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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 3, who is the current chairman of the Space Advisory Council?
(a) Professor Davidson.
(b) Dr. Price.
(c) Commander Norton.
(d) Dr. Stenton.

2. What is the object that is first cataloged as 31/439?
(a) The mysterious object that became known as Rama.
(b) One of Saturn's rings.
(c) One of Jupiter's moons.
(d) A chunk of space junk that is tracked by the super computers until it crashes into Mars.

3. How expensive is time on a big orbiting telescope?
(a) A thousand dollars a minute.
(b) A thousand dollars an hour.
(c) Ten thousand dollars per quarter hour.
(d) Ten thousand dollars an hour.

4. In Chapter 5, what streams from the newly-opened pillbox "like dazzling diamonds as the brilliant sunlight caught them"?
(a) Dust particles.
(b) Oxygen molecules.
(c) Anti-matter particles.
(d) Water vapor droplets.

5. What location is home to more than a million people who had their hearing permanently damaged in 2077?
(a) Verona.
(b) Russia.
(c) Padua.
(d) Austria.

6. Who are the first three explorers on Rama?
(a) Norton, Calvert, and Price.
(b) Mercer, Myron, and Price.
(c) Mercer, Calvert, and Myron.
(d) Norton, Mercer, and Myron.

7. For the object 31/149, what do the numbers represent?
(a) The angular parameters of an object's elliptical orbit.
(b) The brightness of an object based on the magnitude scale.
(c) The year and order of its discovery.
(d) The year and order of its discovery.

8. What does Joe Calvert assume about the builders of Rama?
(a) The builders of Rama are more intelligent than humans.
(b) The builders of Rama are able to see in the dark.
(c) The builders of Rama are small in stature.
(d) The builders of Rama are humanoid.

9. In Chapter 11, what is identified as a psychological problem that may arise for the explorers?
(a) The fluctuation of gravitational force.
(b) The path of Rama, which is very close to the Sun.
(c) The cold.
(d) Darkness.

10. How long does the Commander wait before exploring Rama?
(a) Thirty-six hours.
(b) Twenty-four hours.
(c) Eighteen hours.
(d) Twelve hours.

11. Why is Dr. Bose "exiled" from the Earth?
(a) He cannot face reconditioning.
(b) He has a contagious virus.
(c) He is too sentimental to leave his adopted home.
(d) Earth is uninhabitable.

12. In Chapter 16, what is the Commander ignoring because it seems insignificant?
(a) Noise.
(b) Temperature change.
(c) Wind.
(d) Darkness.

13. How does Commander Norton feel about landing on Rama?
(a) A mixture of elation and anxiety.
(b) A sense of danger and surprise.
(c) A healthy dose of caution.
(d) Filled with trepedation.

14. Who is Captain James Cook?
(a) The captain of the Starship Enterprise.
(b) A captain of industry in the 1700s who funded the exploration of Hawaii.
(c) The captain of the first spaceship to reach Mars.
(d) The first captain of the first Endeavour.

15. When did the inhabitants of Europe see a dazzling fireball appear in the eastern sky?
(a) September 11.
(b) April 19.
(c) August 6.
(d) February 12.

Short Answer Questions

1. During the initial exploration of Rama, what is the temperature like?

2. What does the first images of Rama prove?

3. What are the only items the explorers must bring to Rama?

4. Which way do "clocks and corkscrews" turn on Rama?

5. What loss is so great that it was beyond all computation?

(see the answer keys)

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