Building Kits Shatter/Google Science Fair Winner Invents Ebola Test

Which sentence best introduces the main idea of the article titled "Building Kits Shatter..." 

• For decades, toymakers believed that boys wanted to build things and girls wanted to play princess.
• But women are now leading huge corporations, including Yahoo and General Motors, and more women are becoming engineers and mathematicians. 
• Parents, too, are demanding toys that inspire a love of science and math in their daughters.
• As a result, construction toys, and the new demand for them from girls, are a bright spot in the toy industry, which sells $22 billion in toys each year.

Which sentence from the article provides the BEST evidence that parents are behind the change in toys?

• Parents, too, are demanding toys that inspire a love of science and math in their daughters.
• Parents are increasingly more open to toys that cross traditional ideas of what boys and girls do.
• “Parents are telling kids it’s OK to be different,” said Michael Swartz, a business analyst.
  
• Nowadays, dads are taking on a bigger share of child-care duties.

It worked. Only one out of 10 Lego sets used to be bought for girls. Eight months after Friends turned up in stores, that went up. The number became one in every four.

Which answer option BEST describes the structure of the paragraph?

• an event
• a story
• problem/solution
• cause/effect

Read the opening sentence from the article.
For decades, toymakers believed that boys wanted to build things and girls wanted to play princess.
Which answer option BEST describes the role the introductory sentence plays in the development of the article?

• Predicting changing trends by comparing them to new ones.
• Identifying past trends to compare to current ones.
• Summarizing the central idea of the article.
  
• Describing the solution to a problem identified in the article.

Read the first sentence from the section "Toys Make Engineering Cool For Girls."
Some of the biggest innovators have been women with science backgrounds who are tired of seeing fashion dolls and necklace-making kits dominate the toy store.
Which answer option BEST describes the role this sentence plays in the article as a whole?

• a problem
• an effect
• a solution
• a cause

Which sentence  describes the benefits of playing with building blocks and construction toys?

• Dulce Aguilar said she would buy a construction set designed for girls to give to her goddaughter.
  
• The growing popularity of construction toys for girls also reflects a shift in what is going on in families.
  
• The elementary school teacher said she has noticed that building blocks are a hit with both her male and female students.
  
• “It’s a great opportunity for girls to learn skills in terms of building and how to support a structure,” she said.

Read the passage from the section of the article about careful toy planning.  
"Their new dollhouse is not just any dollhouse. Circuits power lights and a working fan. Newer sets let kids build miniature spinning windmills and working elevators. 

How does this passage fit into the structure of the article as a whole?

• it describes an event
• it tells a story
  
• it gives an example
• it makes a comparison

Read the last sentence of the article.
Sterling expects that the company will sell three times as many toys as it did last year.

How does this sentence fit into the structure of the article as a whole?

• it explains significance
• it makes an observation
• it draws a conclusion
• it makes a prediction

Which of the following best summarize the main idea of "This 16 Year-Old.." 

• Oliva Hallisey, a 16-year-old from the United States, won the 2015 Google Science Fair with her project to develop a fast, cheap, and stable test for the Ebola virus, which she says gives easy-to-read results in less than 30 minutes — potentially before someone is even showing symptoms.
• Current Ebola detection methods are complex, expensive, require unbroken refrigeration from manufacture to use and up to 12 hours from testing to confirmed diagnosis
• Current methods of Ebola detection utilize enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ("ELISA") detection kits which cost approximately $1,000 each, require complex instrumentation, trained medical professionals to administer, and up to 12 hours from testing to diagnosis.
• While Hallisey wasn't able to test her invention on real Ebola patients or virus, she showed it could detect a protein from the virus.

To run the test, the serum sample is added to the open corner (1).Then, one by one, water is added to the chemicals, so they flow down to the center of the test paper, kind of like how a paper towel wicks up liquid even when only the corner of it is dipped in water.The chemicals, serum sample, and water then combine in the right order and timing to give a positive or negative readout for the presence of Ebola proteins.
What text structure is used in this passage?

• chronological
• problem/solution
• sequential
• cause/effect