RISE Up Short Reads: Levels O–Z (8 cards per level, 8 copies each)
Short Reads for
AND WIN VOTES MAKE A SPEECH HOW TO
So you want to run for office at your school? Perhaps you want to be class president or class treasurer. These are important jobs with lots of responsibilities. As part of your campaign to win votes, you may have to make speeches. But just how will you do that? Read the following tips to help you give a powerful, vote-winning speech.
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Robots Many fictional robots are walking, talking mechanical geniuses. But most real-life robots are used in industry as highly skilled electronic workers that perform repetitive tasks quickly and accurately—often hundreds, even thousands, of times a day. The majority of these industrial robots are basically tool-wielding mechanical arms. What Is a Robot? A robot is a mechanism that performs tasks automatically. Robots are designed and programmed by people, of course. The science behind this technology is called robotics. Robot Beginnings On April 14, 1912, seventeen-year-old Jack Thayer is sailing home from a family trip to Europe. The Thayers are first-class passengers on the luxurious and “unsinkable” Titanic . The following excerpts include some of Jack’s own words. In 1921, the Czech dramatist Karel Čapek, along with his brother Josef, coined the term robot from the Czech word robota , meaning “work” or “slave.” In Čapek’s play, a scientist creates humanlike machines to run a factory—a wild idea in 1921! It wasn’t until 1958 when two American inventors, George Devol and Joseph Engelberger, created the first true robot. General Motors (GM) bought it and used it to lift and stack pieces of hot metal. Industrial Robots Today, industrial robots come in two basic types. Manipulator robots are really just mechanical arms. They range in length from 12 inches (30 centimeters) to more than 12 feet (3.7 meters). Manipulators account for the vast majority of robots in use today. Mobile robots roll on wheels or treads. The Mars rovers, which roam the surface of Mars and perform experiments, are mobile robots. So are self- propelling vacuum cleaners, which scoot around floors at the touch of a hand. How a Robot Works Robots need a source of power, such as electricity or fluid pressure, in order to work. They also need a control mechanism, such as a computer, to keep them on task. Most industrial robots are anchored in one place. Mechanical links and joints enable their arms to rotate like a shoulder or extend forward. The joints can be combined in many ways to allow robot arms to perform a variety of tasks. On some robots, ultrasonic or laser sensors register the I t was almost eleven-thirty when Jack went back to his cabin, which was next to his parents’ suite. He called good night to his mother and father. Just as he was about to get into bed, he swayed slightly. He realized the ship had veered to the left — “as though she had been gently pushed,” he would later say.
WRITING THE SPEECH
Have a strong beginning to your speech. Share a funny story that will spark students’ interest in the issues you will discuss. Or give your audience something to think about by asking a question. Consider three or four major issues and state your ideas about each one. For example, if one issue is class trips, your message may be that you will work for having more interesting class trips. Share your trip ideas and tell how you would convince the principal that these are great places to visit. Refer back to your major issues throughout
Brainstorm ideas and jot down key topics that you wish to address. Structure and draft your speech. Organize which points you would like to talk about first. There needs to be a sensible order and smooth transitions from one point to the next. Jumping around will confuse your audience. Keep your speech simple—short and sweet. You want to keep the attention of your audience, so you can get their votes. Let your personality and style shine through in your speech. If you are funny, add some humor. If you are serious, use a serious tone. Remember that you want the students to remember you, as well as the things you said, when they vote. As they crossed
In this Swiss legend from the fourteenth century, a city is forced to obey the rules of an unjust foreign official named Gessler.
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The Pied Piper is an old story that has been told as a poem, a play, and a fairy tale. Different town names are used in different stories, but in every version, a town that is overrun by rats is helped by a strange man in a many-colored coat ( pied means “having many colors”) who plays the pipes.
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T he Tell family lived in the forest on the outskirts of the city of Altdorf. William, the father, hunted wild animals and sold the skins to support his family. One day, William Tell took his son
your writing, so that your listeners don’t forget your ideas on the issues.
the square, a soldier called out, “Halt, man! Salute yonder cap upon yonder pole!” William was confused. “Why should I salute a cloth cap?” “It is the cap of our emperor. If you do not honor the cap, you are a traitor.”
