Name: Date:

“A Young Tinkerer Builds a

Windmill, Electrifying a Nation”
Sarah Childress

FIRST READ: Comprehension

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

​ 1.​ According to “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying a ​

Nation,” how did Mr. Kamkwamba first learn to make windmills?
a. He asked some foreigners visiting his village to help him make his
windmills.
b. He studied engineering at a local school and took a class in windmill
design.
c. He figured it out himself after seeing a picture of a windmill in a
textbook.
d. He watched and then copied another villager who made windmills.

​ 2.​ As explained in “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying a ​

Nation,” what is the main problem that Mr. Kamkwamba is trying to solve?
a. his family’s expensive electricity bills
b. the lack of access to electricity in his country
c. the poorly constructed windmills in his village
d. the pollution caused by electrical plants in Malawi

​ 3.​ According to “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying a ​

Nation,” why do people visit the Kamkwamba family compound? Choose ​
two options.
a. They can stay at the compound and help make windmills.
b. They can pay for a tour of the house and its windmills.
c. They can use the electricity to charge their phones.
d. They can see the windmills they are curious about.
e. They can borrow money from Mr. Kamkwamba.

​ 4.​ In “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying a Nation,” how did

Mr. Kamkwamba’s family react when he first decided to build a windmill?
a. They laughed and thought that he was wasting his time.
b. They were surprised but excited about getting electricity.
c. They were proud and told all the villagers about his plans.

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“A YOUNG TINKERER BUILDS A WINDMILL, ELECTRIFYING A NATION” BY SARAH CHILDRESS

d. They were unsure about its purpose but applauded his effort.

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“A YOUNG TINKERER BUILDS A WINDMILL, ELECTRIFYING A NATION” BY SARAH CHILDRESS

Name: Date:

​ 5.​ According to “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying a

Nation,” what has caused tension in Mr. Kamkwamba’s village?
a. Other villagers think that Mr. Kamkwamba should focus on building
windmills for them.
b. Other villagers observe the family’s success and want the same for
themselves.
c. Other villagers feel that the family is greedy and should share their
wealth.
d. Other villagers are angry because all the visitors are disturbing them.

FIRST READ: Concept Vocabulary

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

​ 6.​ Which of the following examples best illustrates the meaning of scarcity?
a. a restaurant that serves a delicious new dish
b. a store that has beautiful jewelry in its windows
c. a city that puts limits on water use during a drought
d. a country that sends athletes to the summer Olympics

​ 7.​ What is the most likely meaning of desire in the following sentence?
The young actors desire a lead role in the new play, but they would also be happy
with a small role.

a. to want or wish for

b. to feel or express
c. to regard as true
d. to reach a goal

​ 8.​ What is the meaning of attempts in this sentence?

Dad made several attempts to fix the leak, but the dripping continued.

a. prices paid for something

b. comments made to someone
c. acts of trying to do something
d. ideas about what someone should do

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“A YOUNG TINKERER BUILDS A WINDMILL, ELECTRIFYING A NATION” BY SARAH CHILDRESS

Name: Date:

CLOSE READ: Analyze the Text

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

​ 9.​ Read this excerpt from “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying
a Nation.”
The contraption causing all the fuss is a tower made from lashed-together blue-gum
tree trunks. From a distance, it resembles an old oil derrick. For blades, Mr.
Kamkwamba used flattened plastic pipes. He built a turbine from spare bicycle
parts. When the wind kicks up, the blades spin so fast they rock the tower violently
back and forth.

​ ​ What does this excerpt reveal about Mr. Kamkwamba’s abilities?

a. He is able to follow directions very carefully.
b. He is able to work quickly under tight deadlines.
c. He is able to find creative solutions to problems.
d. He is able to persuade people to work hard for him.

​ 10.​ ​ The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and
then Part B.

​ ​ Part A Read this excerpt from “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill,

Electrifying a Nation.”
“I got information about a windmill, and I try and I made it,” he said in halting English
to a big ovation. After the conference, a group of entrepreneurs, African bloggers,
and venture capitalists—some teary-eyed at the speech—pledged to finance his
education.

​ ​ Which sentence best describes the effect that Mr. Kamkwamba had on the
audience at the TED conference?
a. He startled them.
b. He amused them.
c. He offended them.
d. He impressed them.

