Grade 7 Practice Comprehension March 2015

Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was a pivotal figure in the development of modern astronomy, both because of his contributions directly to astronomy, and because of his work in physics and its relation to astronomy. He provided the crucial observations that proved the Copernican hypothesis, and also laid the foundations for a correct understanding of how objects moved on the surface of the earth (dynamics) and of gravity.

Galileo did not invent the telescope but he was the first to use the telescope to study the heavens systematically. His little telescope was poorer than even a cheap modern amateur telescope, but what he observed in the heavens rocked the very foundations of Aristotle's universe and the theological-philosophical worldview that it supported. It is said that what Galileo saw was so disturbing for some officials of the Church that they refused to even look through his telescope; they reasoned that the Devil was capable of making anything appear in the telescope, so it was best not to look through it.

Galileo observed the Sun through his telescope and saw that the Sun had dark patches on it that we now call sunspots. Furthermore, he observed motion of the sunspots indicating that the Sun was rotating on an axis. These "blemishes" on the Sun were contrary to the doctrine of an unchanging perfect substance in the heavens, and the rotation of the Sun made it less strange that the Earth might rotate on an axis too, as required in the Copernican model.

Galileo made extensive contributions to our understanding of the laws governing the motion of objects. The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment may be fictional. It is likely that Galileo himself did not drop two objects of very different weight from the tower to prove that they would hit the ground at the same time. However, it is certain that Galileo understood the principle involved, and probably did similar experiments. The realization that, as we would say in modern terms, the acceleration due to gravity is independent of the weight of an object was important to the formulation of a theory of gravitation by Newton.

1. Who is Galileo Galilei? What are some of his inventions mentioned in the above passage?

2.What was Galileo's contribution to the Copernican model?

3. How did Galileo's telescope affect the Church's views on science?

4. Why are people so afraid of change?

5.From the passage pick out a word which means 'important'

6. Pick out the antonym of  "professional"  from the passage

7. Write a few lines on Galileo's contribution towards our understanding of the universe.