Excerpt from “On Thomas Edison Bulb Anniversary, Lighting Breakt

Which detail states where the central idea of the text emerges?

• “It hasn’t been easy to design an energy-efficient lighting appliance that consumers embrace as warmly as the gadget that Thomas Edison first fashioned 131 years ago in a Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory with carbonized thread from his wife’s sewing kit."

• “Edison’s technology so transformed the candlelit world that his lightbulb has stood for years as the iconic image of a new idea. And it’s a shape that 21st-century consumers are reluctant to leave behind, even though Edison’s incandescent lightbulb wastes energy by literally giving off more heat than light.”

• “ ‘We think consumers want a lightbulb that looks like a lightbulb,’ says Stephanie Anderson, director of communications at Osram Sylvania, of Danvers, Massachusetts, part of Germany’s Siemens AG. Osram Sylvania already has had an LED bulb designed as a replacement for the 40-watt incandescent in Lowe’s stores for several months.”

• “The twisty look of the main energy-saving home bulb now on the market, the compact-fluorescent (CFL), is seen by the lighting industry as one of a series of stumbling blocks that has prevented the product from gaining deep acceptance."

What does the word fashioned mean in paragraph 7?

• inhibited

• envisioned

• demolished

• formulated

Which statement from the text supports the author’s claim in paragraph 7?

• “The twisty look of the main energy-saving home bulb now on the market, the compact-fluorescent (CFL), is seen by the lighting industry as one of a series of stumbling blocks that has prevented the product from gaining deep acceptance.”

• “A U.S. government survey in 2009 found that only 11 percent of household sockets have CFLs.”

• “Lighting experts tout long-lasting, ultra-low-energy light-emitting diodes (LEDs)—first seen as indicator lights on appliances—as the remedy for virtually all of these issues.”

• “Years of research have produced ever-brighter and ever-whiter LEDs, with lighting manufacturers now prepared to offer products they say are good enough for the living room lamp.”

What can be inferred from the sentence below in paragraph 8?

“Edison’s technology so transformed the candlelit world that his lightbulb has stood for years as the iconic image of a new idea.”

• The lightbulb produces a significant amount of energy.

• The lightbulb represents any fresh and original concept.

• The lightbulb has come to represent hope.

• The lightbulb has replaced the candle.

What is the effect of the metaphor in paragraph 13?

“ ‘Sixty watts is the holy grail of the LED replacement game.’ ”

• It indicates just how far companies will go to win.

• It signifies the ultimate goal of the energy companies.

• It shows what is no longer desirable in the energy industry.

• It marks the competitive nature of energy-related technology.

What detail from the text supports the author’s claim that General Electric’s highefficiency LED bulb is an illumination breakthrough?

• “ ‘LEDs are basically chips you can use in your computer, and are temperature-sensitive.’ ”

• “Edison’s technology so transformed the candlelit world that his lightbulb has stood for years as the iconic image of a new idea.”

• “ ‘We think consumers want a lightbulb that looks like a lightbulb.’ ”

• “Lighting experts tout long-lasting, ultra-low-energy light-emitting diodes (LEDs)—first seen as indicator lights on appliances—as the remedy for virtually all of these issues.”

For what purpose did the author include information about Edison’s “candlelit world” crafted “with carbonized thread from his wife’s sewing kit”?

• to remind the audience that consumers are frugal people who prefer inexpensive products

• to remind the audience that consumers are younger people who prefer modern goods

• to remind the audience that consumers are basic people who prefer simple designs

• to remind the audience that consumers are older people who prefer new technology

How did the author make the connection between Edison’s lightbulb and the high-efficiency lighting choices available today?

• by evaluating the current experts’ solution for most of the problematic issues with the incandescent lightbulb

• by contrasting the benefits of innovative lighting technology with the popularity of traditional lighting

• by outlining the development of technology that transformed the world’s lighting preferences from candles to LEDs

• by reporting on Osram Sylvania and Philips’s announcement of a breakthrough jet-engine technology to keep LED bulbs cool