The Poetry of Physics Answers

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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
4

Which excerpt from Billy Collins’s “Man Listening to Disc” best reflects the euphoric effect the narrator experiences from listening to music on his headphones?

A
his music flowing through the soft calipers
B
the pavement sparkling with sunlight
C
The music is loud yet so confidential
D
all I can say is watch your step
6

Which of the following ideas is discussed in both Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Death by Black Hole” and in Billy Collins’s “Man Listening to Disc”?

A
what is present in the center of the universe
B
humanity’s place in relation to the larger universe
C
the universe as a source of inspiration
D
the complexity and beauty of the universe
9

Which statement best explains how Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Death by Black Hole” and Billy Collins’s “Man Listening to Disc” present differing views about the universe?

A
Collins ponders the idea that a person can overcome all obstacles as long as there is music spilling from a headset, while Tyson establishes the idea that human beings are at the mercy of a violent universe.
B
Since Tyson is a scientist, he poses the idea that the universe can be understood through science, while Collins, a poet, argues that art or music holds the key to understanding the world.
C
Collins’s poem puts forth the idea that humans can become the center of the universe, while Tyson reveals that humans are insignificantly small and weak in comparison to a black hole.
D
Tyson’s essay reveals that humanity is powerless when it comes to the larger forces of the universe, while Collins’s poem argues that humanity is the center of the universe, and thus its master.
10

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.

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