from Longitude by Dava Sobel

What makes the excerpt from Longitude an expository essay?

• It explains a new idea or concept to readers.

• It entertains readers with amusing stories.

• It contains the author's personal memories of a specific time in her life.

• It tries to persuade readers to adopt a specific cause.

Which answer choice best states the main idea of the excerpt from Longitude?

• John Harrison invented a clock that could keep accurate time on a ship, but his accomplishment was not immediately recognized.

• Ptolemy was one of the first cartographers to establish lines of latitude and longitude on his maps.

• Early navigators struggled with the problem of finding an accurate way to determine longitude at sea.

• The author once owned a wire ball that reminded her of a globe because the wires looked like lines of latitude and longitude.

Which detail from the text best supports the main idea of the excerpt from Longitude?

• Latitude is easy to determine for any sailor "worth his salt."

• John Harrison had to wait forty years to claim his prize.

• The author remembers seeing a statue of Atlas holding up Heaven and Earth.

• For centuries, the world's greatest minds tried to find a way to determine longitude.

In the excerpt from Longitude, Dava Sobel states that Ptolemy "had only an armchair appreciation of the wider world." What does she mean by this statement?

• Ptolemy knew a great deal about furniture styles from around the world.

• Ptolemy feared that he would melt in the high heat if he traveled below the Equator.

• Ptolemy never explored the world himself; he relied instead on travelers' reports to make his maps.

• Ptolemy could only contemplate his discoveries from the comfort of his favorite armchair.

According to Sobel in the excerpt from Longitude, how did Ptolemy know where to place the Equator, the zero-degree parallel of latitude?

• He based the Equator's placement on his predecessors' observations that all the lines of latitude come together at the Equator.

• He based the Equator's placement on the fact that the Fortunate Islands were an important trading center at the time.

• He based the Equator's placement on the location designated by prehistoric civilizations in ancient times.

• He based the Equator's placement on others' observations that the sun, moon, and planets pass directly overhead at the Equator.

According to Sobel in the excerpt from Longitude, how did the lack of a practical method for determining longitude affect the great captains during the Age of Exploration?

• During the Age of Exploration, every great captain was lost at sea at some point, and any discoveries they made were purely accidental.

• During the Age of Exploration, the great captains were not affected because they had excellent charts and compasses.

• During the Age of Exploration, the great captains were always late arriving at their destinations because their clocks were inaccurate.

• During the Age of Exploration, every great captain only sailed in straight lines along the parallels of latitude to avoid getting lost at sea

In the excerpt from Longitude, Sobel states that accurate timekeeping is necessary to determine longitude. She explains that early clocks were not reliable. She also reveals that countless seafarers died during the Age of Exploration. What conclusion can you most logically draw from this information?

• The lack of accurate clocks was dangerous to captains and sailors at sea.

• During the Age of Exploration, cartographers must have incorrectly placed the prime meridian.

• Since accurate clocks were not available, the solution to the problem of longitude must lie in the science of astronomy.

• The problem of longitude was so difficult to solve that the kings of England and France offered a reward for the solution.

According to Sobel in the excerpt from Longitude, why did the governments of great seafaring nations offer large rewards for a workable solution to the problem of longitude?

• They each wanted to have the smartest person in the world at their disposal.

• It amused the kings of Europe to observe a scientific competition over the problem of longitude.

• They were losing ships, men, and profits due to sailors' inability to accurately navigate the seas.

• They were tired of listening to the bickering of scientists and mechanics over the problem of longitude.

According to Sobel in the excerpt from Longitude, how did the commissioners in charge of awarding the longitude prize attempt to keep John Harrison from claiming the prize?

• The commissioners sabotaged Harrison's clock.

• The commissioners spread false rumors about Harrison.

• The commissioners changed the rules of the contest.

• The commissioners persuaded the king to withdraw the prize.

Which word best describes the author's tone, or attitude, toward Reverend Nevil Maskelyne in the following sentence from Longitude?

He made a special enemy of the Reverend Nevil Maskelyne, the fifth astronomer royal, who contested his claim to the coveted prize money, and whose tactics at certain junctures can only be described as foul play.

• critical

• sarcastic

• silly

• casual