In this excerpt, Bobby and his sister, Casey, take his pet goldfish, Koloff and Beatrice, and her pet worm, Wormy Worm Worm, for a ride through the neighborhood in Casey’s Princess Becky wagon.
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Procedural
ranchville is a sleepy little town on the shore. As sleepy as it is now, it was once lively, and what made it especially lively was its rats. The place was so infested with them as to be hardly worth living in. There was not a barn or storeroom or cupboard that hadn’t been eaten into. Not a cheese that the rats hadn’t gnawed hollow. Not a sugary treat that they hadn’t gobbled up. The noise of rats hurrying and scurrying and squeaking was so loud that no one in the town could get any rest. No matter what they tried—cats, poison, rat-catchers, traps—every day there seemed to be more rats than ever.
The mayor and the town council were at their wits’ end. As they were sitting in the town hall one day, a messenger brought word that a strange man was at the town gates. This stranger was tall and thin, with keen, piercing eyes. He wore a coat with all the colors of the rainbow, and he offered to get rid of the rats. “I’m called the Pied Piper,” he began. “What might you be willing to pay me, if I rid you of every rat in your town?” Well, much as the town officers feared the rats, they feared parting with their money even more. But, in
Joey Flores and his friends love to skateboard, and their friend Kevin has just shot a video of them doing some favorite moves. In this excerpt, they are heading to Joey’s house to watch the raw footage.
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RISEUP_Q_How_to_Speech.indd 12 The Legend of William Tell
Essay dared interrupt the voyage of the great Titanic . Chunks of ice had fallen onto the other decks. Passengers played rowdy games of catch with balls of ice, tossing them back and forth as they laughed with delight. “Nobody yet thought of any serious trouble,” Jack would recall. “The ship was unsinkable.” . . . . . . But then Jack and his father saw 31/10/19 3:05 PM Mr. Andrews, the ship’s designer, standing with several of the ship’s officers. Andrews’s grave expression sent a stab of fear through Jack’s heart. If anyone understood what was really happening on the Titanic , it was the man who knew the ship inside and out. And the truth was terrifying. The iceberg’s jagged fingers had clawed through the steel hull. Water was gushing into the ship’s lower levels. “The Titanic will sink,” Andrews said. “We have one hour.” Short Reads for
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Albert to town with him to sell some deer pelts and buy necessities. “Father, please let’s buy some toys for little Lewis,” said Albert. “You are a good boy, Albert, to remember your little brother. We will go to the shop across the square and look there for toys,” replied William.
“I am no traitor, and yet I will not bow down to an empty cap. I am proud to be Swiss and love my country.” The soldiers were angry when they heard William’s words. They were Austrians, not Swiss, and they didn’t think Switzerland deserved to be a country of its
The engines stopped, and for a moment, there was a quiet that was “startling and disturbing.” Then Jack heard muffled voices and running footsteps. He threw on his overcoat and slippers, told his parents he was going to see what was happening, and rushed outside. Soon a crowd of first-class passengers, including his father, joined him. Jack wasn’t worried. Actually there was a mood of adventure, especially after news spread that the ship had struck an iceberg. The men in the crowd joked and puffed on cigars as they craned their necks and squinted into the dark night. They all wanted to see the object that had
VOL. XXXVI NO. 9,862
NEW YORK, N.Y., JANUARY 2, 1892
PRICE ONE CENT
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LANDED ON ELLIS ISLAND
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New Immigration Buildings Opened Yesterday
A ROSY-CHEEKED IRISH GIRL THE FIRST REGISTERED−ROOM ENOUGH FOR ALL ARRIVALS−ONLY RAILROAD PEOPLE FIND FAULT
ASTOUNDING AMPHIBIANS
The setting is 1960, in Nashville, and protests against racial discrimination are gaining steam. In this excerpt, Abby’s cousin John is taking part in a demonstration downtown. Abby and Patsy decide to go watch the event.
