Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow. Just as the…
2025
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.
Just as the oceans opened up a new world for clipper ships and Yankee traders, space holds enormous potential for commerce today. The International Space Station (ISS) took 10 years and more than 30 missions to assemble. It is the result of unprecedented scientific and engineering collaboration among five space agencies representing 15 countries. The space station is approximately the size of a football field: a 460-ton, permanently crewed platform orbiting 250 miles above Earth. It is about four times as large as the Russian space station Mir and five times as large as the U.S. Skylab. The idea of a space station was once science fiction, existing only in the imagination until it became clear in the 1940s that construction of such a structure might be attainable by our nation. As the Space Age began in the 1950s, designs of 'space planes' and stations dominated popular media. The first rudimentary station was created in 1969 by the linking of two Russian Soyuz vehicles in space, followed by other stations and developments in space technology until construction began on the ISS in 1998, aided by the first reusable spacecraft ever developed: the American shuttles. Until recently, U.S. research space onboard the ISS had been reserved for mostly government initiatives, but new opportunities for commercial and academic use of the ISS are now available, facilitated by the ISS National Lab.
According to the passage, which of the following options is NOT a fact?
- A.
The space station is approximately the size of a football field.
- B.
The ISS took 10 years and more than 30 missions to assemble.
- C.
The ISS is five times the size of the Russian space station Mir.
- D.
The first station was created by linking two Russian Soyuz vehicles.
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: In a 'which of the following is NOT a fact' passage question, a fact is a detail the passage states accurately; the check is to compare each option's specific number, comparison, or attributed action word-for-word against the passage's own wording, not against what sounds generally plausible.
Application: The passage gives four checkable details: the station's size compared to a football field; the assembly timeline of 10 years and more than 30 missions; the station's size compared to Mir and to Skylab; and the creation of the first rudimentary station by linking two Russian Soyuz vehicles.
Contrast: - Size vs a football field: the passage's own wording states the station is approximately the size of a football field, which is exactly what this option repeats. - Assembly timeline: the passage's own wording gives 10 years and more than 30 missions, which is exactly what this option repeats. - Size vs Mir and Skylab: the passage's own wording attaches a four-times multiple to Mir and a five-times multiple to Skylab; an option that assigns the five-times multiple to Mir has swapped the two comparisons. - First station's creation: the passage's own wording attributes it to linking two Russian Soyuz vehicles, which is exactly what this option repeats.
Cross-check: Re-reading the exact sentence -- 'about four times as large as ... Mir and five times as large as ... Skylab' -- confirms the two multiples are tied to two different stations, not interchangeable.
Result: Only the statement assigning a five-times multiple to Mir departs from the passage's own wording, which reserves that multiple for Skylab, so that is the statement that is NOT a fact.