MCAP Practice ELA 8 Section 4

Last updated 8 months ago

10 questions

Today you will read the passage from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On” and the passage from “To Make It to the Moon, Women Have to Escape Earth’s Gender Bias.” Then you will answer questions about the passages and write a response in which you analyze both texts. 

In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. This essay was written by an engineer who worked with Ride at NASA. Read the passage from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On.” Then answer the questions. 

from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On” by Bonnie J. Dunbar THE SPACE SHUTTLE DEMOCRATIZED SPACEFLIGHT  

1 The Space Shuttle was an amazing flight vehicle: It launched like a rocket into Low Earth Orbit in only eight minutes, and landed softly like a glider after its mission. What is not well known is that the Space Shuttle was an equalizer and enabler, opening up space exploration to a wider population of people from planet Earth.  

2 This inclusive approach began in 1972 when Congress and the president approved the Space Shuttle budget and contract. Spacesuits, seats and all crew equipment were initially designed for a larger range of sizes to fit all body types, and the waste management system was modified for females. Unlike earlier vehicles, the Space Shuttle could carry up to eight astronauts at a time. It had a design more similar to an airplane than a small capsule, with two decks, sleeping berths, large laboratories and a galley. It also provided privacy.  

3 I graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Washington in 1971 and, by 1976, I was a young engineer working on the first Space Shuttle, Columbia, with Rockwell International at Edwards Air Force Base, in California. I helped to design and produce the thermal protection system— those heat resistant ceramic tiles— which allowed the shuttle to re- enter the Earth’s atmosphere for up to 100 flights.  

4 It was a heady time; a new space vehicle could carry large crews and “cargo,” including space laboratories and the Hubble Space Telescope. The Shuttle also had a robotic arm, which was critical for the assembly of the International Space Station, and an “airlock” for space walks, and enabled us to build the International Space Station.  

5 I knew from my first day at Rockwell that this vehicle had been designed for both men and women. A NASA engineer at the Langley Research Center gave me a very early “heads up” in 1973 that they would eventually select women astronauts for the Space Shuttle. In the 1970s there were visionary men and women in NASA, government and in the general public, who saw a future for more women in science and engineering, and for flying into space. Women were not beating down the door to be included in the Space Shuttle program, we were being invited to be an integral part of a larger grand design for exploring space. 1978: 

BECOMING AN ASTRONAUT  

6 The selection process for the first class of Space Shuttle astronauts, to include women, opened in 1977. NASA approached the recruitment process with a large and innovative publicity campaign encouraging men and women of all ethnic backgrounds to apply. One of NASA’s recruiters was actress Nichelle Nichols who played Lt. Ohura on the “Star Trek” series, which was popular at the time. Sally learned about NASA’s astronaut recruitment drive through an announcement, possibly on a job bulletin board, somewhere at Stanford University. Sally had been a talented nationally ranked tennis player, but her passion was physics. The opportunity to fly into space intrigued her and looked like a challenge and rewarding career she could embrace.  

7 Sally and I arrived at NASA at the same time in 1978— she as part of the “TFNG” (“Thirty-Five New Guys”) astronaut class and I as a newly minted mission controller, training to support the Space Shuttle. I had already been in the aerospace industry for several years and had made my choice for “space” at the age of 9 on a cattle ranch in Washington state. I also applied for the 1978 astronaut class, but was not selected until 1980.  

8 Sally and I connected on the Flight Crew Operations co-ed softball team. We both played softball from an early age and were both private pilots, flying our small planes together around southeast Texas. We also often discussed our perspectives on career selection, and how fortunate we were to have teachers and parents and other mentors who encouraged us to study math and science in school— the enabling subjects for becoming an astronaut. STS- 7: 

JUNE 18, 1983  

9 Although Sally was one of six women in the 1978 class, she preferred to be considered one of 35 new astronauts— and to be judged by merit, not gender. It was important to all the women that the bar be as high as it was for the men. From an operational and safety point of view, that was also equally important. In an emergency, there are no special allowances for gender or ethnicity: Everyone had to pull their own weight. In fact, it has been said that those first six women were not just qualified, they were more than qualified.  

