12.Practice.Tests.for.the.SAT_2015-2016_1128p

422
Section 3
Practice Test Five
(85) each of these impacts would raise the average
Martian surface temperature by about 5 degrees
Fahrenheit, causing the melting of a trillion tons
of water, the bombardment of the planet by the
number of asteroids required to change its climate
(90) sufficiently would release the energy equivalent of
a nuclear war, delaying colonization for centuries.
The third option for Martian warming involves
constructing solar-powered, greenhouse gasemitting
factories on the planet similar to the
(95) industrial factories humans have been building
on this planet during the 20th and 21st centuries.
Unlike the industrial factories on this planet,
which produce greenhouse gasses as waste byproducts,
the sole purpose of the network of
(100) factories on Mars would be to produce greenhouse
gasses to thicken the Martian atmosphere
in order to warm the planet. Such factories could
be constructed on Earth and transported to Mars
or constructed on the planet itself, either with
(105) materials transported from Earth or those already
present on Mars.
Each of these methods of Martian warming,
which aims to produce enough greenhouse gasses
to trap sunlight and warm the planet, may
(110) seem daunting logistically and scientifically, but
once started would set in motion a chain reaction.
Once warming begins, it would lead to increased
polar melting and surface thawing, thereby releasing
even more carbon dioxide, which would not
( 115) only continue but also exponentially speed the
terraforming processes. As one NASA scientist
recently wrote: "The Mars atmosphere greenhouse
effect system is thus one with a built-in postive
feedback. The warmer it gets, the thicker the
(120) atmosphere becomes; and the thicker the atmosphere
becomes, the warmer it gets." The melting
ice would form oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams
that would cover over a quarter of the Martian
surface. Once bodies of water form, the last step
(125) requires only the addition of seeds, which when
watered would absorb the carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere and grow into trees that release
oxygen, thereby turning the red planet blue.
16.
17.
18.
In line 26, "catalyst" most nearly means
(A) an agent that brings about significant change
(B) an agent that brings about short-term change
(C) an agent that prematurely brings about a
change
(D) an agent that brings about rapid change
(E) an agent that retards change
In line 31, the author uses "domino" to refer to
(A) a cloak surrounding the Martian atmosphere
(B) the division of the Martian atmosphere into
two parts
(C) Mars's expected behavior in accordance with
theory
(D) the initial step in a succession of atmospheric
events
(E) the cumulative effect produced on the
Martian atmosphere by warming
The third paragraph of the passage ("Warming
stands . .. warming.") suggests that Martian
surface temperatures
(A) are controlled by native greenhouse gasses
(B) are related to atmospheric pressure
( C) will rise as the pressure of the Martian atmosphere
increases
(D) are 1 percent of Earth's average surface temperature
(E) thicken the Martian atmosphere
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