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Legend
Folktale (German)
Sweets & Treats
Special to The New York Times The new buildings on Ellis Island constructed for the use of the Immigration Bureau were yesterday formally occupied by the officials of that department. The employees reported at an early hour, and each was shown to his place by the Superintendent or his chief clerk. Col. Weber was on the island at 8 o’clock, and went on a tour of inspection to see that everything was in readiness for the reception of the first boatload of immigrants. There were three big steamships in the harbor waiting to land their passengers, and there was much anxiety among the new-comers to be the first landed at the new station. The honor was reserved for a little rosy-cheeked Irish girl. She was Annie Moore, fifteen years of age, lately a resident of County Cork, and yesterday one of the 148 steerage passengers landed from the steamship Nevada . Her name is now distinguished by being the first registered in the book of the new landing bureau. The steamship that brought Annie Moore arrived late Thursday night. Early yesterday morning the passengers of that vessel were placed on board the immigrant transfer boat John E. Moore .
Amphibians are vertebrates, or animals with backbones.They are best known for living part of their life in water and part on land.There are three groups of amphibians: What’s an Amphibian?
BY LISA YEE ILLUSTRATED BY DAN SANTAT
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RISEUP_Q_BobbyTheBrave.indd 1 drinking fountains—one labeled WHITES and the other one COLORED. The one for whites was newer looking. The handle was hard to turn on the one for Negroes. They were separate, Abby thought, but they sure weren’t equal. “I’m warming up some,” said Patsy, getting another swallow of water from the colored fountain. “Let’s go.” They were regulars who came often. Abby liked going in the front door. There was no manager wearing cat-eye glasses pointing an accusing finger in her face, telling her to go away. There were no signs telling her to go around to the back door. Here Abby could almost forget about race and prejudice. Almost. If only there weren’t two They locked their bikes in the library rack. The sky was growing darker and darker. Mrs. Marcella, a library volunteer, nodded as Abby and Patsy came in the front door. The girls walked straight down Church to Harveys. Right away, Abby sensed something was wrong. The sidewalks were almost empty. She understood why there weren’t any black shoppers going in and out of stores. But where were all the white shoppers? Then they began to hear people shouting and horns honking. As soon as Abby turned the corner, she saw a huge crowd outside Harveys. Many were teenagers, no older looking than John and his friends. They looked so angry. They were on the sidewalk, in the street, in cars blocking the traffic. Horns blasted.
Historical Fiction
Chapter 2
lowly, Bobby pulled the wagon down the block as Casey raced ahead. Every now and then she would shriek,
Suddenly Bobby stopped so fast the water in the fishbowl sploshed. “What?” Casey asked. She was holding a fistful of flowers and a lawn gnome. “What’s the matter, Bobby? Did you see a bump?” Bobby couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even move. There, planted in front of him on the sidewalk was the scary cat . . . the one with twenty-seven toes. It was rumored that the cat was so vicious that it had once destroyed a minivan. Bobby tried not to look directly at the scary cat for fear that it would lock its eyes on him and then pounce. Instead, he looked up at the
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J oey couldn’t wait the day or two it would take for Kevin to do his video magic. Kevin had filmed his successful glide along the ramp rail and his half-pipe plunge and also some really cool tricks Fiona did, so they wanted to watch the rough video at Joey’s right away. Joey’s mom thought he was too young for a cell phone, so he’d borrowed Kevin’s to ask her if it was okay, and his mom had invited both his friends to stay for Friday night pizza. She’d invited Dylan, too, but when Joey mentioned it, Dylan snickered. “Like I would want to hang out with a bunch of little kids. Get real.”
