Direction:- Each passage below is accompanied by a number of questions. For some questions, you will consider how the passage might be revised to improve the expression of ideas. For other questions, you will consider how the passage might be edited to correct errors in sentence structure, usage, or punctuation. A passage or a question may be accompanied by one or more graphics (such as a table or graph) that you will consider as you make revising and editing decisions.
Some questions will direct you to an underlined portion of a passage. Other questions will direct you to a location in a passage or ask you to think about the passage as a whole.
After reading each passage, choose the answer to each question that most effectively improves the quality of writing in the passage or that makes the passage conform to the conventions of standard written English. Many questions include a “NO CHANGE” option. Choose that option if you think the best choice is to leave the relevant portion of the passage as it is.
NASA: A Space Program with Down-to-Earth Benefits
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a US government agency whose budget is frequently Q1 many times contested. Many people think of NASA’s programs as trivial. In truth, the agency has a widespread positive Q2 effect on society by serving as a catalyst for innovation and scientific understanding, Q3 to create jobs, and showing humanity its place within the universe.
In 1958, the program’s first year, very few people believed that it was even possible for a manned spacecraft to leave the atmosphere and orbit Earth. But by initiating and collaborating on projects such as the Apollo Moon missions, the space shuttle program, the Hubble Space Q4 Telescope, and unmanned planetary exploration, NASA has continually challenged its scientists and engineers to do things that were previously thought impossible. All along, these NASA projects have Q5 greatly increased international cooperation. A short list of inventions Q6 elaborated by NASA includes communications satellites, invisible braces, and cordless tools. All these inventions Q7 spawns new industries, and with those industries, jobs. NASA also sponsors the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, which are specifically designed to support technological development in the private sector.
[1] A report by the Space Foundation estimated that NASA contributed $180 billion to the economy in 2005. [2] More than 60 percent of the contribution Q8 coming from commercial goods and services created by companies using space-related technology. [3] This translates as excellent returns from an agency that received approximately 17.7 billion in tax dollars in 2014. [4] This investment by taxpayers enhances not only the national economy but also the United States’ competitiveness in the international market. [5] Moreover, the benefits of NASA funding extend beyond the purely economic, as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson indicated in his testimony before the US Senate: “For...a penny on a dollar—we can transform the country from a sullen, dispirited nation, weary of economic struggle, to one where it has reclaimed its twentieth-century birthright to dream of tomorrow.” Q9
Tyson’s expansive vision for the agency hints at another mission of NASA’s, illuminated in this observation by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell: “You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it.” Q10 With world population topping seven billion, humanity is in need of some perspective. Q11 Therefore, we should continue to support NASA not only for practical reasons but also because it is a necessary vehicle for increasing our awareness of how we can fulfill our responsibilities to the planet and each other.