Humans Should Stay Home...

In paragraph 1, what does the word curtail mean?

• to reduce

• to in crease

• to halt

• to seek

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.4

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

The main idea of the section "Space Travel is Expensive" is that --

• multiple governments around the world will have to fund a Mars expedition.

• it is highly unlikely that private companies can fund space exploration.

• it will be very hard to acquire the funds necessary to travel to Mars.

• reality TV is a viable option for increasing funding to a Mars expedition.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

The author included information from A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study in paragraph 8 to support the idea that --

• humans are not suited to live on Mars.

• the Mars Curiosity rover has had great success

• agriculture on Mars would be possible

• a colony on Mars would require a lot of food

What is the most likely reason the author compares Mars radiation to Earth radiation in paragraph 7?

• to show the reason why Mars would be easily colonized.

• to convey that Mars is more dangerous to colonize than other planets.

• to support the idea that Mars colonization poses risks to humans.

• to explain how astronauts would need to prepare to live on Mars.

Part A: The author wrote this selection most likely to --

• highlight the negatives of space exploration and explain the various reason why we should not send humans to space as a result.

• list the reasons why space travel isn't worth it for humans and provide an alternative method of space exploration.

• outline how robots would be better equipped to handle the intense atmosphere on Mars over that of humans.

• clarify what other methods for space exploration exists instead of humans and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.6

CCSS.RI.7.6

CCSS.RI.7.9

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

Part B: Which sentence from the article best supports the answer to part A?

• As covered earlier, the essential ingredients for space exploration are international cooperation, vast investments of money, technological advances, global regulations, and the buy-in of the general population (paragraph 6)

• Just because the idea of space travel has been with us for decades doesn't mean that it's the best way to direct our dreams (paragraph 11)

• As you might guess, the future of space exploration presents a very different picture, one where robots replace humans as the better pilots and researchers (paragraph 10)

• Some of the best reasons to curtail space exploration come down to economics, human cost, and technology (paragraph 1)

Which sentence from paragraph 3 best supports the idea that the author thinks private companies would not be trustworthy?

• "Some people suggest that the only way to get to Mars would be with the help of private companies"

• "Because of this, the space exploration industry is made up not only of government agencies but also private companies..."

• "Even well run companies are unlikely to have enough money to launch a Mars mission on their own."

• "But these organizations are often badly managed. They don't work for the government, so accountability could be a problem."