As the group skated along a stretch of sidewalk, Dylan continued to give Joey a hard time. That was probably why he volunteered to walk him home, Joey figured. . . . Their neighborhood lay on the other side of the highway, past the grassy hillside planted with flowers. Next came a cluster of tidy bungalow houses, and beyond that, the apartment complex where Joey and Dylan lived. The sidewalk continued underneath the arched tunnel, and soon Joey and Fiona were in the shade it provided as cars hummed
“BUMP!” and he was careful to go around it. As they made their way through the neighborhood, Bobby pointed out fascinating sights to his passengers. He felt like the guide on the red double-decker bus his family rode when they had taken a tour of Washington, DC. “And to our left is Holly Harper’s house. Beatrice, she’s the one who chose you. . . . See that wall over there? That’s where I had a huge wipeout when I was first learning to skateboard . . . and that over there is—”
Frogs and Toads
People think of frogs as slimy, green long-jumpers that spend most of their time in water, and think of toads as frogs’ more warty, earthy cousins.
Amphibians
Fascinating facts about your favorite treat!
• There are about 5,400 species of frogs and toads, 410 species of salamanders and newts, and 165 species of caecilians. • Amphibians are found everywhere on Earth except Antarctica. • Amphibians are cold- blooded. Their body temperature gets lower when the outside temperature is cold, and higher when the outside temperature is hot. • Most amphibians are nocturnal, which means they are active at night. • The world’s largest amphibian is the South China giant salamander. These creatures can grow to be as
Toads
Frogs
Got the urge to chew? Maybe you should go out to the garage and rip off a nice chunk of car tire. Not your idea of a tasty treat? A nice chunk of chewing gum is probably more like it. But there is a link between car tires and chewing gum, as a quick trip through the halls of gum history will show you.
smooth or slimy skin
dry, warty skin
Most of their time is spent on land.
Most of their time is spent in water.
Salamanders and Newts
Salamander
Realistic Fiction
The history of gum begins thousands of years ago, when prehistoric men and women chewed on lumps of tree resin (a sticky brownish substance that oozes from trees). The ancient
Salamanders are amphibians that have tails as adults. Newts are a type of salamander that spend most of their time on land.
New arrivals wait to be inspected and interviewed on Ellis Island.
Realistic Fiction
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Greeks chewed on resin, and so did Native Americans. Early settlers to New England loved to chew, too. Gum made from spruce tree resin was a popular treat among early Americans.
T he girls had never ridden their bicycles this far before. Pedaling down Jefferson Street wasn’t hard, because it was mostly flat. But it was cold, and the wind was blowing hard. When they reached Eighth Avenue, Abby could see the capitol building sitting on top of an Indian mound. “Follow Eighth Avenue to Church Street,” she called to Patsy. She could hear Patsy panting as they pumped up the steep hill. “I need to rest and warm up. Let’s stop at the library,” she said.
Caecilians Pronouncing the name of these creatures is not the only tricky thing about them. Caecilians (seh-SILL-yens) look like big earthworms, but, in fact, caecilians have backbones. Some caecilians live in water, but most prefer dry land. Like
Newspaper Article (Historical)
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earthworms, they burrow and tunnel through the soil.
long as a six-foot tall human being!
14
Fact Book Excerpt
A close-up of tree resin is pictured. Doesn’t it look delicious?
WHAT IN THE WORLD? 15
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Historical Fiction
Magazine Article
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The Blizzard of 1888 , one of the most destructive in history, raged through the northeastern United States for four days. The excerpt below is from a newspaper article published the day after the storm ended.
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The Capture is the first book in the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series.
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The New York Herald
S OREN IS BORN IN THE FOREST OF TYTO , a tranquil kingdom where the Barn Owls dwell. But evil lurks in the owl world, evil that threatens to shatter Tyto’s peace and change the course of Soren’s life forever.
