Collegeboard REAL CR Q's

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1

<p>The rock that sprang to Martian “life” late last summer<br>
did not shock me by offering up apparent fossils of an extinct<br>
alien form of life. I had long believed that the universe teems<br>
Line with life elsewhere, and that our failure to find it simply<br>
5 results from a lack of exploration. What did amaze me about<br>
the potato-size rock that fell from Mars was that it had trav-<br>
eled millions of miles across space to land here, blasted<br>
from world to world by a planetary collision of the sort that<br>
purportedly killed off our dinosaurs, and had lain waiting<br>
10 for millennia upon an Antarctic ice field, until an observant<br>
young woman traveling in an expedition party picked it up,<br>
because she figured that it had come from another world.<br>
How could she know such a thing?<br>
The composition of ALH 84001, as the much scruti-
15 nized rock is designated, closely matches the makeup<br>
of Martian matter that was analyzed on site in 1976 by
miniature chemistry laboratories aboard two Viking<br>
Mars landers. As a result of this positive identification,
no astronomer seriously doubts the meteorite’s Martian<br>
20 origin. Researchers think they have pinpointed its former
resting place to just two possible sites—a region called
Sinus Sabaeus, fourteen degrees south of the Martian<br>
equator, or a crater east of the Hesperia Planitia region.<br>
The bold precision of this assessment is for me the most
25 stunning surprise dealt by the rock from Mars—even more
mind-boggling than the suggestive traces of something that<br>
might once have lived and died in its microscopic fissures.
I cannot resist comparing this new intimacy with our solar
system to the shoebox diorama of the planets I designed for
30 my grade-school science fair. I used marbles, jack balls,<br>
and Ping-Pong balls, all hanging on strings and painted<br>
different colors, all inside a box representing our solar<br>
system. This crude assortment of materials allowed a<br>
reasonable representation of what was known 40 years<br>
35 ago about the nine planets: Mars was red and had two<br>
moons; Jupiter dwarfed the other planets (I should have<br>
used a basketball but it wouldn’t fit in the box); Saturn<br>
had rings. If my school-age daughter were to attempt such<br>
a construction today, she’d need handfuls of jelly beans<br>
40 and gum balls to model the newly discovered satellites of<br>
the giant planets. She’d want rings around Jupiter, Uranus,<br>
Neptune, too, not to mention a moon for Pluto.
Similarly, our solar system, once considered unique,<br>
now stands as merely the first known example of a<br>
45 planetary system in our galaxy. Since October of 1995,<br>
astronomers at ground-based observatories in Europe<br>
and the United States have announced that they’ve found<br>
evidence of at least seven alien planets orbiting other stars.
As yet, not one of these large planets—some of which<br>
50 are many times the mass of Jupiter—has actually been<br>
seen through a telescope; we know about them indirectly<br>
through the gravitational effects they exert on their parent<br>
stars. Yet, even though we have no picture of what they<br>
look like, enough information has been deduced about<br>
55 their atmospheric conditions to grant the nickname<br>
Goldilocks to a planet attending the star 70 Virginis,<br>
an appellation suggesting that the cloud-top temperature<br>
is “just right,” as the storybook Goldilocks would say, for<br>
the presence of liquid water. Liquid water, not known to<br>
60 exist anywhere in our solar system now except on Earth,<br>
is thought crucial to biological life; thus, only a short<br>
leap of faith is needed to carry hopeful scientists from<br>
the presence of water to the existence of extraterrestrial<br>
life. To raise the specter of the Mars rock once again,<br>
65 the primitive life-forms that pressed their memory inside<br>
it likewise suggest an era when dry-as-dust Mars was a<br>
wet world, where rivers flowed. </p>

<p>22 The reasoning process presented in lines 49-53 (“As . . . stars”) is best described as
(A) inference based on an untested theory<br>
(B) extrapolation from similar situations<br>
(C) analysis of a single case by multiple observers<br>
(D) hypothesis confirmed by direct observation<br>
(E) comparison of theory with physical evidence </p>

<p>WHERE ARE THE SIMILAR SITUATOINS?</p>

2

<p>The passage suggests that we cannot directly observe these planets BUT</p>

<p>“we know about them indirectly
through the gravitational effects they exert on their parent
stars. Yet, even though we have no picture of what they
look like, enough information has been deduced”</p>

<p>So we know about them through there gravitational effects, well how do we know what these gravitational effects do? It would have to come from similar situations and were now applying that knowledge for these planets.</p>

<p>You could also just eliminate all the other answers.</p>

<p>(A) inference based on an untested theory (Inference sounds good…untested?? NO)
(B) extrapolation from similar situations (there is nothing that makes this wrong)
(C) analysis of a single case by multiple observers (what multiple observers?)
(D) hypothesis confirmed by direct observation (“We know about them INDIRECTLY”)
(E) comparison of theory with physical evidence (physical evidence???)</p>

3

<p>Seems to me like that they are using the word “indirectly” to show that extrapolation is used.</p>

<p>Basically, that text block is extrapolating the main idea (that these “alien planets” exist) from a “similar situation” (gravity affects the stars around them, similar to our solar system). The similarity is reflected in the prior sentence “Similarly, our solar system, once considered unique,
now stands as merely the first known example of a
45 planetary system in our galaxy,”</p>

<p>Hope that helps a little!</p>