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Astronomy Pre-Test
Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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1. Day and night are caused by
a. the tilt of Earth's axis.
b. Earth's revolution around the sun.
c. eclipses.
d. Earth's rotation on its axis.
2. Earth's rotation takes about
a. 365 days.
b. 6 months.
c. 24 hours.
d. 1 month.
3. One complete revolution of Earth around the sun takes about
a. one rotation.
b. one season.
c. one year.
d. one eclipse.
4. Earth has seasons because
a. Earth rotates on its axis.
b. the distance between Earth and the sun changes.
c. Earth's axis is tilted as it moves around the sun.
d. the temperature of the sun changes.
5. An equinox occurs when
a. neither end of Earth's axis is tilted toward nor away from the sun.
b. the north end of Earth's axis is tilted away from the sun.
c. the north end of Earth's axis is tilted toward the sun.
d. Earth's axis is parallel to the sun's rays.
6. Because the moon rotates once for each revolution around Earth,
a. you see some phases more than others.
b. a different side of the moon faces Earth each day.
c. you never see the far side of the moon.
d. the far side of the moon is visible only during the full moon phase.
7. The phase of the moon you see depends on
a. where you are on Earth's surface.
b. how much of the sunlit side of the moon faces Earth.
c. how much of the moon's surface is lit by the sun.
d. whether or not an eclipse is occurring.
8. For a solar eclipse to occur,
a. the sun must be directly between Earth and the moon.
b. the moon must be directly between Earth and the sun.
c. the moon must be directly behind Earth.
d. Earth must be directly between the sun and the moon.
9. How large is the moon compared to Earth?
a. about the same diameter as Earth
b. about one half the diameter of Earth
c. about one fourth the diameter of Earth
d. about one eighth the diameter of Earth
____ 10. Scientists think the moon was formed when
a. a large object struck Earth, and material from both bodies combined.
b. gravitational forces attracted materials from outer space.
c. meteoroids collected and solidified within the pull of Earth's gravity.
d. gases from Earth escaped from the atmosphere and condensed.
____ 11. Galileo thought that the dark, flat parts of the moon's surface were
a. oceans.
b. deserts.
c. mountains.
d. craters.
____ 12. Galileo saw that much of the moon's surface is covered with round pits called
a. highlands.
b. seas.
c. craters.
d. maria.
____ 13. Photographs of the far side of the moon show that
a. the far side is much rougher than the near side.
b. there is water on the far side.
c. the far side has active volcanoes.
d. the far side has a smooth surface.
____ 14. The model in which Earth is at the center of the system of planets is called the
a. solar system.
b. heliocentric system.
c. geocentric system.
d. Copernican system.
____ 15. The heliocentric system gained support when Galileo observed that
a. one side of the moon always faces Earth.
b. most of the smaller planets are closer to the sun.
c. Venus goes through phases similar to those of Earth's moon.
d. the orbit of each planet is an ellipse.
____ 16. The two factors that combine to keep the planets in orbit are
a. gravity and orbital speed.
b. orbital speed and mass.
c. mass and inertia.
d. gravity and inertia.
____ 17. The tendency of a moving object to continue moving in a straight line or a stationary object to remain in place
is called
a. orbital speed.
b. mass.
c. inertia.
d. gravity.
____ 18. The sun produces energy by
a. attracting it with the force of gravity.
b. nuclear fission.
c. burning fuels such as oil.
d. nuclear fusion.
____ 19. There is enough fuel in the sun to last for about another
a. 1 billion years.
b. 5 billion years.
c. 10 billion years.
d. 15 billion years.
____ 20. When compared to the gases around them on the sun, sunspots are
a. hotter.
b. the same temperature.
c. cooler.
d. brighter.
____ 21. What do all of the inner planets have in common?
a. They have the same period of revolution.
b. They have the same period of rotation.
c. They have the same diameter.
d. They are small and have rocky surfaces.
____ 22. Aside from Earth, which inner planet once had water on its surface?
a. Mercury.
b. Europa.
c. Venus.
d. Mars.
____ 23. The atmospheres of the gas giant planets cannot escape into space because
a. the gases are too heavy.
b. the gases solidify at higher elevations.
c. the planets have very strong gravity.
d. although they are big, the planets have little mass.
____ 24. What do the first four outer planets have in common?
a. They are much larger than Earth and do not have solid surfaces.
b. They are about the same size as Earth and do not have solid surfaces.
c. They are much larger than Earth and are solid.
d. They are about the same size as Earth and are solid.
____ 25. Some astronomers think Pluto should not be called a planet because it
a. is too far away.
b. has no moons.
c. is so small.
d. cannot be seen without a telescope.