The Capture
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Body Language Made Simple
VOL. XXI NO. 8,653
NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, 14 MARCH, 1888
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VOL. LX.......NO. 11,091
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1906
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THE BURIED CITY
As students read this essay, they may be revealing their innermost feelings to everyone around them—without speaking a word. In the same way, they may be able to find out the secret feelings of others—if they know what to look for. No special mind-reading powers are required to do this, and no magic is involved. Without even thinking about it, people signal their emotions and attitudes through nonverbal communication and body language—facial expressions, posture, gestures, and other silent messages that range from blushing to what clothes and hairstyle a person chooses. Body language is not a true language. It isn’t a replacement for words and sentences, yet its expressions can be readily understood. In fact, researchers say that body language accounts for 80 percent of what people communicate. Visual Signals Body language is not particularly useful for communicating specific information and logical reasoning—words are much better for that. In general, body language expresses a person’s emotions, feelings, and attitude. For example, people standing with their hands stiffly by their sides, or stuck in their coat pockets, can give the impression of insecurity, whether or not that is true. When used along with words, nonverbal cues can add shades of meaning that words alone cannot express, or can even change the meaning of words. For instance, if someone says “I love my teacher” while rolling the eyes and curling the lips into a sneer, everyone knows that the person means exactly the opposite of what is being said. The visual signals carry the true meaning of the statement. British psychologist Michael Argyle pioneered the study of body language. His investigation of this complex system of signals established the idea Wızard O z of The Wonderful Short Reads for
OVER 500 DEAD, $200,000,000 LOST IN SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE
Within forty-eight hours the city was converted into an Arctic wilderness, cut off from all railway and telegraph communication. The white hurricane had strewn her busiest thoroughfares with wreck and ruin. Courts of justice were closed and the vast machinery of commerce was paralyzed. Below Zero Just after dawn yesterday the snow ceased to fall, but the great wind that had roared ceaselessly for two days and two nights still shook the earth and whirled flakes upward again in weird, fantastic shapes. At six o’clock the thermometer was one degree below zero. Thousands upon thousands of men, wrapped in the oddest of costumes that imagination can picture, turned out to dig paths through the streets. In many places the diggers had to cut through gigantic drifts in order to release people who were imprisoned in their own houses. Tremendous hills of snow were thrown up in the streets, and between them were paths through which the population crept along. Sometimes these hills were so high that a man would walk for half a block without being able to see anything but the sullen sky above him. Horses were employed in dragging away the fallen trees and telegraph poles. Thousands of abandoned wagons were dug out and dragged by double teams to places of shelter. But with all the confusing sights and sounds that turned New York upside down and made people wonder if it was not all a dream, the most appalling thing was the absolute breaking off of
Nearly Half the City Is in Ruins and 50,000 Are Homeless.
Soren is captured and taken to a dark and forbidding canyon. It’s called an orphanage, but Soren believes it’s something far worse. He and his friend Gylfie know that the only way out is up. To escape, they will need to do something they have never done before—fly. And so begins a magical journey. Along the way, Soren and Gylfie meet Twilight and Digger. The four owls band together to seek the truth and protect the owl world from unimaginable danger.
The people became panic-stricken and rushed into the streets, most of them in their night attire. They were met by showers of falling bricks, cornices, and walls of buildings. Many were crushed to death, while others were badly mangled. Those who remained indoors generally escaped with their lives, though scores were hit by detached plaster, pictures, and articles thrown to the floor by the shock. It is believed that, more or less, loss was sustained by nearly every family in the city. Thousands Watch the Flame Banks and commercial houses, supposed to be fireproof, though not of modern build, burned
Nearly Half the City Is in Ruins and 50,000 Are Homeless.
With men and women dying in her ghostly streets, New York saw day breaking through the wild clouds yesterday morning. Nature had overwhelmed the metropolis, and citizens were found dead in the mighty snowdrifts.
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San Francisco, April 18—Earthquake and fire today have put nearly half of San Francisco in ruins. About 500 persons have been killed, a thousand injured, and the property loss will exceed $200,000,000. Fifty thousand people are homeless and destitute, and all day long streams of people have been fleeing from the stricken districts to places of safety. It was 5:13 this morning when a terrific earthquake shock shook the whole city and surrounding country. One shock apparently lasted two minutes, and there was almost immediate collapse of flimsy structures all over the city. The water supply was cut off, and when fires started in various sections there was nothing to do but let the buildings burn. Telegraph and telephone communication was cut off for a time. Electric power was stopped and street cars did not run; railroads and ferry-boats also ceased operations. The various fires raged all day and the fire department has been powerless to do anything except dynamite buildings threatened. All day long explosions have shaken the city and added to the terror of inhabitants. First Warning at 5:13 A.M. Most of the people of San Francisco were asleep at 5:13 o’clock this morning when the terrible earthquake came without warning.
