Question

read the following selection and then answer the question.

on july 1, mission controllers commanded jason - 1 into a safe hold state that reinitialized the satellite. after making several more unsuccessful attempts to locate a signal, mission managers at cnes and nasa decided to proceed with decommissioning jason - 1. the satellite was then commanded to turn off its magnetometer and reaction wheels. without these attitude control systems, jason - 1 and its solar panels will slowly drift away from pointing at the sun and its batteries will discharge, leaving it totally inert within the next 90 days. the spacecraft will not reenter earth’s atmosphere for at least 1,000 years.

source: nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/jason20130703.html

what is the central idea of the passage?

○ jason - 1 is drifting away from pointing at the sun.

○ the magnetometer and reaction wheels of jason - 1 are turned off.

○ the batteries of jason - 1 are failing slowly.

○ jason - 1 is decommissioned and will not work any further.

Explanation:

To find the central idea, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: "Jason - 1 is drifting away from pointing at the sun" is a result of decommissioning, not the main idea.
• Option 2: "The magnetometer and reaction wheels of Jason - 1 are turned off" is a step in the decommissioning process, not the central idea.
• Option 3: "The batteries of Jason - 1 are failing slowly" is also a result of decommissioning, not the main idea.
• Option 4: The passage starts with mission managers deciding to decommission Jason - 1, then describes the steps (turning off systems) that lead to it becoming inert. So the central idea is that Jason - 1 is decommissioned and will not work further.

Answer:

D. Jason - 1 is decommissioned and will not work any further.