Question

Read the selection and choose the best answer to each question.

Martian Metropolis
by Meg Thacher

Click here to read Martian Metropolis.

Question
Read the sentence from paragraph 5.

The Martian day (called a “sol”) is about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day; a Martian year is 668.6 sols.

In which two ways does this sentence contribute to the central ideas of the selection?

Responses

It hints at the author’s bias toward life on Mars.
It hints at the author’s bias toward life on Mars.

It helps build a picture of what life would be like on Mars.
It helps build a picture of what life would be like on Mars.

It reveals an important fact about life on Earth.
It reveals an important fact about life on Earth.

It makes an important comparison between Earth and Mars.
It makes an important comparison between Earth and Mars.

It shows how much better life would be on Mars.
It shows how much better life would be on Mars. It’s farther from the sun than Earth, so Mars is much colder.
On average, it’s a bone-chilling -80° F/-62° C. The Martian day
(called a “sol”) is about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day;
a Martian year is 668.6 sols. Its atmosphere is about 100 times
thinner than Earth’s,1
and it’s 95 percent carbon dioxide. Even if
Mars’s atmosphere were thicker, we wouldn’t be able to breathe
it. Earth’s atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and oxygen, with 0.04
percent carbon dioxide—a combination that’s friendlier to our
planet’s life forms.

Answer 1

Correct answers:
- It helps build a picture of what life would be like on Mars.
- It makes an important comparison between Earth and Mars.

Brief justification: the sentence gives concrete details (length of a day and year) that help readers imagine daily life on Mars and directly compares Martian time units to Earth’s.