Question
Touchdown confirmed!
(1) Years of planning, a seven-month expedition, and $828 million were all on the line that day: November 26, 2018. (2) A combination of nervous tension and bubbling excitement spread throughout the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (3) The Mars InSight team waited to see whether its mission would succeed.
(4) The spacecraft’s six-minute descent began at about 80 miles above the surface of Mars. (5) Although InSight penetrated the atmosphere at an astounding speed of 12,300 miles per hour, it decelerated significantly before landing. (6) Small rockets controlled the descent through the atmosphere, and the dense heat shield designed in part to withstand a dust storm protected the craft.(7) A parachute also helped it slow down as it landed on the plains of Elysium Planitia. (8) “Sixty meters . . . constant velocity . . . thirty meters,” a voice announced, as twelve engines simultaneously fired, reducing the descent to a controlled landing speed. (9) Then came the agonizing wait for the official confirmation that InSight had survived the landing. (10)“Twenty meters . . . seventeen meters . . . standing by for touchdown.” (11) The moment lasted a short while, but to the InSight team, it seemed surprisingly long.
(12) Finally, at 2:52:59 P.M.: “Touchdown confirmed!” (13) The room erupts in elation and the tension vanishes in an instant, as scientists and engineers raised their arms and shared celebratory embraces.
Multiple Choice Question
Where should sentence 9 (reproduced below) be placed to best clarify the sequence of events?
Then came the agonizing wait for the official confirmation that InSight had survived the landing.
A.
NO CHANGE
B.
after sentence 7
C.
after sentence 10
D.
after sentence 11
(1) Years of planning, a seven-month expedition, and $828 million were all on the line that day: November 26, 2018. (2) A combination of nervous tension and bubbling excitement spread throughout the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (3) The Mars InSight team waited to see whether its mission would succeed.
(4) The spacecraft’s six-minute descent began at about 80 miles above the surface of Mars. (5) Although InSight penetrated the atmosphere at an astounding speed of 12,300 miles per hour, it decelerated significantly before landing. (6) Small rockets controlled the descent through the atmosphere, and the dense heat shield designed in part to withstand a dust storm protected the craft.(7) A parachute also helped it slow down as it landed on the plains of Elysium Planitia. (8) “Sixty meters . . . constant velocity . . . thirty meters,” a voice announced, as twelve engines simultaneously fired, reducing the descent to a controlled landing speed. (9) Then came the agonizing wait for the official confirmation that InSight had survived the landing. (10)“Twenty meters . . . seventeen meters . . . standing by for touchdown.” (11) The moment lasted a short while, but to the InSight team, it seemed surprisingly long.
(12) Finally, at 2:52:59 P.M.: “Touchdown confirmed!” (13) The room erupts in elation and the tension vanishes in an instant, as scientists and engineers raised their arms and shared celebratory embraces.
Multiple Choice Question
Where should sentence 9 (reproduced below) be placed to best clarify the sequence of events?
Then came the agonizing wait for the official confirmation that InSight had survived the landing.
A.
NO CHANGE
B.
after sentence 7
C.
after sentence 10
D.
after sentence 11
Answers
GPT-4o mini
To clarify the sequence of events, sentence 9 ("Then came the agonizing wait for the official confirmation that InSight had survived the landing.") should be placed after sentence 10. This placement accurately reflects that the team awaited official confirmation immediately after the countdown led to the touchdown announcement.
Therefore, the correct answer is:
C. after sentence 10
Therefore, the correct answer is:
C. after sentence 10