Answers2026-2027_MDCPS_1001375_English 3 B-CRAnalyzing Layers of Meaning in The Surrender Tree

The Poetry of Physics Answers

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4

Which excerpt from Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Death by Black Hole” best provides evidence that escape from a black hole is impossible?

A
. . . the speed required to escape a black hole is greater than the speed of light itself. . . . light travels at exactly 299,792,458 meters per second in a vacuum and is the fastest stuff in the universe.
B
But if the black hole were 6,000 feet across, then the same man’s feet would be only one-tenth of 1 percent closer to the center than his head, and the difference in gravity—the tidal force—would be correspondingly small.
C
Meanwhile, the stuff within the event horizon has collapsed to an infinitesimal point at the black hole’s center. So black holes are not so much deadly objects as they are deadly regions of space.
D
If you stumbled upon a black hole and found yourself falling feet-first toward its center, then as you got closer, the black hole’s force of gravity would grow astronomically.
6

Which excerpt from Billy Collins’s “Man Listening to Disc” best supports the idea that the speaker uses the music to isolate himself from others?

A
as if he were right beside meon this clear day in March,the pavement sparkling with sunlight,
B
In fact, I would saymy delight at being suffusedwith phrases from his saxophone—some like honey, some like vinegar—
C
And I bow deeply to Thelonious Monkfor figuring out a wayto motorize—or whatever—his huge pianoso he could be with us today.
D
The music is loud yet so confidentialI cannot help feeling even morelike the center of the universe
7

Read the excerpt from Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Death by Black Hole.”As far as I know, nobody has ever been eaten by a black hole, but there is compelling evidence to suggest that black holes in the universe routinely dine upon wayward stars and unsuspecting gas clouds. As a cloud approaches a black hole, it hardly ever falls straight in. Unlike your choreographed feet-first fall, a gas cloud is typically drawn into orbit before it spirals to its destruction. The parts of the cloud that are closer to the black hole will orbit faster than the parts that are farther away. Known as differential rotation, this simple shearing can have extraordinary astrophysical consequences. As the cloud layers spiral closer to the event horizon they heat up, from internal friction, to upwards of a million degrees— much hotter than any known star. The gas glows blue-hot as it becomes a copious source of ultraviolet and x-ray energy. What started as an isolated, invisible black hole (minding its own business) has now become an invisible black hole encircled by a gaseous speedway, ablaze with high-energy radiation.Which of the following suggestions would be most beneficial for a reader in order to gain a better understanding of the information presented in this excerpt?

A
Skim encyclopedias to learn star names and locations.
B
Review scientific journals explaining the various types of clouds.
C
Read a variety of sources about the formation of black holes.
D
Search web pages focused on personal encounters with black holes.
8

Which excerpt from “Man Listening to Disc” best supports the idea that when the speaker listens to music he is the center of his own world?

A
my delight at being suffusedwith phrases from his saxophone—some like honey, some like vinegar—is surpassed only by my gratitude
B
to the woman in the white sweater,the man in the tan raincoat and the heavy glasses,who mistake themselves for the center of the universe— all I can say is watch your step
C
because the five of us, instruments and all,are about to angle overto the south side of the streetand then, in our own tightly knit way,
D
the only true point of view,is full of the hope that he,the hub of the cosmoswith his hair blown sideways,

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