GRE Prep Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Dr Robert H. Goddard, at one time a physics professor at Clark Univers
[#permalink]
19 Oct 2025, 22:52
19 Oct 2025, 22:52
Expert Reply
Question 1
00:00
Question Stats:
75% (02:39) correct
25% (01:14) wrong based on 12 sessions
Hide Show timer Statistics
Question 2
00:00
Question Stats:
60% (01:26) correct
40% (01:52) wrong based on 5 sessions
Hide Show timer Statistics
Question 3
00:00
Question Stats:
29% (01:50) correct
71% (01:36) wrong based on 7 sessions
Hide Show timer Statistics
Dr Robert H. Goddard, at one time a physics professor at Clark University. Worcester, Massachusetts, was largely responsible for the sudden interest in rockets back in the twenties. When Dr Goddard first started his experiments with rockets, no related technical information was available. He started a new science, and field of engineering. Through his scientific experiments, he pointed the way to the development of rockets as we know them today. The Smithsonian Institute agreed to finance his experiments in 1920. From these experiments, he wrote a paper titled 'A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes,' in which he outlined a space rocket of the step (multistage) principle, theoretically capable of reaching the moon.
Goddard discovered that with a properly shaped, smooth, tapered nozzle, he could increase the ejection velocity eight times with the same weight of fuel. This would not only drive a rocket eight times faster, but sixty-four times farther, according to his theory. Early in his experiments he found that solid-fuel rockets would not give him the high power or the duration of power needed for a dependable supersonic motor capable of extreme altitudes. On March 16, 1926 after many trials, Dr Goddard successfully fired, for the first time in history, a liquid-fuel rocket into the air. It attained an altitude of 184 feet and a speed of 60 mph . This seems small as compared to present-day speeds and heights of missile flights, but instead of trying to achieve speed or altitude at this time, Dr Goddard was trying to develop a dependable rocket motor.
Dr Goddard later was the first to fire a rocket that reached a speed faster than the speed of sound. He was the first to develop a gyroscopic steering apparatus for rockets. He was the first to use vanes in the jet stream for rocket stabilization during the initial phase of a rocket flight. And he was the first to patent the idea of step rockets. After proving on paper and in actual tests that a rocket can travel in a vacuum, he developed the mathematical theory of rocket propulsion and rocket flight, including basic designs for long-range rockets. All of this information was available to our military men before World War II, but evidently, its immediate use did not seem applicable. Near the end of World War II, we started intense work on rocketpowered guided missiles, using the experiments and developments of Dr Goddard and the American Rocket Society.
Goddard discovered that with a properly shaped, smooth, tapered nozzle, he could increase the ejection velocity eight times with the same weight of fuel. This would not only drive a rocket eight times faster, but sixty-four times farther, according to his theory. Early in his experiments he found that solid-fuel rockets would not give him the high power or the duration of power needed for a dependable supersonic motor capable of extreme altitudes. On March 16, 1926 after many trials, Dr Goddard successfully fired, for the first time in history, a liquid-fuel rocket into the air. It attained an altitude of 184 feet and a speed of 60 mph . This seems small as compared to present-day speeds and heights of missile flights, but instead of trying to achieve speed or altitude at this time, Dr Goddard was trying to develop a dependable rocket motor.
Dr Goddard later was the first to fire a rocket that reached a speed faster than the speed of sound. He was the first to develop a gyroscopic steering apparatus for rockets. He was the first to use vanes in the jet stream for rocket stabilization during the initial phase of a rocket flight. And he was the first to patent the idea of step rockets. After proving on paper and in actual tests that a rocket can travel in a vacuum, he developed the mathematical theory of rocket propulsion and rocket flight, including basic designs for long-range rockets. All of this information was available to our military men before World War II, but evidently, its immediate use did not seem applicable. Near the end of World War II, we started intense work on rocketpowered guided missiles, using the experiments and developments of Dr Goddard and the American Rocket Society.
1. Which of the following questions does the passage answer the best?
(A) How did Dr Goddard become interested in rocket science?
(B) How did Dr Goddard develop the new field of rocket science?
(C) How is a multistage rocket capable of reaching the moon?
(D) Why is liquid fuel more dependable than solid fuel?
(E) How did the American Rocket Society get its start?
2. One can assume from the article that:
(A) All factors being equal, the proper shape of the rocket nozzle would increase the ejection velocity and travel distance.
(B) Solid-fuel rockets would give higher power and duration.
(C) A blunt nozzle would negatively affect speed and distance.
(D) Supersonic motors are needed for extreme altitude.
(E) The first successfully fired liquid-fueled rocket was for developing a dependable rocket motor.