10 While Sally was honored to be picked as the first woman from her class to fly, she shied away from the limelight. She believed that she flew for all Americans, regardless of gender, but she also understood the expectations on her for being selected “first.” As she flew on STS- 7, she paid tribute to those who made it possible for her to be there: to her family and teachers, to those who made and operated the Space Shuttle, to her crewmates, and to all of her astronaut classmates including Dr. Kathy Sullivan, Dr. Rhea Seddon, Dr. Anna Fisher, Dr. Shannon Lucid, and Dr. Judy Resnick (who lost her life on Challenger). With all of the attention, Sally was a gracious “first.” And the launch of STS- 7 had a unique celebratory flair. Signs around Kennedy Space Center said “Fly Sally Fly.”

1 point

Question 1

Question 1 - In paragraph 4 of the passage from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On,” what does the phrase a heady time mean?

A appealing

B celebrated

C chaotic

D exciting

1 point

Question 2

Question 2 - According to the passage from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On,” which statement best describes the relationship between the author and Sally Ride?

A Dunbar and Ride both studied engineering at the University of Washington.

B Dunbar and Ride both felt that more women should have been in the 1978 astronaut class.

C Dunbar and Ride were colleagues who shared similar career goals.

D Dunbar and Ride were friends who grew up playing the same sport.

1 point

Question 3

Question 3 Part A - What is a central idea of the passage from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On”?

A Sally Ride’s childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut were eventually fulfilled.

B Sally Ride’s preparation allowed her to succeed as one of the first female astronauts.

C In order to be recognized, female astronauts like Sally Ride had to be more creative than men.

D Although Sally Ride and the author met at NASA, they were accepted into different astronaut classes.

1 point

Question 4

Question 3 Part B - What evidence best supports the answer to Part A?

A “A NASA engineer at the Langley Research Center gave me a very early ‘heads up’ in 1973 that they would eventually select women astronauts for the Space Shuttle.” (paragraph 5)

B “The opportunity to fly into space intrigued her and looked like a challenge and rewarding career she could embrace.” (paragraph 6)

C “I had already been in the aerospace industry for several years and had made my choice for ‘space’ at the age of 9 on a cattle ranch. . . .” (paragraph 7)

D “. . . how fortunate we were to have teachers and parents and other mentors who encouraged us to study math and science in school— the enabling subjects for becoming an astronaut.” (paragraph 8)

Read the passage from “To Make It to the Moon, Women Have to Escape Earth’s Gender Bias.” Then answer the questions. 

from “To Make It to the Moon, Women Have to Escape Earth’s Gender Bias” by Mary Robinette Kowal  

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, NASA has started Artemis, a program that aims “to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024, including the first woman and the next man.”  

Although both astronauts have enormous challenges ahead, the first woman will face added hurdles simply because everything in space carries the legacy of Apollo. It was designed by men, for men.  

Not deliberately for men, perhaps, but women were not allowed in the astronaut program until the late 1970s, and none flew until Sally Ride became the first American woman in space, in 1983. By this point, the space program was built around male bodies.  

If we do not acknowledge the gender bias of the early space program, it becomes difficult to move past it. One of the most compelling things about NASA is its approach to failure. Failure is not penalized in its culture; it is valued for the things that it can teach to save lives or resources in the future. As Bobak Ferdowsi, a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has said, “our best mistakes are the ones we can learn from.”  

What are the lessons to be learned from NASA’s failure to fly women during the Apollo era?  

The most recent lesson emerged in April, when NASA had scheduled a spacewalk that was, quite by accident, staffed by two female astronauts. The agency had to restaff the spacewalk because it had only one spacesuit that was the correct size for both women.  

This is not an indictment of NASA in 2019. But it does demonstrate a causal chain that begins with the Apollo program and leads through to present-day staffing choices.  

The suits, known as extravehicular mobility units, were designed more than 40 years ago, based on the designs of the Apollo missions, at a time when all astronauts were men. Only four of the original 18 suits are still rated for spaceflight, and all of those are on the space station.

