The Last Human Light (from 'What If?')

What does the following passage mainly reveal (paragraphs 8-9)?

Generating sections that don’t need a human-provided fuel supply would be in better shape. Geothermal plants, which are powered by the Earth’s internal heat, can run for some time without human intervention. According to the maintenance manual for the Svartsengi Island geothermal plant in Iceland, every six months the operators must change the gearbox oil and regrease all electric motors and couplings. Without humans to perform these sorts of maintenance procedures, some plants might run for a few years, but they’d all succumb to corrosion eventually.

• Although some power plants don’t require human-provided fuel, they still require human maintenance.

• All lights would quickly go out if there were no human beings on Earth.

• All power plants need maintenance.

• Geothermal plants are the ideal forms of power supply on Earth.

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CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

The passage below (paragraphs 10-11) mainly shows that . Turbines are designed so that they don’t need constant maintenance, for the simple reason that there are a lot of them and they’re a pain to climb. Some windmills can run for a long time without human intervention. The Gedser Wind Turbine in Denmark was installed in the late 1950s, and generated power for 11 years without maintenance. Modern turbines are typically rated to run for 30,000 hours (three years) without servicing, and there are no doubt some that would run for decades.

•  turbines need less maintenance than other power sources and some would last decades

• the Gedser Wind Turbine in Denmark would provide artificial light longer than any other source on Earth

• turbines are difficult to climb and so the presence of light could never truly be proven

• turbines would turn off instantly because wind would end when humans left Earth

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CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

Which of the following statements is best supported by the passage below (paragraph 15)? There are a few exceptions. In the Clarendon Laboratory at Oxford University sits a battery-powered bell that has been ringing since the year 1840. The bell “rings” so quietly it’s almost inaudible, using only a tiny amount of charge with every motion of the clapper. Nobody knows exactly what kind of batteries it uses because nobody wants to take it apart to figure it out.

• The battery-powered bell at Oxford will last forever.

•  Researchers don’t want to risk breaking the battery-powered bell.

• The author believes there is a light inside the bell.

• The reverberations of the bell might give off a light charge in extreme darkness.

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CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

Which of the following statements about lights is best supported by the passage below (paragraphs 25-26)

Curiosity has lights; it uses them to illuminate samples and perform spectroscopy. However, these lights are turned on only when it’s taking measurements. With no human instructions, it will have no reason to turn them on. Unless they have humans on board, spacecraft don’t need a lot of lights. The Galileo probe, which explored Jupiter in the 1990s, had several LEDs in the mechanism of its flight data recorder. Since they emitted infrared rather than visible light, calling them “lights” is a stretch—and in any case, Galileo was deliberately crashed into Jupiter in 2003. 

• Lights fulfill more of a human need than a mechanical one.

• Galileo wouldn’t have crashed into Jupiter if it had been equipped with visible lights.

•  There is no reason for a spacecraft to be outfitted with lights.

•  All of the above

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CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

Which of the following inferences is best supported by the section titled “Solar power”?

• An emergency call box will possibly have the last strictly-defined light operating on Earth.

• Solar power is the most efficient form of energy available.

• The wires and circuits of solar panels will eventually corrode.

•  Solar panels are expensive because they’re so difficult to maintain.

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CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RI.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

Which passage from the text most strongly supports the answer to Question 5?

•  “They usually have lights on them, which provide illumination every night.”

• “Like wind turbines, they’re hard to service, so they’re built to last for a long time.”

•  “If we follow a strict definition of lighting, solar-powered lights in remote locations could conceivably be the last surviving human light source.”

•  “A solar panel’s wires and circuits will eventually succumb to corrosion, but solar panels in a dry place, with well-built electronics, could easily continue providing power for a century . . . .”

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CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RI.6.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.8

Which of the following inferences is most strongly supported by the section on Cherenkov radiation?

• Blue toxic waste will be the last light shining on Earth.

• Cherenkov radiation is extremely dangerous.

• The blue light is so strong that it will be visible from outer space.

• The watches with radiation are sought after by watch collectors.

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CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RI.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

Which sentence from the passage most strongly supports the answer to Question 7?

•  “This light is called Cherenkov radiation, and it’s seen in the distinctive blue glow of nuclear reactor cores.”

• “And thus, we arrive at our answer: Centuries from now, deep in concrete vaults, the light from our most toxic waste will still be shining.”

•  “When radioactive particles travel through materials like water or glass, they can emit light through a sort of optical sonic boom.”

• “Watch dials, however, are not our only radioactive light source.”

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CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

Reorder the following

• The author explains that the solar-powered call boxes might be the answer. There might be another contender.

• The author suggests the Mars rover could be a good candidate for longest-lasting artificial source of light.

• The author explains that the Mars rover had no lights.

• The author explains that toxic waste will glow for centuries.

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CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

Which meaning of discharge most closely matches its meaning in the following passage (paragraph 14)? Battery-powered lights will all be off in a decade or two. Even without anything using their power, batteries gradually self-discharge. Some types last longer than others, but even batteries advertised as having long shelf lives typically hold their charge only for a decade or two.

• noun | the action of releasing a liquid, gas, or other substance

• noun | the action of releasing someone from a hospital or a job

• verb | to tell someone that they must leave

• verb | to release or lose energy

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CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.6.4