3. The first step in Dr Goddard's development of a feasible rocket was
(A) The mathematical theory of rocket propulsion and rocket flight.
(B) The development of liquid-rocket fuel.
(C) The development and use of vanes for rocket stabilizing.
(D) The development of the gyroscope.
(E) His thesis for multistage rocket design.
- Part of the project: GRE Hard and Tricky Verbal Practice: NEW Questions Daily - Gain 20 Kudos & Get FREE Access to GRE Prep Club TESTS
- Also replying to the unanswered questions
Re: Dr Robert H. Goddard, at one time a physics professor at Clark Univers
[#permalink]
09 Nov 2025, 01:56
09 Nov 2025, 01:56
Expert Reply
Question 1
The passage focuses mainly on Goddard's experiments and discoveries that started the field of rocket science, including:
- Lack of prior technical information $\rightarrow$ he started a new field.
- Nozzle shape improvements.
- Shift from solid to liquid fuel.
- First liquid-fuel rocket launch.
- First supersonic rocket, steering, stabilization, step rockets, etc.
It's essentially a chronological account of his contributions to rocket science development.
(A) How he became interested - not really covered.
(B) How he developed the new field - yes, this matches the content.
(C) How a multistage rocket reaches the moon - only mentioned briefly, not explained in detail.
(D) Why liquid fuel more dependable - partly mentioned but not the main focus.
(E) American Rocket Society start - barely mentioned at the end, not the focus.
Best answer: (B)
The passage focuses mainly on Goddard's experiments and discoveries that started the field of rocket science, including:
- Lack of prior technical information $\rightarrow$ he started a new field.
- Nozzle shape improvements.
- Shift from solid to liquid fuel.
- First liquid-fuel rocket launch.
- First supersonic rocket, steering, stabilization, step rockets, etc.
It's essentially a chronological account of his contributions to rocket science development.
(A) How he became interested - not really covered.
(B) How he developed the new field - yes, this matches the content.
(C) How a multistage rocket reaches the moon - only mentioned briefly, not explained in detail.
(D) Why liquid fuel more dependable - partly mentioned but not the main focus.
(E) American Rocket Society start - barely mentioned at the end, not the focus.
Best answer: (B)
Re: Dr Robert H. Goddard, at one time a physics professor at Clark Univers
[#permalink]
09 Nov 2025, 01:57
09 Nov 2025, 01:57
Expert Reply
Notice how the OA is E but I think is A
Question 2
We're asked what we can assume from the article.
(A) "All factors being equal, the proper shape of the rocket nozzle would increase the ejection velocity and travel distance."
- Yes, paragraph 2 says with properly shaped nozzle, ejection velocity increased $8 \times$, speed $8 \times$ faster, distance $64 \times$ farther.
(B) "Solid-fuel rockets would give higher power and duration."
- No, he found they would not give the high power or duration needed.
(C) "A blunt nozzle would negatively affect speed and distance."
- Implied, but not directly stated; the passage emphasizes benefits of tapered nozzle, so the opposite would be worse, but (A) is directly supported.
(D) "Supersonic motors are needed for extreme altitude."
- Not explicitly stated as a necessity for all extreme altitude, though he sought a supersonic motor for that purpose.
(E) "The first successfully fired liquid-fueled rocket was for developing a dependable rocket motor."
- True, but that's directly stated, not an assumption.
The question says "assume" - but in GMAT reading comp, "assume" often means "infer." Between (A) and (E), (E) is directly stated, so not an assumption. (A) is a valid inference from the nozzle discussion.
Best answer: (A)
Question 2
We're asked what we can assume from the article.
(A) "All factors being equal, the proper shape of the rocket nozzle would increase the ejection velocity and travel distance."
- Yes, paragraph 2 says with properly shaped nozzle, ejection velocity increased $8 \times$, speed $8 \times$ faster, distance $64 \times$ farther.
(B) "Solid-fuel rockets would give higher power and duration."
- No, he found they would not give the high power or duration needed.
(C) "A blunt nozzle would negatively affect speed and distance."
- Implied, but not directly stated; the passage emphasizes benefits of tapered nozzle, so the opposite would be worse, but (A) is directly supported.
(D) "Supersonic motors are needed for extreme altitude."
- Not explicitly stated as a necessity for all extreme altitude, though he sought a supersonic motor for that purpose.
(E) "The first successfully fired liquid-fueled rocket was for developing a dependable rocket motor."
- True, but that's directly stated, not an assumption.
The question says "assume" - but in GMAT reading comp, "assume" often means "infer." Between (A) and (E), (E) is directly stated, so not an assumption. (A) is a valid inference from the nozzle discussion.
Best answer: (A)