NASA first planned to have extra-small, small, medium, large and extra-large suits. For budget reasons, the extra- small, small and extra-large suits were cut. However, many of the male astronauts could not fit into the large suits, so the bigger size was brought back.  

The smaller sizes never were.  

Cady Coleman, an astronaut who has flown on two space shuttles and traveled to the space station, stands 5 feet 4 inches tall and remains the smallest person to ever qualify for a spacewalk. While she was training in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab, she had to improvise padding to wear inside her spacesuit.  

Without that, smaller people would have an air bubble inside their suits that would make them spin in the lab’s pool as if a beach ball were strapped to their stomachs. It would not be a problem in space, Ms. Coleman told me. “But the N.B.L. was where people decided if you had what it takes to do a spacewalk,” she said.  

And complaints? Well, no one else previously had that problem, so it must just be the person who complained. As a result, this gender bias became a mistake that we did not learn from, because the female astronauts compensated.

1 point

Question 5

Question 4 - In paragraphs 4 and 5 of the passage from “To Make It to the Moon, Women Have to Escape Earth’s Gender Bias,” the author’s word choice has the effect of

A expressing doubt about NASA.

B conveying sympathy for NASA.

C presenting a challenge to NASA.

D inspiring pride in NASA.

1 point

Question 6

Questino 5 Part A - What is the author’s main purpose for writing the passage from “To Make It to the Moon, Women Have to Escape Earth’s Gender Bias”?

A to criticize NASA’s approach to advancing space exploration

B to discuss NASA’s plans for a return trip to the Moon with male and female astronauts

C to provide the history of the suits used in NASA’s exploration of space

D to explain differences in NASA’s treatment of male and female astronauts

1 point

Question 7

Question 5 Part B - Which two pieces of evidence best support the answer to Part A?

A “. . . NASA has started Artemis, a program that aims ‘to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024, including the first woman and the next man.’” (paragraph 1)

B “Although both astronauts have enormous challenges ahead, the first woman will face added hurdles simply because everything in space carries the legacy of Apollo.” (paragraph 2)

C “If we do not acknowledge the gender bias of the early space program, it becomes difficult to move past it.” (paragraph 4)

D “Only four of the original 18 suits are still rated for spaceflight, and all of those are on the space station.” (paragraph 8)

E “NASA first planned to have extra- small, small, medium, large and extra- large suits.” (paragraph 9)

1 point

Question 8

Question 6 - Which detail from “To Make It to the Moon, Women Have to Escape Earth’s Gender Bias” most contradicts this notion of equality?

A “Failure is not penalized in its culture; it is valued for the things that it can teach to save lives or resources in the future.” (paragraph 4)

B “The agency had to restaff the spacewalk because it had only one spacesuit that was the correct size for both women.” (paragraph 6)

C “The suits, known as extravehicular mobility units, were designed more than 40 years ago. . . .” (paragraph 8)

D “Cady Coleman, an astronaut who has flown on two space shuttles and traveled to the space station, stands 5 feet 4 inches tall and remains the smallest person to ever qualify. . . .” (paragraph 11)

1 point

Question 9

Question 7 - Which statement best describes a difference between the two passages?

A The passage from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On” recounts developments that happened in the 1970s, while the passage from “To Make It to the Moon . . .” focuses on modern space exploration.

B The passage from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On” discusses only Sally Ride’s experiences, while the passage from “To Make It to the Moon . . .” includes the perspectives of many women.

C The passage from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On” expresses opinions about women’s rights, while the passage from “To Make It to the Moon . . .” remains neutral about women’s rights.

D The passage from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On” is written by an objective author, while the passage from “To Make It to the Moon . . .” is written by an author who has an emotional connection to the topic.

1 point

Question 10

10.

Question 8 - The author of the passage from “Sally Ride’s Legacy Lives On” and the author of the passage from “To Make It to the Moon, Women Have to Escape Earth’s Gender Bias” both discuss equality for women in the space program. Write an argument establishing which author provides a more compelling message about the effectiveness of NASA’s efforts to increase equality for female astrona