Hi Everyone!! This article will share George’s Secret Key to the Universe Questions & Answers.
This chapter is adapted from George’s Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking. In one of my previous posts, I have shared Feathered Friend Questions & Answers so, you can check that post as well.
George’s Secret Key to the Universe Questions & Answers
Question 1: Whom does George meet in the abandoned house?
Answer: George meets a girl called Annie and her father Eric in the abandoned house.
Question 2: Who is Cosmos?
Answer: Cosmos is Eric’s special computer.
Question 3: Read the line given below and answer the questions:
“I am cleverer than Eric too.”
(a) Who says these lines?
Answer: Cosmos says these lines.
(b) Is the speaker really cleverer than Eric? How did he prove himself?
Answer: Yes, he is. He reminded Eric about the oath.
(c) What did he ask George to do?
Answer: He asked George to take the oath of the scientist before he could show him how the star is born.
Question 4: What did Eric want Cosmos to show George?
Answer: Eric wanted cosmos to show George how a star is born.
Question 5: What was on the other side of the window?
Answer: On the other side of the window was an incredible, vast darkness, peppered with what looked like tiny bright stars.
George’s Secret Key to the Universe Questions & Answers
Question 6: Read the line given below and answer the questions:
“It had a big sheet of glass in the pane and a metal frame.”
(a) What is being described here?
Answer: The window to the Universe hanging in mid-air that Cosmos had drawn in the middle of Eric’s sitting room.
(b) What was special about the view?
Answer: It was not the view that can usually be seen out of a window, or even be visible to the human eye. It was the view of outer space.
(c) What did George do when he saw it? How did it make him feel?
Answer: George tried to count the stars. He was astonished by the view.
Question 7: Why does Cosmos think it is the most powerful computer in the world?
Answer: Cosmos believes himself to be the most powerful computer in the world, even cleverer than Eric, as he can compute billions of numbers in a nanosecond. He can also compute the life of planets, of comets, of stars and of galaxies.
Question 8: How did Cosmos create the window to the Universe?
Answer: The room slowly got darker. After a few seconds, a tiny beam of very bright white light came directly from Cosmos’s screen. The beam shot out into the middle of the room. It sketched a shape in the air which was the window to the Universe.
Question 9: Read the lines given below and answer the questions:
“It was a beautiful sight. George gazed at it, amazed by its power.”
(a) What is being described here?
Answer: The birth of a star is described here.
(b) Why was George amazed to see it?
Answer: George was amazed to see the newly-born star shining steadily in the distance. It was something that he had never seen before.
(c) What does he ask Eric after seeing this?
Answer: He asks Eric if the star will keep shining like that forever.
George’s Secret Key to the Universe Questions & Answers
Question 10: What was the patch of total darkness in the bottom corner of the window?
Answer: The patch of total darkness in the bottom corner of the window was a cloud made of gas and dust.
Question 11: What was the huge cloud in the outer space made up of? What was happening inside it?
Answer: The huge cloud in the outer space was made up of many tiny particles floating around inside it. The particles moved round and round gathering more particles. As they spun around, they shrunk and got hotter. The hotter they grew, the brighter they were.
Question 12: What happened as the giant balls spun round and round?
Answer: As the giant balls spun round and round instead of getting bigger, they seemed to be getting smaller, as though something was squeezing them.
Question 13: Describe the Oath of the Scientist.
Answer: The Oath of the Scientist is to use one’s scientific knowledge for the good of the humanity and never harm anyone with it. It is to be courageous and careful in the quest for knowledge about the mysteries of the Universe and not use that knowledge for personal gain or pass it to those who seek to destroy the Earth. And if anyone breaks this Oath, may the beauty and the wonder of the Universe forever remain hidden from them.
Question 14: What is a nuclear fusion reaction?
Answer: When a huge amount of gas and dust combines and shrinks to become dense and hot, the particles in the middle of the ball are so pressed together that they start to fuse or join up, releasing an enormous amount of energy. This is called a nuclear fusion reaction.
Question 15: “George could feel the heat from where he sat on the sofa.” What was causing the heat?
Answer: The particles inside the enormous cloud moved round and round and gathered more particles. As they spun around, they also got smaller and smaller. They shrank and also caused a lot of heat. It was this heat that George could feel from where he sat on the sofa.
So, these were George’s Secret Key to the Universe Questions & Answers.