____ 26. What shape are the orbits of most comets?
a. long, narrow ellipses
b. circles
c. nearly circular ellipses
d. spherical
____ 27. The asteroid belt is located
a. between Earth and Mars.
b. between Mars and Jupiter.
c. between Jupiter and Saturn.
d. between Saturn and Uranus.
____ 28. Meteoroids usually come from
a. debris from other planets.
b. solar winds.
c. beyond the solar system.
d. comets or asteroids.
____ 29. Scientists have discovered that life forms on Earth exist
a. in a very narrow range of conditions.
b. in a very wide range of conditions.
c. only in moderate temperatures.
d. in moist or humid habitats only.
____ 30. The hypothesis that Mars may once have had the conditions needed to support life is based on
a. its similar size to Earth.
b. its reddish surface.
c. surface patterns that look like dried streambeds.
d. the system of canals seen by Schiaparelli.
____ 31. Europa is considered a good place to look for life because
a. there may be liquid water under its icy crust.
b. its equator has tropical temperatures.
c. volcanic activity keeps it warm.
d. it is the same size as Earth.
____ 32. The electromagnetic spectrum is
a. all of the colors of light you can see with your eyes.
b. all of the different types of electromagnetic waves.
c. a band of colors formed when white light passes through a prism.
d. the distance between the crest of one wave and the crest of the next wave.
____ 33. A range of colors formed when white light passes through a prism is called a
a. lens.
b. photograph.
c. spectrum.
d. ray.
____ 34. Both reflecting and refracting telescopes are designed to
a. break visible light into colors of the spectrum.
b. separate visible light from ultraviolet and radio waves.
c. gather and focus visible light.
d. work better with short-wavelength radiation.
____ 35. The chemical composition of a star can be determined using a
a. refracting telescope.
b. spectrograph.
c. satellite.
d. reflecting telescope.
____ 36. A light-year is
a. 365 days.
b. the distance light travels in a year.
c. the distance from Earth to Proxima Centauri.
d. the amount of light the sun produces in a year.
____ 37. Stars are classified according to their
a. distance, size, and color.
b. size, distance, and brightness.
c. color, brightness, and temperature.
d. size, brightness, and temperature.
____ 38. What color are the hottest stars?
a. blue-white
b. yellow
c. red
d. orange
____ 39. The brightness of a star depends on its
a. distance and temperature.
b. size and temperature.
c. color and temperature.
d. distance and color.
____ 40. All stars begin their lives as parts of
a. nebulas.
b. protostars.
c. pulsars.
d. double stars.
____ 41. The force that tends to pull together the matter in stars is
a. gravity
b. nuclear fusion.
c. expansion.
d. nuclear fission.
____ 42. The lifetime of a star depends on its
a. temperature.
b. brightness.
c. mass.
d. magnitude.
____ 43. A supernova is the explosion of a dying
a. medium-sized star.
b. giant or supergiant star.
c. protostar.
d. nebula.
____ 44. Black holes form from stars that
a. collapse extremely fast.
b. lose all their gravitational attraction.
c. were more than 40 times the mass of the sun.
d. had first turned into white dwarfs.
____ 45. One indication that a planet may exist near another star is that
a. the star varies in temperature.
b. the star has a very slight back-and-forth motion.
c. the star has very strong gravity.
d. radio wave activity increases near the star.
____ 46. The Milky Way Galaxy is a
a. spiral galaxy.
b. cloud galaxy.
c. elliptical galaxy.
d. irregular galaxy.
____ 47. Scientists think that our universe is approximately
a. 1 to 5 million years old.
b. 1 to 2 billion years old.
c. 10 to 15 billion years old.
d. 100 to 200 billion years old.
____ 48. One piece of evidence that supports the big bang theory is the observation that most galaxies are moving
a. toward our galaxy.
b. toward one another.
c. in random directions.
d. away from one another.
____ 49. The theory that astronomers have developed to describe the formation of the universe is called the
a. expanding cloud theory.
b. time warp theory.
c. galactic expansion theory.
d. big bang theory.
____ 50. The solar system formed from
a. an expanding galaxy.
b. a giant cloud of gas and dust.
c. an enormous explosion.
d. a black hole.
Astronomy Pre-Test
Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
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D
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.1.1
Earth Ch. 19.1.1—Identify the effects of Earth's rotation and revolution.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.1.1
Earth Ch. 19.1.1—Identify the effects of Earth's rotation and revolution.
C
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.1.1
Earth Ch. 19.1.1—Identify the effects of Earth's rotation and revolution.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.1.2
Earth Ch. 19.1.2—Explain the causes of the seasons on Earth.
