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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Where does Sagan think that life will most likely be eventually found?
(a) A moon in the solar system.
(b) Deep space.
(c) Mars.
(d) Earth-like planets around other stars.

3. What does Neptune posses at its core that Uranus apparently lacks?
(a) Silicon.
(b) A heat source.
(c) A solid surface.
(d) Iron.

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

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

6. What does Sagan say is an easy way to visually identify planets?
(a) Their size.
(b) The color of their atmospheres.
(c) Their brightness.
(d) Their movements.

7. What concept does Sagan suggest that the image of the "pale blue dot" mocks?
(a) Technology.
(b) Human conceit.
(c) Individuality.
(d) Human achievement.

8. What is the most important thing that would immediately be apparent to any alien intelligence that found the Voyager probes?
(a) How to decode the records.
(b) The location of Earth.
(c) That the probes were intelligently designed.
(d) The human DNA sequence.

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

10. Which of the following is NOT one of the major unknowns that Sagan says he will address in this book?
(a) What humanity's future is.
(b) Why humans should explore space.
(c) How humans can explore space.
(d) Whether or not there is intelligent life on nearby planets.

11. What is one trait of human beings that Sagan cites as being responsible for our belief in our importance in the universe?
(a) Insecurity.
(b) Industry.
(c) Creativity.
(d) Ignorance.

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

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

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

15. Which of the following is one of the "great demotions" that Sagan cites?
(a) The Earth is 6 billion years old.
(b) There may have been life on Mars.
(c) Light and magnetism are the same thing.
(d) There are planets orbiting other stars.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the Geocentric theory state?

2. Who was the first to discover moons around another planet?

3. Titan has what distinction among the moons of the planet it orbits?

4. William Herschel, the discoverer of Uranus, had what unusual profession?

5. Which planet was Voyager 2 intended to visit first?

(see the answer keys)

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