Question

Question
"Saturn: Some Essential Ingredients for Life"
by Sarah Kaplan  

If you were going to cook up life on another world, Titan is the place to do it.  

Saturn’s largest moon is rich with carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen - elements required by all living organisms on Earth. It has two types of wet ingredients - an ocean of water underground and lakes of liquid methane on the surface. And it’s flush with energy - just one of those methane lakes could power every U.S. home for 300 years.  

Researchers have now detected two more potentially important ingredients for making aliens: a compound that can form a membrane like the kind that envelops cells, and long chains of carbon atoms that may be “universal drivers” for the chemistry that precedes life.  

It’s as though scientists have walked into a cosmic kitchen and found the oven has been preheated to 350 degrees and the flour and eggs are mixed together, said Sarah Hörst, a professor of planetary science at Johns Hopkins University. “But you weren’t there when they got mixed, so you don’t know what they got mixed up to do. You don’t know what will happen when you bake it,” she said.  

Use the passage to answer the question.

Which option best analyzes the denotation and connotation of the word “Titan” as it is used in the passage?

Responses
 
Option 1: Denotation: A fictional giant from mythology; Connotation: Something dangerous and destructive, suggesting Saturn’s moon is hostile to life.

Option 2: Denotation: Saturn’s largest moon; Connotation: Great size, power, and importance, emphasizing the moon’s rich resources and potential to support life.

Option 3: Denotation: A planet orbiting Saturn; Connotation: Coldness and isolation, highlighting how far the moon is from Earth.

Option 4: Denotation: A scientific compound found on Saturn’s moon; Connotation: Mystery and uncertainty about alien life forms.

Answer 1

Option 2.

Denotation: Saturn’s largest moon. Connotation: Suggests greatness, power and importance—emphasizing Titan’s rich resources and potential to support life, as shown by the passage.