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In this well-known story, the Lion wishes for courage, the Tin Woodman for a heart, and the Scarecrow for brains. In Chapter XVI, after a long and eventful journey, Dorothy and her companions finally reach the Emerald City and the hall of the Wizard himself, hoping the Wizard can grant their wishes.
The narrator of this story, a Native American teenager, is both fascinated by and fearful of the legendary bear creature passed down from his Mohawk ancestors.
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Young David Copperfield is treated cruelly by his stepfather. One day, David bites his stepfather’s hand and is sent to a school in London as punishment. In this excerpt from Chapter 5, David describes his first days at the harsh school.
www.scholastic.com Cover art by Richard Cowdrey Cover design by Steve Scott $5.99 US / $7.99 CAN RL4 008-012
KATHRYN LASKY
Have you ever heard of a lizard with two heads, a mammal that lays eggs, or a bear that isn’t a bear? Take a close look at Australia—this island continent is home to the thorny devil, the
of different kinds of communication. Argyle believed that, whereas spoken language is normally used for communicating information about events, nonverbal cues are used to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. Facial Expressions Of all the nonverbal signals that people send, facial expressions are the most common and the most complex. Researchers say that the human face can produce some 7,000 different expressions, and people use hundreds of them every day, conveying shades of meaning with subtle differences in the curve of a lip or the angle of an eyebrow. by L. Frank Baum Ivy June Mosley lives in rural Thunder Creek, Kentucky, and is about to participate in a student exchange program with a girl named Catherine Combs, who comes from Lexington, a big town and a world away. Ivy June doesn’t know what to expect and pours out her feelings in a journal entry.
The world spiraled, the needles of the old fir tree blurred against the night sky, and then there was a sickening sensation as the forest floor raced toward him. Soren madly tried to beat his stubby little wings. Useless! He thought, I am dead. A dead owlet. Three weeks out of the shell and my life ends! Suddenly, something began to soften his fall—a pocket of breeze? A cushion of wind? A downy fluff of air lacing through his unsightly patches of fuzz? What was it? Time slowed. His short life flowed by him—every second of it from his very first memory. . . .
platypus, and the koala. Australia is surrounded
A guidebook is a reference book you can carry with you. These excerpts are about amazing sites in the United States.
Short Reads for
by water. Its animals have evolved in isolation. Most don’t exist anywhere else on the planet. Today, pollution and the growth of cities are putting some of them under pressure. Many of Australia’s creatures are now endangered.
Snow covers a street and blows against a row of apartment houses surrounding Trinity Church.
Because the platypus is so bizarre, it is an important subject for biologists to study.
Set in Canada in the early 1900s, this book tells about an orphan girl mistakenly sent to live with a middle-aged brother and sister who had expected a boy who could help them on their farm.
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LONGEST BRIDGE LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN CAUSEWAY Location: Metairie to Mandeville, Louisiana Length: 24 miles (39 km) Discover Around 43,000 vehicles cross the Lake
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RISEUP_V_SanFranQuake.indd 1 Platypuses live underground in holes that they dig in the banks of rivers. They are nocturnal, spending the night diving for food. Now water pollution is killing off the food that platypuses eat, and much of their habitat has been destroyed. But there is good news, too. The water has been cleaned up in some areas, and this has drawn platypuses to a surprising place. A few have been found in the city of Melbourne—Australia’s second largest city. This is a good sign for the species. What Is It? What has four legs, a furry body, a duck’s bill, and webbed feet? It’s a platypus—a mammal that looks like it was put together from spare parts. And yes, even though it is a mammal, the female platypus actually lays eggs.
