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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the analogy Sagan makes in Chapter 5 the reader is asked to imagine they are seeing Earth from what perspective?
(a) For the first time.
(b) Very close up.
(c) From an immense distance.
(d) From a distorted frame of reference.

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

3. What other medium was used to express the desire to wander, according to Sagan, as human civilization developed?
(a) Law.
(b) Technology.
(c) Religion.
(d) Ethics.

4. What is the major difference between space exploration and human exploration in the past?
(a) Humans cannot travel to the places they explore.
(b) There is much more uncertainty in space.
(c) It takes months or years to get to the destination.
(d) It is much less costly, in relative terms.

5. Titan has what distinction among the moons of the planet it orbits?
(a) It is the largest moon.
(b) It is the only spherical moon.
(c) It has the widest orbit.
(d) It is the only moon with ice water.

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

7. Which of the following is NOT one of the ways that Sagan says life seems to be?
(a) Insignificant.
(b) Intentional.
(c) Absurd.
(d) Meaningless.

8. William Herschel, the discoverer of Uranus, had what unusual profession?
(a) Musician.
(b) Poet.
(c) Magician.
(d) Actor.

9. What form do the materials that planets emerge from take before they coalesce into proto-planets?
(a) A sphere.
(b) A cloud.
(c) A star.
(d) A disc.

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

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

12. What major change have humans made to the environment that would be easily detectable from space?
(a) The pollution of rivers and lakes.
(b) The destruction of the rainforests.
(c) Desertification.
(d) The Three-Gorges dam.

13. Sagan suggests that throughout history, many have claimed that our species is what?
(a) Irredeemable.
(b) Essentially good.
(c) Worthless.
(d) Unique.

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

15. What hazard threatened the Voyager craft in Sagan's plan to take a distant picture of Earth?
(a) The Sun's rays.
(b) Cosmic rays.
(c) Micrometeorites.
(d) Space dust.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Neptune's largest moon?

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

3. When was Neptune discovered?

4. What unusual source of energy do the Voyager spacecraft take advantage of?

5. What did Galileo demonstrate?

(see the answer keys)

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