.
Read this excerpt from a student’s essay that compares and contrasts Earth to Mars. What points are being compared about the subjects?
In the entire solar system, Mars boasts general features that are some of the biggest, widest, and deepest. One of its standouts is the immense Olympus Mons, a volcano of such size and scale that its own peak reaches above most of the Martian atmosphere. Olympus Mons could not even exist on Earth; with Earth's stronger gravity field, the massive volcano would collapse under its own weight if it were here. The Martian giant rises about 23 kilometers from the surrounding plains. On Earth, the closest thing resembling this volcanic giant is the Mauna Loa peak on Hawaii, which rises about 10 kilometers from its base on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Both of these mountains are dramatically taller than the Himalayan Mt. Everest. But Mt. Everest is not a volcano; both Mauna Loa and Olympus Mons are.