1)
Go back to review the author‘s point in context. The author follows the ―little
Ptolemies‖ statement with the elaboration that ―the sun rises and sets upon us.‖
Looking for an answer choice that fits this earth-cantered point of view immediately
turns up (A).
(A): The correct answer
(B): Distortion. While the author discusses the astronomers, he‘s not using them to
compare their knowledge to regular people, but to contrast their different
astronomical views.
(C): Out of Scope. The author is arguing that ―most of us‖ have little knowledge of
astronomy and so don‘t understand the complexities of space. The case of
those who do have this knowledge is outside the scope of the comment.
(D): Out of Scope. While this might be true, it doesn‘t tie into the author‘s point
about Ptolemies: most don‘t understand the complexities of the universe.
(E): Out of scope.
2)
Go back to ¶3 to review what the author says about Copernicus. The author
mentions Lamb who says that he sees Venus by its brightness. The author follows
this with the statement, ―Lamb was no Copernican, and neither are most of us.‖
Paraphrase this: Copernicus had a good enough grasp of astronomy to understand
what Venus was doing, but we can‘t. (C) captures all of this.
(A): Opposite. While the author implies that the appearance of Venus changes over
a long period of time, this doesn‘t mean that Venus is only visible during a
certain range of years. The author also argues in ¶4 that Venus isn’t visible
between May and July.(B): Opposite. The author argues in ¶4 that between May and July, Venus isn‘t
visible.
(C): The correct answer
(D): Out of Scope. While the author mentions in ¶1 that it‘s difficult to see much in
the Manhattan sky, there‘s no indication from the author that environmental
efforts should be made.
(E): Out of scope.
3)
Review the location of the author‘s main points about the evening star, primarily in
¶s 1 and 4. As usual with this question type, keep an eye out for something that
contradicts the author‘s argument. (A) not only does this, but also makes no sense.
The author argues in ¶4 that Venus is invisible when passing between the earth
and the sun, which makes sense if one has to look in the direction of the sun to see
Venus.
(A): The correct answer
(B): Opposite. This is a combination of the author‘s points in ¶s 2 and 4 about
Venus‘ visibility during time of day and month.
(C): Opposite. The author makes this point in ¶1.
(D): Opposite. The author states this explicitly in ¶2
(E): Opposite. This can be inferred from the information in the passage.