Question

read the passage. there are several questions about this passage.
from astronomy: heavenly creatures
1 we are all of us starstruck from the start, mesmerized by the spangled velvet of the nighttime sky, now longing to pull it close, like a mother, now shrinking beneath its inviolate diamond detachment. soon we are able to pick out at least a few of the easier constellations - certainly the big dipper, maybe the little dipper, too, and bossy orion with his bright belt and sword, and the five - star zigzag of cassiopeia. we learn to distinguish between stars and planets by whether they twinkle or shine, for stars are so distant that they appear as mere points of light in the sky, and that light is easily bent and bobbled by turbulence in our atmosphere, while the planets are close enough that their radiance passes through air with scarcely a diversion or refraction, and so planets will bluntly, unwinkingly shine. indeed, with an ordinary backyard telescope and under the right conditions, you can see the cheeky spheroid faces of our siblings in the solar system - jupiter and its red spot which is really a giant gaseous hurricane big enough to engulf three earths and which has lasted for at least four hundred years; saturn and its hallmark hula - hoops of ice, dust, and rock; tangerine mars and moon - white venus. but even our most powerful telescopes cannot resolve the disk of an extrasolar star, no matter how massive the star may be; all stars are too far away to be sized and analyzed as anything but points of light.
2 we stare and stare at the night, looking for something, anything, to make sense of the thundering silence - voiceover, pantomime, anagram, vulcan mind - meld. cant you just say something? dont you hear us? here we are! and as we stare, we see a streak of light, a wild platinum cat scratch piercing the mute tuxedo screen, and were thrilled, each time, and filled again with goofy hope. a shooting star! i saw a shooting star! did you? well, just keep looking. youll see one, too. oh, we know theyre not stars. they are meteoroids, space debris, the bits of interplanetary rock with which our
why is paragraph 1 an effective introduction to the topic discussed in the passage?

1. it describes the planets in a humorous way to reveal that there are aspects of the universe that are comical and entertaining.
2. it provides an explanation about the size of jupiters red spot to give readers the background knowledge they need to understand the passage.
3. it engages readers with the surprising information that anyone with access to a simple telescope can get a close - up view of jupiter, saturn, mars, or venus.
4. it establishes the claim that humans have a contradictory relationship with the night sky by portraying the sky as something that is both familiar and unknowable.

Explanation:

The first - paragraph starts by describing humans' fascination with the night - sky, then mentions common constellations and the difference between stars and planets. It also gives the example of what can be seen with a simple telescope. This engages readers with the idea that even with a basic telescope, one can view planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, or Venus up - close, which is surprising information. Option 1 is incorrect as it doesn't describe planets humorously to show the comic side of the universe. Option 2 is wrong as it doesn't explain Jupiter's red - spot size for background knowledge. Option 4 is incorrect as it doesn't establish a contradictory relationship between humans and the night - sky.

Answer:

1. It engages readers with the surprising information that anyone with access to a simple telescope can get a close - up view of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, or Venus.