Question 35
MediumOriginal questionIn most drawings of the Earth and the Moon, the two sit close together on the page, like a ball and a smaller ball beside it. Those drawings are . The Moon is much farther away than most people .
On , it is about 384,400 km from the Earth. That is roughly thirty Earths lined up side by side. Because we can see the Moon so clearly without a telescope, it seems close, but thirty Earths is a very long way.
The word "average" matters here. The Moon's path around the Earth is not a perfect circle, so its distance changes. At its farthest, it is almost thirty-two Earths away; at its closest, between twenty-eight and twenty-nine.
You can see the real gap for yourself. If the Earth were the size of a basketball, the Moon would be about the size of a tennis ball. To show the distance between them correctly, you would have to place the tennis ball more than seven metres away from the basketball, which is a good deal farther than any drawing in a textbook.
Why does the writer include the basketball and tennis ball example?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The paragraph begins "You can see the real gap for yourself", and turns the huge distance into something you could lay out in a room.
Worth noting
The example is about size and distance, not weight or shape.
- Concept
- Recognising the purpose of an example
- Typical timeTypical
- 45 s
- Your timeYours
- —
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