Answers:
<em>1. Lance Kenniston needed a ship to get to an asteroid, but nothing was available.</em>
The most important detail of the passage is the fact that Lance Kenniston needs a ship urgently, but cannot find it. The name of his friend, or his physical characteristics are not vital to the action. Similarly, the name of the port is not the most important part of the passage. Finally, although the characters' desperation is important, it is even more valuable to know the reason for their desperation.
<em>2. A. It tells readers there is something important happening on that asteroid. </em>
If the characters are desperate to get back to the asteroid, we can assume something important is going to happen there within the next two weeks. We do not know whether they are planning on taking it over, whether they are at the wrong location, or whether Kenniston has not tried hard enough. Therefore, none of the other options is possible.
is, am, were, was, are, be - the list is quite extenstive and depends on the sentence they are in.
Linking verbs connect a subject to a predicate adjective or predicate noun - they do not show action.
I think you are correct, but I am not 100% sure...sorry
