1 / They spin; they bounce; they go around and around. What are they? They are toys! Children alloverthe world play with toys. Did you know thatastronauts also play with toys? It is true. Evenmoreinteresting, they play with toys in space.
2 / Why would astronauts want to play with toys in space? The answer is simple: toys help us learn how things work in space.
3 / Each time the space shuttle has flown into space, it has taken along several experiments. The flights with experiments are called missions. Some missions included experiments that were conducted to learn how certain toys work in space, and the best part was that school children helped with theexperiments.
4 / First, the students played with a toy on Earth. They wrote down how it worked. Next, the astronautson the shuttle played with the same toy. The students and the astronauts found that the toy worked differently in space.
5 / One of the toys was a small basketball and hoop set. The hoop had suction cups to hold it ontothe wall. On Earth, when the students threw the basketball, it would fall through the hoop. In space,when the astronauts threw the ball, it just went in the direction it was thrown. There was no gravityin space tomake the ball fall through the hoop. Playing with the basketball and hoop has helpedscientists learn newthings about gravity and motion.
6 / The missions with the toys were so successful that the toys were also taken onto the InternationalSpace Station. The International Space Station is the largest scientific project in history. Toys likeyo-yos and spinning tops were included because children of many culturesplay with them.
7 / Scientists learned many new things about space because of these missions. The astronauts enjoyed playing with the toys because they were so much fun. Perhaps the best part about sending toys intospace is that everyone is learning about how much fun science can be.
What is another good title for the article?
A / Learning From Toys/ B / Living Without Gravity
/ C / Flights on the Space Shuttle
/ D / Toys You Can Bounce
Why did the author most likely write this passage?
/ A / to encourage children to play with toys/ B / to tell about a famous astronaut
/ C / to entertain the reader with a funny story
D / to inform the reader about space
Which of the following would be a good heading for Paragraph 3?
A / Playful Missions/ B / Scientific Facts
/ C / Children in Charge
/ D / Shuttling Into Space
What is the main idea of “Toys in Space”?
/ A / Astronauts enjoy playing with toys in space./ B / Motion is important to the way some toys work.
C / Toys can help us learn how things work in space.
/ D / Astronauts take experiments on flights called missions.
Which topic is covered in the passage?
/ A / toys from around the world/ B / working in the space station
C / an experiment in outer space
/ D / becoming a scientist
Which questionis answered in this passage?
/ A / Who thought of the idea of using toys in space?/ B / What happened to the toys after the experiment?
/ C / Which toys did the astronauts enjoy using the most?
D / What did the astronauts want to learn by using the toys?