Gladys West Measures the Earth
Written by Studio AM.
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Gladys West grew up on a farm in Virginia. She excelled in mathematics at school. After college, she joined a United States Navy laboratory in 1956. Few women there did complex calculations.
West studied information sent by satellites. Earth is not a perfect ball, so finding its exact shape requires many measurements. West helped turn satellite observations into mathematical models of the planet. She checked results and improved the calculations as information arrived.
Those models later supported the Global Positioning System, or GPS. GPS uses a shared model of Earth to express the positions calculated from satellite signals. Her work helped build part of the mathematical foundation used in satellite navigation. Years later, her contribution became widely known. Her story shows that a familiar tool may rest on careful work most users never see.
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Questions
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Question 1 of 4
What is the main idea of the passage?
The answer is B: Gladys West’s careful satellite calculations helped build the Earth models that later supported GPS.
The passage traces West’s mathematical work from satellite data to the Earth models used by GPS.
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Question 2 of 4
Why did West need many measurements to model Earth?
The answer is C: Earth is not a perfect ball.
The text directly explains that Earth’s uneven shape requires many measurements.
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Question 3 of 4
What does “foundation” mean in the final paragraph?
The answer is D: an underlying part that later work depends on
West’s models were an underlying basis for later GPS technology, not a building floor.
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Question 4 of 4
Where did West begin working in 1956?
The answer is A: at a United States Navy laboratory
The opening paragraph says she joined a United States Navy laboratory in 1956.
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