A
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.1.2
Earth Ch. 19.1.2—Explain the causes of the seasons on Earth.
C
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.2.1
Earth Ch. 19.2.1—Describe the causes of the moon's phases.
B
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.2.1
Earth Ch. 19.2.1—Describe the causes of the moon's phases.
B
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.2.2
Earth Ch. 19.2.2—Describe what causes solar and lunar eclipses.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.4.3
Earth Ch. 19.4.3—Describe the origin and structure of the moon.
A
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.4.3
Earth Ch. 19.4.3—Describe the origin and structure of the moon.
A
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.4.1
Earth Ch. 19.4.1—Describe how scientists have used the telescope to study the moon.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.4.1
Earth Ch. 19.4.1—Describe how scientists have used the telescope to study the moon.
A
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 19.4.2
Earth Ch. 19.4.2—Explain what scientists learned about the moon from space exploration.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.1.1
Earth Ch. 20.1.1—Explain how the heliocentric and geocentric descriptions of the solar system differ.
C
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.1.1
Earth Ch. 20.1.1—Explain how the heliocentric and geocentric descriptions of the solar system differ.
D
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.1.3
Earth Ch. 20.1.3—Explain the two factors that keep planets in their orbits.
C
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.1.3
Earth Ch. 20.1.3—Explain the two factors that keep planets in their orbits.
D
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.2.1
Earth Ch. 20.2.1—Describe how the sun produces energy.
B
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.2.1
Earth Ch. 20.2.1—Describe how the sun produces energy.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.2.3
Earth Ch. 20.2.3—Identify the features of the sun's surface.
D
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.3.1
Earth Ch. 20.3.1—Identify the main characteristics of the inner planets.
D
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.3.1
Earth Ch. 20.3.1—Identify the main characteristics of the inner planets.
C
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.4.1
Earth Ch. 20.4.1—Identify the main characteristics of the gas giant planets.
A
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.4.1
Earth Ch. 20.4.1—Identify the main characteristics of the gas giant planets.
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C
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.4.2
Earth Ch. 20.4.2—Compare Pluto with the other planets.
A
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.5.1
Earth Ch. 20.5.1—Identify the characteristics of comets and asteroids.
B
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.5.1
Earth Ch. 20.5.1—Identify the characteristics of comets and asteroids.
D
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.5.2
Earth Ch. 20.5.2—Describe the formation of meteoroids.
B
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.6.1
Earth Ch. 20.6.1—Identify the conditions needed for living things on Earth.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.6.2
Earth Ch. 20.6.2—State why Mars and Europa are thought to be good places to look for signs of life.
A
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 20.6.2
Earth Ch. 20.6.2—State why Mars and Europa are thought to be good places to look for signs of life.
B
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.1.1
Earth Ch. 21.1.1—Describe the electromagnetic spectrum.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.1.1
Earth Ch. 21.1.1—Describe the electromagnetic spectrum.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.1.2
Earth Ch. 21.1.2—Identify the main purpose of a telescope.
B
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.1.3
Earth Ch. 21.1.3—Describe how astronomers use spectrographs.
B
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.2.1
Earth Ch. 21.2.1—Describe how astronomers measure distances to nearby stars.
D
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.2.2
Earth Ch. 21.2.2—Explain how stars are classified.
A
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.2.2
Earth Ch. 21.2.2—Explain how stars are classified.
B
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.2.2
Earth Ch. 21.2.2—Explain how stars are classified.
A
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.3.1
Earth Ch. 21.3.1—Describe how a star is formed.
A
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.3.1
Earth Ch. 21.3.1—Describe how a star is formed.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.3.2
Earth Ch. 21.3.2—Identify the factors that determine how long a star will last.
B
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.3.3
Earth Ch. 21.3.3—Explain what happens to a star when it runs out of fuel.
C
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.3.3
Earth Ch. 21.3.3—Explain what happens to a star when it runs out of fuel.
B
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.4.1
Earth Ch. 21.4.1—Describe a star system.
A
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.4.2
Earth Ch. 21.4.2—Identify and describe three types of galaxies.
C
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.5.1
Earth Ch. 21.5.1—Explain the big bang theory of how the universe was formed.
D
DIF: 3=Mid/High OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.5.1
Earth Ch. 21.5.1—Explain the big bang theory of how the universe was formed.
D
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.5.1
Earth Ch. 21.5.1—Explain the big bang theory of how the universe was formed.
B
DIF: 2=Low/Mid OBJ: Earth Ch. 21.5.2
Earth Ch. 21.5.2—Describe how the solar system was formed.