​ ​ Part B Which phrase in the excerpt best supports the answer to Part A?
a. about a windmill
b. After the conference
c. a group of entrepreneurs
d. pledged to finance his education

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“A YOUNG TINKERER BUILDS A WINDMILL, ELECTRIFYING A NATION” BY SARAH CHILDRESS

Name: Date:

​ 11.​ ​ The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and
then Part B.
​ ​ Part A What is the central idea in “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill,
Electrifying a Nation”?
a. Mr. Kamkwamba became famous after he gave a TED talk about his ideas,
and many people now visit his family home.
b. The attention that Mr. Kamkwamba has gotten from his windmills may
help him address energy shortages in Malawi.
c. Mr. Kamkwamba lives in Malawi, a country that lacks energy resources
like electricity.
d. Mr. Kamkwamba built three windmills to provide electricity for his family
home.
​ ​ Part B Which excerpt from “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill,
Electrifying a Nation” best supports the answer to Part A?
a. Then, he wants to build more windmills for other villages across the
country. Betting he can do it, a group of investors are putting him through
school.
b. “I was thinking about electricity,” says Mr. Kamkwamba, explaining how
he got hooked on wind.
c. Mr. Kamkwamba’s wind obsession started six years ago. … When he
wasn’t helping his family farm groundnuts and soybeans, he was reading.
d. His backers have also showered him with new gadgets, including a
cellphone with a hip-hop ringtone .…

CLOSE READ: Analyze Craft and Structure

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

​ 12.​ Read this excerpt from “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying
a Nation.”
Masitala, Malawi—On a continent woefully short of electricity, 20-year-old William
Kamkwamba has a dream: to power up his country one windmill at a time.
So far, he has built three windmills in his yard here, using blue-gum trees and
bicycle parts. His tallest, at 39 feet, towers over this windswept village …. The
machine draws in visitors from miles around.
​ ​ What is the most likely reason for including this information at the
beginning of the article?
a. to explain the outcome early so readers can focus on Mr. Kamkwamba’s
interesting story
b. to build tension by showing why people were opposed to Mr.
Kamkwamba’s efforts
c. to set the scene by explaining why poor parts of the world lack electrical

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“A YOUNG TINKERER BUILDS A WINDMILL, ELECTRIFYING A NATION” BY SARAH CHILDRESS

supplies
d. to make readers curious about how Mr. Kamkwamba might achieve his
dream

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 GRADE 7 • UNIT 5 • SELECTION TEST​
“A YOUNG TINKERER BUILDS A WINDMILL, ELECTRIFYING A NATION” BY SARAH CHILDRESS

Name: Date:

​ 13.​ Read this excerpt from “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying
a Nation.”
But his teacher, Lorilee MacLean, sometimes worries about his one-track mind and
about all the attention he’s getting.
“I don’t want him to be seen as William the windmill maker,” said Mrs. MacLean one
day recently. While Mr. Kamkwamba quietly plowed through homework, his
classmates were busy gossiping and checking their Facebook profiles.

​ ​ What does the audience learn about Mr. Kamkwamba from the teacher’s
direct quotation?
a. He tries to study but spends too much time socializing with other
students.
b. He is a disappointment to his teacher because he does not work very hard.
c. He is a good student but tends to focus too much on a single topic.
d. He cares little for studying because he is distracted by his fame.

​ 14.​ Read this excerpt from “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying
a Nation.”
Down the hill, the village handyman started building his own windmill after secretly
studying Mr. Kamkwamba’s. A gust of wind blew the blades off the man’s first few
attempts. Mr. Kamkwamba offered to help him rebuild, but got no reply.

​ ​ How do these details help the writer develop Mr. Kamkwamba’s

character?
a. They provide an example of his generosity and his desire to help others.
b. They provide an example of his shyness and challenges with making
friends.
c. They show that he is jealous and does not want anyone else to build
windmills.
d. They show that he is very clever but unable to share what he knows with
others.

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 GRADE 7 • UNIT 5 • SELECTION TEST​
“A YOUNG TINKERER BUILDS A WINDMILL, ELECTRIFYING A NATION” BY SARAH CHILDRESS

Name: Date:

​ 15.​ ​ The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and
then Part B.

​ ​ Part A From the facts and details in “A Young Tinkerer Builds a

Windmill, Electrifying a Nation,” what conclusion can you draw about
education in Malawi?
a. It is available only for male students.
b. It is too expensive for many Malawians.
c. It is entirely funded by the government.
d. There are not enough Malawian teachers.

​ ​ Part B Which sentence from “A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill,

Electrifying a Nation” best supports the answer to Part A?
a. A few years ago, he built a windmill for the primary school in Masitala.
b. He wasn’t going to school anymore because his family couldn’t afford the
$80-a-year tuition.
c. Two of Mr. Kamkwamba’s six sisters stay up late studying for school.
d. Last November, Hartford Mchazime, a Malawian educator, heard about the
windmill and drove out to the Kamkwamba house with some reporters.

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“A YOUNG TINKERER BUILDS A WINDMILL, ELECTRIFYING A NATION” BY SARAH CHILDRESS

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