Science and Sense of Wonder Test

In the beginning of his essay "Science and the Sense of Wonder," Isaac Asimov presents a famous poem by Walt Whitman. In that poem, what does the speaker do after listening to the astronomer?

• He signs up for another class

• He asks several challenging questions.

• He becomes tired and wanders off alone to look at the stars in silence.

Which answer choice best describes the following sentence from "Science and the Sense of Wonder"?

But what I see—those quiet, twinkling points of light—is not all the beauty there is.

• a valid opinion

• a statement of fact

• an example of bias

Which of the following sentences from "Science and the Sense of Wonder" is a statement of fact?

• Beyond our own cluster, other galaxies and other clusters exists; some clusters made up of thousands of galaxies.

• Science just sucks all the beauty out of everything, reducing it all to numbers and tables and measurements!

• Should i be satisfied to watch the sun glinting off a single pebble and scorn any knowledge of a beach?

According to Isaac Asimov in "Science and the Sense of Wonder," what will most likely happen to Earth billions of years from now?

• Earth's human population will increase.

• Earth will be burned into gas by the sun.

• Earth will shrink slightly in size.

According to Isaac Asimov in "Science and the Sense of Wonder," how big is the Andromeda galaxy in relation to the Milky Way galaxy?

• It is the same size

• It is twice as big

• It is three times as big

Which answer choice best describes Isaac Asimov's tone in the following passage from "Science and the Sense of Wonder"?

…I have in my time spread out on a hillside for hours looking at the stars and being awed by their beauty (and receiving bug-bites whose marks took weeks to go away).

• humorous

• romantic

• formal

According to Isaac Asimov in "Science and the Sense of Wonder," how long does it take for light to cross the Milky Way galaxy from one end to the other end?

• five hundred years

• a hundred thousand years

• about one year

When did astronomers gain most of the scientific knowledge that Isaac Asimov describes in "Science and the Sense of Wonder"?

• before the poet Walt Whitman was born

• during the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans

• during the twenty-five years prior to Asimov's essay

Which answer choice best states the central idea of Isaac Asimov's essay "Science and the Sense of Wonder"?

• Scientific knowledge enhances the beauty of the natural world.

• Astronomy is best appreciated through poetry.

• Poetry and science can work together to educate people.

In which sentence is the word awed used correctly?

• We climbed the awed mountain.

• We were awed by the tall mountain, which was lit by a splendid sunset.

• The long and boring movie made us feel awed.