that requires God to intentionally mislead human scientists?
(a) Unsupportable.
(b) Dogmatic.
(c) Malevolent.
(d) Typical.

6. Who was the first to discover moons around another planet?
(a) Copernicus.
(b) Galileo.
(c) Kepler.
(d) Brahe.

7. 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 allows for divine beings and miraculous events.
(c) Science does not require such a being.
(d) Science explicitly denies such a being can exist.

8. Sagan suggest that modern religious thinking treats scientific evidence in what way?
(a) It blatantly disregards the evidence.
(b) It is cautious about the evidence.
(c) It intrudes on the evidence.
(d) It makes no statements about the evidence.

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

10. Sagan says that which of the following is the most immediately obvious thing about the Earth?
(a) The existence of intelligent life.
(b) Its meteorological features.
(c) The existence of life.
(d) Its geological features.

11. What unusual source of energy do the Voyager spacecraft take advantage of?
(a) Cosmic rays.
(b) Planetary gravity.
(c) Solar wind.
(d) Vacuum energy.

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

13. As of the writing of this book, how many moons was Uranus known to have?
(a) Seven.
(b) Twelve.
(c) Five.
(d) Ten.

14. Sagan believes that Titan hosts oceans made of what compound?
(a) Saturated salts.
(b) Hydrocarbons.
(c) Water.
(d) Methane.

15. Who helped Sagan calculate that Titan should be host to oceans?
(a) Kuiper.
(b) Mach.
(c) Dermott.
(d) Cassini.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Neptune's position in the solar system as of the writing of this book?

2. What punishment did Galileo suffer as a result of his works?

3. Sagan suggests that the image of the "pale blue dot" teaches the need for what?

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

5. The Voyager probes found large amounts of what element on Titan?

(see the answer keys)

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