SSAT Middle Level Reading Practice Test 19

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Think Minnesota gets cold?

Try Titan, another land of a thousand lakes. Saturn's haze-shrouded moon is an exotic land of liquid methane lakes. First spotted by the international Cassini spacecraft, the lakes explain the clouds that cover the mysterious Titan. At minus 290 degrees on its surface, Titan's weather is a chilly model of Earth's climate, with methane rains and rivers falling and flowing into lakes, which evaporate once more to form the moon's clouds.

Confirmation of the lakes' existence is the latest success in the Cassini mission, which arrived at Saturn, the second-largest planet, in 2004. The spacecraft has provided information on Saturn's rings, discovered new moons and found an interesting watery geyser on the small moon Enceledus. Titan, whose atmosphere behaves in ways similar to Earth's, is a great scientific opportunity. Seventeen more flybys of the moon are planned for 2006.

At 3,200 miles wide, Titan is the second-largest moon in the solar system. It has fascinated scientists since its hazy atmosphere was photographed by Voyager probes in the early 1980s. Methane, which is known on Earth as natural gas, in Titan's lakes fills a role played by oceans on our planet.  The materials may be different, and certainly the temperatures, but a lot of the basic physical processes, which control any weather cycle, are similar.

-Dan Vergano

1. Titan and Earth have all of the following in common EXCEPT:

  • A. They both experience evaporation.
  • B. They both have an atmosphere.
  • C. They both have liquid lakes.
  • D. They both have their own moons.
  • E. They both have rainfall.

2. The primary purpose of the third paragraph ("Confirmation of the lakes' existence…") is to

  • A. explain how lakes form on Titan's surface.
  • B. clarify a few of the mysteries of Saturn's rings.
  • C. describe the findings of a spacecraft mission.
  • D. compare the surface features of two moons.
  • E. understand how scientists study moons and planets.

3. In the last paragraph, the author uses an analogy to illustrate that methane in Titan's lakes

  • A. is the source of Titan's clouds.
  • B. can be photographed by Voyager probes.
  • C. is an essential part of Titan's weather cycle.
  • D. serves a similar purpose to oceans on Earth.
  • E. is unlike anything found in Minnesota.

4. It can be inferred from the text that scientists are interested in Titan because 

  • A. its closeness to Earth allows for more missions.
  • B. it has similar atmospheric processes to Earth.
  • C. its unique climate helps predict weather on Earth.
  • D. it is the largest moon in the solar system.
  • E. it was formed in the same way as Earth's moon.

5. Which of the following is the author most likely to discuss next?

  • A. The additional findings of a recent Titan flyby.
  • B. The differences between methane and natural gas.
  • C. The atmospheric conditions on Enceledus.
  • D. The technical framework of the Cassini spacecraft.
  • E. Climatic differences between Minnesota and Titan.