Question
Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.
Windup Toys and Automatons
Excerpt from Toys! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions by Don Wulffson.
What makes a windup toy work? Turning a key tightens a spring inside the toy. As the spring unwinds, it turns gears, which move the toy’s parts. Today’s windup toys are for children, and most of them are relatively simple. Originally, windup toys were for adults—usually royalty—and were often extremely complicated and expensive. Rather than windup toys, they were called automatons and usually featured people, animals, or vehicles of some kind. With the finest craftsmanship, automatons moved by means of elaborate internal clockwork devices; their exterior was formed and decorated by hand, in many cases with the utmost skill and attention to detail. In the late 1400s, a German inventor by the name of Karel Grod was often invited to royal banquets. Sitting at the table, Grod would open his hand and release a metal fly that buzzed across the room, circled the long dining table, and then returned to rest on its maker’s hand. A few years later, Grod created a life-size mechanical eagle that could fly around town and then return to its original spot. In 1509, the famous artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci constructed a mechanical lion to welcome Louis XII to Italy. When the French king was seated on his throne, Leonardo placed the animal on the floor at the opposite end of a great hall. As spectators stared in amazement, the clockwork lion moved slowly toward the king. It stopped in front of him, and, as if in tribute to the king, tore open its chest with its claws. A decorative fleur-de-lis, the symbol of French royalty, tumbled out and fell at the king’s feet. An even more incredible story is told about René Descartes, a renowned French philosopher and scientist of the 1600s. Descartes believed that all living creatures, including people, are basically just highly developed machines. To demonstrate this he constructed a life-size mechanical girl. Shortly after completing the automaton, whom he called Franchina, he took her on a sea voyage. By accident, the captain of the ship set her in motion.
Terrified by her sudden movement, the captain ran. The robotic Franchina kept coming toward him. In a panic, the captain grabbed the automaton and threw it overboard. Perhaps the most fantastic mechanical figures of all time were created by Jean-Pierre Droz,a Swiss watchmaker, and by his son Henri-Louis. One of those made by Jean-Pierre, called the Writer, was a full-size likeness of a young boy seated at a desk. When put into motion, the clockwork child dipped his pen in a bottle of ink, shook off the surplus with a flick of the wrist, then proceeded to write clear and correct sentences. As each line was completed, the hand holding the pen moved to the beginning of the next line. Superior to the Writer was the Designer, an automaton created by Jean-Pierre’s son Henri-Louis. Like an artist studying his model, the automaton paused from time to time as he sketched, examined his work, corrected errors, and even blew the eraser dust from the paper. On one occasion, the Designer was seated before King Louis XVI of France; after working for some time, the automaton put down his pencil and gestured with his hand to his work; a portrait of the French king. Later, when Henri-Louis gave a demonstration in England, his automaton drew portraits of the English monarch and other royalty. Henri-Louis died at the height of his fame, in 1790. With him, the art of making automatons declined. Though a few choice pieces were created after this time by other artists, the quality of work went steadily downhill. More and more, the toys were made by machine rather than hand, and they became generally much simpler and cheaper. By the nineteenth century, they were made of tin or plastic, and mass-produced in large numbers. Today, windup cars, tractors, trains, spaceships, and robots roll off assembly lines by the thousands. Many of them are clever and fun to play with, but the era of automatons is over. Will this specialized art form return? What do you think?
Which sentence best describes how the information in the article is organized?
Different types of automatons are grouped together and described as a set.
A general description of automatons is given followed by specific examples.
Several problems regarding automatons are presented followed by their solutions.
The popularity of automatons is described followed by explanations for that popularity.
Windup Toys and Automatons
Excerpt from Toys! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions by Don Wulffson.
What makes a windup toy work? Turning a key tightens a spring inside the toy. As the spring unwinds, it turns gears, which move the toy’s parts. Today’s windup toys are for children, and most of them are relatively simple. Originally, windup toys were for adults—usually royalty—and were often extremely complicated and expensive. Rather than windup toys, they were called automatons and usually featured people, animals, or vehicles of some kind. With the finest craftsmanship, automatons moved by means of elaborate internal clockwork devices; their exterior was formed and decorated by hand, in many cases with the utmost skill and attention to detail. In the late 1400s, a German inventor by the name of Karel Grod was often invited to royal banquets. Sitting at the table, Grod would open his hand and release a metal fly that buzzed across the room, circled the long dining table, and then returned to rest on its maker’s hand. A few years later, Grod created a life-size mechanical eagle that could fly around town and then return to its original spot. In 1509, the famous artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci constructed a mechanical lion to welcome Louis XII to Italy. When the French king was seated on his throne, Leonardo placed the animal on the floor at the opposite end of a great hall. As spectators stared in amazement, the clockwork lion moved slowly toward the king. It stopped in front of him, and, as if in tribute to the king, tore open its chest with its claws. A decorative fleur-de-lis, the symbol of French royalty, tumbled out and fell at the king’s feet. An even more incredible story is told about René Descartes, a renowned French philosopher and scientist of the 1600s. Descartes believed that all living creatures, including people, are basically just highly developed machines. To demonstrate this he constructed a life-size mechanical girl. Shortly after completing the automaton, whom he called Franchina, he took her on a sea voyage. By accident, the captain of the ship set her in motion.
Terrified by her sudden movement, the captain ran. The robotic Franchina kept coming toward him. In a panic, the captain grabbed the automaton and threw it overboard. Perhaps the most fantastic mechanical figures of all time were created by Jean-Pierre Droz,a Swiss watchmaker, and by his son Henri-Louis. One of those made by Jean-Pierre, called the Writer, was a full-size likeness of a young boy seated at a desk. When put into motion, the clockwork child dipped his pen in a bottle of ink, shook off the surplus with a flick of the wrist, then proceeded to write clear and correct sentences. As each line was completed, the hand holding the pen moved to the beginning of the next line. Superior to the Writer was the Designer, an automaton created by Jean-Pierre’s son Henri-Louis. Like an artist studying his model, the automaton paused from time to time as he sketched, examined his work, corrected errors, and even blew the eraser dust from the paper. On one occasion, the Designer was seated before King Louis XVI of France; after working for some time, the automaton put down his pencil and gestured with his hand to his work; a portrait of the French king. Later, when Henri-Louis gave a demonstration in England, his automaton drew portraits of the English monarch and other royalty. Henri-Louis died at the height of his fame, in 1790. With him, the art of making automatons declined. Though a few choice pieces were created after this time by other artists, the quality of work went steadily downhill. More and more, the toys were made by machine rather than hand, and they became generally much simpler and cheaper. By the nineteenth century, they were made of tin or plastic, and mass-produced in large numbers. Today, windup cars, tractors, trains, spaceships, and robots roll off assembly lines by the thousands. Many of them are clever and fun to play with, but the era of automatons is over. Will this specialized art form return? What do you think?
Which sentence best describes how the information in the article is organized?
Different types of automatons are grouped together and described as a set.
A general description of automatons is given followed by specific examples.
Several problems regarding automatons are presented followed by their solutions.
The popularity of automatons is described followed by explanations for that popularity.
Answers
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GPT-4o mini
The sentence that best describes how the information in the article is organized is: "A general description of automatons is given followed by specific examples." The passage starts with a general overview of windup toys and automatons and then provides specific examples of notable automatons and their creators.
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