"To Fly" by Neil deGrasse Tyson

According to physicist Lord Kelvin as cited in “To Fly,” a chapter from Space Chronicles, why would human flight be impossible?

• Humans would not be able to breathe at altitudes necessary for flight.

• Powerful air currents would cause any flying vehicle to crash.

• It is impossible to design artificial wings.

• Things heavier than air cannot fly.

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In “To Fly,” how does the author respond to Kelvin’s assertion about flight?

• He suggests that technological ingenuity can solve all problems.

• He points out that birds are heavier than air, yet they fly.

• He reminds the reader that Kelvin was not an inventor.

• He reveals plans for a self-propelled airplane.

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In “To Fly,” why does the author present information about the speed of sound?

• to show that the laws of physics were made to be broken

• to reveal the difference between physics and other sciences

• to indicate how rapidly humans have overcome the laws of physics

• to prove that anything not prohibited by the laws of physics is possible

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According to the author of “To Fly,” what made the German V-2 missile a significant invention? Choose two options.

• It was like a sentinel in space.

• It used gravity to power its flight.

• It could hold more than one person.

• It could be launched far from its target.

• It landed at elevations lower than its launch point.

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According to the author of “To Fly,” what is the greatest achievement in flight so far?

• the launch of Voyager 2

• the Apollo 11 lunar landing

• the Wright Brothers’ aeroplane

• the breaking of the sound barrier

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If a vacationer has foresight, which of the following is most likely to be true? Base your answer on the meaning of foresight.

• She is willing to try many varieties of new foods.

• She stays close to her guide in museums and cathedrals.

• She packs clothing for all potential changes in the weather.

• She chooses the passport photo that makes her look happiest.

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Which of the following situations best illustrates the meaning of naivete?

• Isaac always passes the ball to the more talented players on the team.

• Jocelyn does not understand why they are laughing at the crude joke.

• Hiroshi is conducting his own orchestral composition at the concert in June.

• Leia is interested in taking a cooking class if one is available after school.

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Which fact about an author best illustrates the meaning of prescient?

• Jane Austen’s 1817 novel Persuasion is partly set in Bath, England.

• In The Sleeper Awakes, written in 1899, H. G. Wells describes aerial warfare before it was invented.

• George Eliot wrote Romola in 1862–1863 and set it in fifteenth-century Florence.

• David Copperfield, published in 1850, is the most autobiographical of Charles Dickens’s books.

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Read the following passage from “To Fly.” What is the author saying about humans?

For millennia, the idea of being able to fly occupied human dreams and fantasies. Waddling around on Earth’s surface as majestic birds flew overhead, perhaps we developed a form of wing envy. One might even call it wing worship.

• They want the powers that they observe in other creatures.

• They sometimes pray to birds because birds are magnificent.

• They should give up on the notion that they will ever outfly birds.

• They live in a world of fantasy instead of keeping their feet on the ground.

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We did, however, ultimately learn to fly because of the technological ingenuity afforded by our human brains. And of course, while birds can fly, they are nonetheless stuck with bird brains. But this self-aggrandizing line of reasoning is somewhat flawed, because it ignores all the millennia that we were technologically flightless

What does the author mean when he says that this line of reasoning is flawed?

• We may be smarter than birds, yet we failed to fly until very recently.

• Bird brains may be just what is needed in order to fly successfully.

• We cannot logically compare the brains of two different species.

• We humans typically exaggerate our accomplishments.