Passage V

     For three generations of human beings there was-as an ever-present, but almost unperceived, part of their lives-a sound that beckoned, a call that pierced the night, carrying the news that there was a way, not so very difficult, to leave Twin Forks, North Dakota, or Apalachicola, Florida, or Brooklyn, New York.  It was the wail of the night freight, as haunting and evocative as the cry of the loon.  It was a constant reminder that there are vehicles, devices, which, if boarded, could propel you at high velocity out of your little world into a vaster universe of forests and deserts, seacoasts and cities.

     Especially in the United States, but perhaps over much of the world, few people today travel by train.  There are whole generations growing up which have never heard that siren call.  This is the moment of the homogenization of the world, when the diversities of societies are eroding, when a global civilization is emerging.  There are no exotic places left on Earth to dream about.

     An for this reason there remains an even greater and more poignant need today for a vehicle, a device, to get us somewhere else.  Not all of us; only a few-to the deserts of the Moon, the ancient seacoasts of Mars, the forest of the sky.  There is something comforting in the idea that one day a few representatives of our little terrestrial village might venture to the great galactic cities.

     There are as yet no interstellar trains, no machines to get us to the stars.  But one day they may be here.  We will have constructed them or we will have attracted them.

     And then there will once again be the whistle of the night freight.  Not the antique sort of whistle, for sound does not carry in interplanetary space or in the emptiness between the stars.  But there will be something, perhaps the flash from magnetobrehmstrahlung, as the starship approaches the velocity of light.  There will be a sign.

     Looking out on a clear night from the continent-sized cities and vast game preserves that may be our future on this planet, youngsters will dream that when they are grown, if they are very lucky, they will catch the night freight to the stars.

From Carl Sagan, The Cosmic Connection.  copyright 1973 by Carl Sagan and Jerome Agel.

15.    As it is used in paragraph two of the passage, the word siren most nearly means
A.    shrill.
B.    foreign.
C.    tempting.
D.    frightening.

16.    Which of the following statements offers the best paraphrase of the fifth paragraph?
A.    Someday the sound of the night freight whistle will be heard again by the youngsters of Earth.
B.    Someday the signal from a starship will cause the same emotional response the night freight whistle once caused.
C.    The sound of the night freight whistle and the signal from a future starship are both associated with darkness.
D.    The night freight whistle was detected by the ears, whereas the starship signal will be detected by another sense.

17.    Which of the following patterns does the author use to tell the story of future travel by starship?
A.    time order
B.    cause/effect
C.    simple listing
D.    comparison/contrast

18.    Assuming each of the following statements is true, which would the author be most likely to add in order to expand the main idea of the passage?
A.    Human beings tend to be dreamers.
B.    Probably nothing travels faster than light.
C.    Distant galactic inhabitants may be hostile to us.
D.    Creatures on other planets may be superior to us.

19.    In the context of the passage, what significant feature do Brooklyn, New York, and planet Earth share?
A.    Both are familiar places from which youngsters long to travel.
B.    Both are loved by their inhabitants because they are home.
C.    Both are becoming uninhabitable because of overcrowding.
D.    Both would seem exotic to travelers from other galaxies.

20.    Given the general thrust of the passage, which of the following adjectives would the author be most likely to use to describe future interstellar travel?
A.    informational
B.    dangerous
C.    exciting
D.    ironic