The Hottest Soup in New York

In paragraph 3, what does the word zoomed suggest happened to the atoms?

• They were blasted to pieces.

• They were magnified to appear larger

• They were moved rapidly

• They were viewed closely in focus.

According to the selection, what is the purpose of gluons?

• They bind the quark particles together.

• They separate the protons from the neutrons.

• They form the boundary of the nucleus.

• They help the quark particles to duplicate

In paragraph 8, how is the word anxious used?

• to convey fear

• to convey excitement

• to convey fury

• to convey boredom

Which summarizes the information about quark-gluon plasma in paragraph 11?

• Its temperature is the lowest on record.

• Its temperature is indicated by color.

• It glows when heat is applied to it.

• It emits different colors of light.

What challenges hindered the researchers in measuring the temperature of the plasma?

• The plasma was too large to measure and too slow to demonstrate movement.

• The plasma was moving very fast and was too small to catch

• The plasma was extremely small and only existed for a fraction of a second.

• The plasma was very thin and covered a small area of the thermometer.

In the last paragraph, why did the author include the quote from Chris Quigg?

• to support the claim that there is still much work to be done to understand the beginning of the universe

• to hook the reader into wanting to read more about the Brookhaven laboratory

• to help sell more issues of Science News magazine

• to outline future experiments that need to take place

In the last sentence of the selection, what does the phrase “this opens up many questions” mean?

• Many scientific questions are answered by careful research.

• Many scientists prefer asking questions to answering them.

• Many scientific discoveries create more things to explore

• Many scientific projects require research into plasma temperatures.

Which statement from the selection supports the author’s claim that this breakthrough could help scientists better understand the origin of our universe?

• “That new record is 4 trillion degrees Celsius (that’s 7.2 trillion degrees Fahrenheit).”

• “The hot stuff produced at Brookhaven is a quark-gluon plasma, and it spills out like a soup made of quarks and gluons.”

• “The quark-gluon plasma is a new type of matter that’s unlike solid, liquid, or gas—but it kind of behaves like a liquid.”

• “The quark-gluon plasma may look a lot like the hot and heavy goo that existed in the universe right after the Big Bang.”

Based on the selection, what is the author’s attitude toward the new scientific record?

• He thinks it is fascinating, but not overly useful in real-life application.

• He thinks it is largely a waste of time in the study of physical science.

• He thinks it is an interesting observation that could be useful in classrooms.

• He thinks it is an important discovery that will help further scientific research