Making Connections

1. What does the word maneuver mean in paragraph 3?

• Skillfully change a path or position

• Be guided by a remote control

• Cause to move rapidly

• Contain electronic equipment

2. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?

• People watching birds in flight

• The ancient Greeks telling about people who try to fly like birds

• Leonardo da Vinci inventing a pair of mechanical wings in the 1400s

• People being interested in flying like birds

3. The organizational pattern of the article develops the author’s viewpoint by —

• presenting facts about how SmartBird works and explaining why it is a useful invention

• comparing SmartBird with other inventions and showing how technology has advanced

• describing the reason Festo invented SmartBird and the effects the invention has had on the company

• relating the sequence of events that occurred to create SmartBird

Which idea is supported by information in the article?

• Technology is often too inefficient to be practical.

• Nature can inspire human innovation.

• The best machines have been designed to work by remote control.

• Innovations are usually based on the ideas of inventors who lived long ago.

The information in paragraphs 2 and 6 supports the idea that —

• athletic competitions are challenging for any participant

• Mr. Evolta was a difficult robot for Takahashi to design

• people can be extremely inventive

• Mr. Evolta is capable of amazing accomplishments

In paragraph 5, the word impediments refers to —

• environments

• events

• obstacles

• robots

Based on the information included in the selection, the reader can infer that the author believes Panasonic —

• found a creative way to promote its batteries

• is the most successful company in Japan

• focuses most of its efforts on creating robots

• is primarily concerned with setting world records

Which of the following best supports the idea that finishing the Ironman Triathlon was a remarkable feat for Mr. Evolta?

• It normally takes less than 13 hours for a human to complete the competition.

• Mr. Evolta is only about one-tenth the height of the average human.

• Each race in the event was held in Hawaii.

• Mr. Evolta needed more time to finish the competition than a human would.

The author includes the information in paragraph 1 most likely to —

• cause the reader to reflect upon personal accomplishments

• build the reader’s interest by presenting an improbable situation

• present the most important information about the topic first

• explain various reasons for writing about the topic

The photographs of Mr. Evolta support the information in the selection by —

• illustrating how difficult each race was to complete

• proving that the robot successfully finished all the races

• helping the reader understand the length of each race in the triathlon

• showing the reader the equipment used by the robot during the races