Question

Though 3-D printers haven’t been around for long, they’re making amazing things, like sneakers, guitars, makeup, and even houses, to name just a few. But what about something even more incredible? Suppose a person needed a new ear for some reason. Right now, there’s no easy way to get a new one. Could a 3-D printer help?

Not yet. But that day may be coming soon, and the need is urgent.​Box ends

How does 3-D printing work? Learn more.

Since the 1950s, surgeons have successfully performed millions of transplants of organs, such as kidneys, hearts, livers, and even faces. In all of these operations, the needed organ was donated by someone (usually someone who had recently died) and was then surgically implanted to the person who needed it. But the trouble is that there aren’t enough donor organs to go around. In 2017, for example, there were 115,000 people in the United States in need of a lifesaving transplant. However, only about 35,000 organ transplants were performed that year. That means there were more than three times as many people who needed an organ as there were transplants.

Patients in need of transplants have to wait an average of three to five years for an organ, and many get sicker while waiting. Meanwhile, the wait list grows longer and longer, and the number of organs available just can’t keep up. If 3-D printers could print more organs, people could receive needed transplants sooner.

A graph titled "Organ Donor Waiting List versus Organ Transplants Performed."A graph titled "Organ Donor Waiting List versus Organ Transplants Performed." The graph shows two colors, red and blue. The number of people on the waiting list is shown in red. The number of transplants performed is shown in blue. The x-axis shows years from 1991 to 2017. The y-axis, labeled "Number of People," goes from 0 to 120,000 in steps of 20,000. In 1991, there were 15,756 transplants performed and 23,198 people on the waiting list. In 2017, there were 34,770 transplants performed and 115,000 people on the waiting list. The red waiting list area in the graph is always taller than the blue transplants area. Both areas increase over time, but the red area increases much faster.
The wait list for donor organs is growing much faster than the number of people donating organs.


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Activity

Reread the part of the passage in the box. How do these paragraphs help you understand what the passage is about?

They warn readers about likely problems with 3-D printers.

They summarize the author’s main argument about 3-D printers.

They explain the steps to take in operating 3-D printers.

They introduce a problem that 3-D printers could help solve.

Answer 1

They introduce a problem that 3-D printers could help solve.