©2016TheCollegeBoard.CollegeBoard,SAT,andtheacornlogoareregisteredtrademarksoftheCollegeBoard.PracticeEssay#8MaketimetotakethepracticeEssay.It’soneofthebestwaystogetreadyfortheSATEssay.Forinformationonscoringyouressay,viewtheSATEssayscoringrubricatsat.org/essay.5NS16EAsyoureadthepassagebelow,considerhowBobbyBraunuses•evidence,suchasfactsorexamples,tosupportclaims.•reasoningtodevelopideasandtoconnectclaimsandevidence.•stylisticorpersuasiveelements,suchaswordchoiceorappealstoemotion,toaddpowertotheideasexpressed.AdaptedfromBobbyBraun,“SpaceTechnology:ACriticalInvestmentforOurNation’sFuture.”©2014byCapitolHillPublishingCorp.OriginallypublishedintheHill,October27,2011.1Aerospaceremainsastrongcomponentofournationalfabricandisthelargestpositivecontributortoournation’stradebalance.However,thistechnologicalleadershippositionisnotagiven.Toremaintheleaderinaerospacetechnology,wemustcontinuetoperformresearchandinvestinthepeoplewhowillcreatethebreakthroughsoftomorrow,preservingacriticalcomponentofournation’seconomiccompetitivenessforfuturegenerations.2ForNASA,1pastcutting-edgetechnologyinvestmentsledtodesignandflightoftheApollomissions,thespaceshuttle,theInternationalSpaceStationandamyriadofroboticexplorersthatallowedustoreachdestinationsacrossoursolarsystemandpeeracrosstheuniverse.NASAremainsoneofthenation’spremiereresearchanddevelopmentagencies,pursuingbreakthroughtechnologiesthatwillexpandthefrontiersofaeronauticsandspace.3Unfortunately,thepioneeringspiritembodiedbythisstoriedagencyisendangeredasaresultofchronicunderinvestmentinbasicandappliedresearch.InarecentreportonthestateofNASA’stechnologyplans,theNationalResearchCouncilofferedastarkassessment:“SuccessinexecutingfutureNASAspacemissionswilldependonadvancedtechnologydevelopmentsthatshouldalreadybeunderway.However,ithasbeenyearssinceNASAhashadavigorous,broad-basedprograminadvancedspacetechnology.NASA’stechnologybaseislargelydepleted.Currently,availabletechnologyisinsufficienttoaccomplishmanyintendedspacem...
