Reading Comprehension · Science
PrepTest 156 · Section 3 · Passage 4
Questions 22–27
Before you start
Open PrepTest 156, Section 3 in your official copy from LSAC and read the passage for Questions 22–27, using the structure guide below. The passage is not reprinted here.
Structure guide
- P1: describes the moment of inspiration, when a finding about how something is made in nature sparked an idea
- P2: explains the inventor's insight: the new substance can do an existing product's job for a structural reason, plus it has an extra advantage
- P3: describes the existing product's many uses and its one big drawback
- P4: tells of early enthusiasm, a cost setback that made big players drop the idea, the inventor's persistence in niche uses, and a hopeful but hedged outlook
Step 2 · The kid passage
Owen's Bread-Dough Paste
Owen's big idea came one Saturday while he watched Grandpa bake. Grandpa showed him that leftover dough, mixed with warm water and salt, turns into a paste that clings to a spoon.
Owen was the class poster helper and went through a lot of shiny plastic tape. He realized the paste could hold posters the way tape does, because both grip a wall with a thin, tacky layer. But unlike tape, the paste wipes off with a damp cloth.
Tape is cheap and handy. Kids use it to hang art, wrap gifts and patch folders. Back in second grade, tape even replaced thumbtacks, which poked holes in the walls. The trouble is, tape gunk never really leaves, and every June the janitor scrapes piles of it off the walls.
When teachers began asking for cleaner supplies, Owen opened a tiny paste stand. Soon the art club and the student council tested paste too, and everyone agreed it was the best swap for tape. Sadly, homemade paste cost three times what tape cost, so the teachers lost interest and the council dropped it. Owen kept going, sure the paste could win fans in its own right, and aimed at special jobs. His paste now holds papier-mache masks for the school play better than anything else, and it keeps the cafeteria's weekly menu cards on the glass without leaving a mark. If Owen keeps winning, he may yet help homemade craft supplies, known as flimsy and pricey, earn some respect.
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Wooden Whistle
A toymaker carved wooden whistles that rang as loud as plastic ones and never cracked in the cold. A big store chain tested them, agreed they were the best whistle around, and then dropped them because they cost three times as much. A rival claimed in court that the whistle was a flop. Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. "Your Honor, nobody said the whistle failed. The store said it was the best. Price was the only problem." He called a soccer referee from a snowy league. "Plastic whistles split in our winters," she said. "Wooden ones never do." Mr. Whitfield smiled. "A good product with a price hurdle, winning where it shines. That is not a flop. That is a start."