"Think Like an Inventor"

Part A.

What is the theme of the passage?

• Admitting to making a mistake can be one of the most challenging lessons to learn.

• Solving one problem may sometimes lead to other problems.

• When completing a task, honest effort is sometimes more important than the result.

• At home, helping out is sometimes more important than having fun.

Part B

Which quotation from the passage supports the answer to Part A?

• “‘Hey,’ said Jenny, who had been walking around the room pushing her nose practically onto the paper as she examined each drawing, ‘What’s with the old-fashioned apple peeler?’” (paragraph 11)

• “Steve crossed his arms and said, ‘Huh,’ as she walked away. He didn’t know what else to say. How was he supposed to know someone had stolen his idea 100 years ago?” (paragraph 14)

• “When it was Steve’s turn to describe his invention, he shuffled his feet and tried not to mumble the words he wished he didn’t have to say. ‘After I invented this apple peeler, I found out it had already been invented.’” (paragraph 16)

• “‘Even though something like this has already been invented, what matters is that you took the assignment seriously and focused on making an everyday task easier. That proves that you truly understood what this assignment was about.’” (paragraph 17)

Read the sentence from paragraph.

“That’s going to take forever,” he said, eyeing the waiting mountain of apples."

What does the author mean by the phrase “mountain of apples” in the sentence?

• The apples were in a large pile.

• The apples were ready to be picked.

• The apples had grown quite large.

• The apples had been washed in the sink.

Which two quotations support the inference that Steve believed it was important to be truthful?

• “At school the next day, all the kids pinned their drawings on the bulletin board. Steve stood by his diagram, eagerly waiting for Mrs. Nell to congratulate him on his clever idea.” (paragraph 10)

• “How was he supposed to know someone had stolen his idea 100 years ago? Then his stomach began to feel queasy. Now Mrs. Nell would think he had copied someone else’s invention. That was worse than not trying at all.” (paragraph 14)

• “To get his mind off this, Steve began looking at the other inventions, but that made him feel worse because they were all so much more impressive than his: a shark-detector swimsuit, a bed that made itself, and a pencil that knew homework answers.” (paragraph 15)

• “When it was Steve’s turn to describe his invention, he shuffled his feet and tried not to mumble the words he wished he didn’t have to say. ‘After I invented this apple peeler, I found out it had already been invented.’” (paragraph 16)

• “‘That proves that you truly understood what this assignment was about. In fact,’ she said with a chuckle, ‘I think reinventing something you never knew existed means that you must have the mind of an inventor.’” (paragraph 17)

What does the word snitch mean as it is used in paragraph 9?

• discuss

• hide

• picture

• steal

How do paragraphs 11-14 contribute to the overall structure of the passage?

• They describe how the setting changes.

• They reveal a problem that the main character faces

• They demonstrate how the main character solves the problem.

• They provide a clue about how the passage will end.

How did Mrs. Nell’s reaction to Steve’s invention differ from what he expected?

• Mrs. Nell doubted Steve’s idea could work even though he thought she would be excited about it.

• Mrs. Nell was delighted by Steve’s detailed drawing even though he thought she would dislike it.

• Mrs. Nell praised Steve for following the instructions even though he thought she would be upset with him.

• Mrs. Nell was upset with Steve for copying someone else’s project even though he thought she would not mind.

How does the narrator’s third-person point of view influence how events are described?

• It allows the reader to understand Steve’s excitement when he discovered that his invention idea would work.

• It allows the reader to understand Steve’s feelings and words about how easy it was to create an interesting idea for an invention.

• It allows the reader to understand Steve’s actions and thoughts as he worked through his invention idea.

• It allows the reader to understand Steve’s sadness when he learned that his idea for an invention had been taken by another student.

Which quotation from the passage describes what is seen in the illustration?

• “‘That’s going to take forever,’ he said, eyeing the waiting mountain of apples. Then he swiped an apple, figuring Mom would probably be grateful.” (paragraph 4)

• “He kept missing spots, the peeler kept slipping in his hand, and he had to work slowly to avoid cutting himself.” (paragraph 6)

• “Peeling apples was a task that definitely needed to be made easier. Steve had an idea.” (paragraph 7)

• “Steve stayed up late that night drawing a diagram of his invention and labeling its parts.” (paragraph 8)