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- 1. Multiple Choice
According to physicist Lord Kelvin, why would human flight be impossible?
Humans would not be able to breathe at altitudes necessary for flight
Powerful air currents would cause any flying vehicle to crash
It is impossible to design artificial wings
Things heavier than air cannot fly
- 2. Multiple Choice
How does the author respond to Kelvin's assertion about flight?
He suggests that technological ingenuity can solve all problems
He points out that birds are heavier than air, yet they fly
He reminds the reader that Kelvin was not an inventor
He reveals plans for a self-propelled airplane
- 3. Multiple Choice
Why does the author present information about the speed of sound?
To show that the laws of physics were made to be broken
To reveal the difference between physics and other sciences
To indicate how rapidly humans have overcome the laws of physics
To prove that anything not prohibited by the laws of physics is possible
- 4. Multiple Choice
According to the author, what made the German V-2 missile a significant invention? (Choose two options)
It was like a sentinel in space
It used gravity to power its flight
It could hold more than one person
It could be launched far from its target
- 5. Multiple Choice
If a vacationer has foresight which of the following is most likely to be true?
She is willing to try many varieties of new foods
She stays close to her guide in museums and cathedrals
She packs clothing for all potential changes in the weather
She chooses the passport photo that makes her look happiest
- 6. Multiple Choice
Which of t he following situations best illustrates the meaning of naivete?
Isaac always passes the ball to the more talented players on the team
Jocelyn does not understand why they are laughing at the joke
Hiroshi is conducting his own orchestral composition at the concert in June
Lela is interested in taking a cooking class if one is available after school
- 7. Multiple Choice
They want the powers that they observe in other creatures
They sometimes pray to birds because birds are magnificent
They should give up on the notion that they will be ever outfly birds
They live in a world of fantasy instead of keeping their feet on the ground
- 8. Multiple Choice
We may be smarter than birds, yet we failed to fly until very recently
Bird brains may be just what is needed in order to fly successfully
We cannot logically compare the brains of two different species
We humans typically exaggerate our accomplishments
- 9. Multiple Choice
According to the author, why can people fly faster than the speed of sound but not faster than the speed of light?
The speed of light is simply too fast
The speed of sound is difficult enough to beat
The laws of physics prevent breaking the light barrier
The sound barrier is far easier to test with modern technology
- 10. Multiple Choice
Which of these passages from "To Fly" best supports the answer to Question 9?
Any limits to breaking the sound barrier were purely psychological and technological
Although other craft routinely travel many times faster than the speed of sound, none can travel faster than the speed of light
Credit the Apollo astronauts who went to the Moon with attaining the highest speeds at which humans have ever flown: about seven miles per second at the end of the rocket burn that lifted their craft beyond low Earth orbit
Actually the real problem is not the moat that separates these two speeds but the laws of physics that prevent any object from ever achieving the speed of light, no matter how inventive your technology.
- 11. Multiple Choice
In "To Fly," what is the most likely reason for the lunar module's name, Eagle?
Eagles can fly farther than all other birds
The people who named the module were making a joke
Orville and Wilbur Wright's first plane was named "Kitty Hawk"
As America's national bird, the name "Eagle" best represents our power in being the first nation to the moon
- 12. Multiple Choice
Which of these passages from "To Fly" best supports the answer to Question 11?
The United States even adopted a flying predator as a symbol of its strength: the bald eagle, which appears on the back of the dollar bill, the quarter, the Kennedy half dollar, the Eisenhower dollar, and the Susan B. Anthony dollar
Previously, people had flown in balloon gondolas and in gliders and had executed controlled descents from the sides of cliffs, but none of those efforts would have made a bird jealous
Never mind that Apollo astronauts landed on the airless Moon, where wings are completely useless, in a lunar module named after a bird
A mere sixty-five years, seven months, three days, five hours, and forty-tree minutes after Orville left the ground, Neil Armstrong gave his first statement from the Moon's surface: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed"
- 13. Multiple Choice
What key point is the author supporting in "To Fly" with his allusions to eagles, Superman, angels, Cupid, and Peter Pan?
Wings are not just for birds
Humans idolize creatures that fly
Some wings work better than others
Flying can give people superpowers
- 14. Multiple Choice
The flight carried more people
The flight did not land downhill
The flight did not need an engine
The flight was entirely man-made
- 15. Multiple Choice
Alberto
Brazilian
Europe
Paris
- 16. Multiple Choice
In which sentence are proper nouns correctly capitalized?
How do scientists observe the rings of saturn from earth?
The Arecibo Observatory is on the island of Puerto Rico.
The telescope was designed by scientists from Cornell university.
A laboratory run by the US air force assisted in the design of Arecibo.
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