The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope

Which inference is best supported by the phrase “Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope” in the excerpt’s title?

• A. The author has more interest in inspiring his countrymen than he does in developing new power sources.

• B. The discovery of windmills could change the way science is taught in Malawi.

• C. The windmills have the potential to provide an escape from poverty.

• D. The people of Malawi believe their standard of living can be improved through prayer.

Which of the following best explains why the author spends so much time in the library?

• A. He and Gilbert go just because they enjoy pestering Mrs. Sikelo.

• B. He enjoys reading and needs extra time to sort through the disorganized books.

• C. It is the only public place in his region of Malawi that has adequate lighting and heating.

• D. He has hopes of one day arranging all the books in the library alphabetically.

How mainly does the story of Syracuse and Archimedes add to the development of the story (paragraphs 12-13)?

“Imagine that hostile forces have invaded your town, and defeat seems certain. If you needed a hero to ‘save the day,’ it’s unlikely you would go to the nearest university and drag a scientist to the battlefront. Yet, according to legend, it was not a general who saved the Greek city of Syracuse when the Roman fleet attacked it in 214 b.c.”

It explained how Archimedes used his “Death Ray”—which was really a lot of mirrors—to reflect the sun onto the enemy ships until, one by one, they caught fire and sank. That was an example of how you can use the sun to produce energy.

• A. It suggests that energy might be able to combat the hostile forces in Malawi the way it once did in Ancient Greece.

• B. It inspires the author down a long road of consuming more and more classic stories from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

• C. It gives the author an idea of how he might be able to defend his people against violent attacks.

• D. It leads the author to see solar power as the key to turning things around in Malawi.

What does the line “No more skipping breakfast; no more dropping out of school” from the following passage mainly reveal (paragraph 20)?

• A. The author does not spend much time thinking about his future.

• B. The author has a set way of living that he does not want to change.

• C. The difficult conditions in Malawi have a major effect on the author’s day-to-day life.

• D. Despite challenging conditions, the people of Malawi are highly optimistic.

Which of these inferences is best supported by the text?

• A. The author was inclined toward engineering before he had ever heard of windmills.

• B. Energy and science books never appealed to the author before because he thought they had no bearing on his life.

• C. The author is frustrated that he did not learn about windmills earlier when they were more commonly used to generate power.

• D. Mrs. Sikelo was trying to prevent the boys from learning about the power of windmills.

What is most closely a central idea of the excerpt?

• A. Discovering this book has the potential to radically alter the author’s life.

• B. The author is mad at himself for not discovering this book sooner.

• C. While the author found the windmill book interesting, he did not see much connection between it and the struggles in his life.

• D. The people in Malawi did not see anything wrong with the conditions they were living in.