Adapted from Chapter XVI The Magic Art of the Great Humbug
Fires burned out of control, with no water available to extinguish them.
RISEUP_U_BodyLanguage.indd 1 Next morning the Scarecrow said to his friends: “Congratulate me. I am going to Oz to get my brains at last. When I return I shall be as other men are.” “I have always liked you as you were,” said Dorothy simply. “It is kind of you to like a Scarecrow,” he replied. “But surely you will think more of me when you hear the splendid thoughts my new brain is going to turn out.” Then he said good- bye to them all in a cheerful voice and went to the Throne Room, where he rapped upon the door. “Come in,” said Oz.
The Scarecrow went in and found the little man sitting down by the window, engaged in deep thought. “I have come for my brains,” remarked the Scarecrow, a little uneasily. So the Wizard unfastened his head and emptied out the straw. Then he entered the back room and took up a measure of bran, which he mixed with a great many pins and needles. Having shaken them together thoroughly, he filled the top of the Scarecrow’s head with the mixture and stuffed the rest of the space with straw, to hold it in place. When he had fastened the Scarecrow’s head on his body again he said to him, “Hereafter March 6 CHAPTER ONE
Gulf of Carpentaria
Timor Sea
Historical Account
12/2/19 3:36 PM CHARLES DICKENS DAVID COPPERFIELD
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Fantasy
faith, hope,
Historical Account
QUEENSLAND
12/2/19 4:48 PM Adapted by Elizabeth West from the Novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery Anne Green of
In Pam Muñoz Ryan’s award-winning novel, Esperanza’s comfortable life is upended after her father’s death. Esperanza, her mama, and her abuelita are determined to keep living on their beloved ranch, as Father would have wished. But that may not be possible.
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Informative / Explanatory
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WESTERN AUSTRALIA
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Pontchartrain Causeway every day.The Causeway, as it is called, is actually a viaduct—a long, elevated roadway consisting of a series of short spans. It connects the Louisiana towns of Metairie, near New Orleans, and Mandeville, on the other side of the lake. Before the Causeway opened, that trip had to be made by ferry or by a long road around the perimeter of Lake Pontchartrain. History • To build the Causeway, engineers had to invent
Lake Pontchartrain, LA
and ivy june
A U S T R A L I A
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
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INDIAN OCEAN
NEW SOUTH WALES
’m writing this in my journal as I lean against an old hemlock. I’m not bleeding so much now and the writing helps me focus my mind and not fall asleep. I can’t allow myself to fall asleep. I have to keep my eyes and ears open. Otherwise he might creep up on me. People talk a lot about good and evil. Some say that no one is born bad. It’s just a result of the way they were raised. But that’s not what many ancestors believed. Some beings, some animals and people—and those who are both human and animal at the same time—are otgont , twisted away from the path of the good mind. All they care for is power and they’re always hungry. The way he is.
ADAPTED FROM CHAPTER 5
Sydney
Canberra
VICTORIA
This map shows where thorny devils, koalas, and platypuses live in Australia.
I Am Sent Away From Home I gazed upon the schoolroom into which he took me, as the most forlorn and desolate place I had ever seen. I see it now. A long room, with three rows of desks, and six of forms, and bristling all round with pegs for hats and slates. Scraps of old copy-books and exercises litter the dirty floor. Some silkworms’ houses, made of the same materials, are Short Reads for
Melbourne
Gables
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TASMANIA
First Men on the Moon by J. Patrick Lewis
At any given time, 80 police units are on patrol along the bridge.
Thorny Devil
Koala
Platypus
An almanac is a reference book that gives current facts and stats about different subjects. These excerpts are about health and wellness.
Jessie claims it’s not me going to Lexington that bothers her; it’s Catherine coming here afterward, and what she’ll say about us once she goes back. Howard says the same, but he wants to see what Catherine Combs will do when she meets her first copperhead up on the spur. We were all waiting for Mammaw Mosley’s voice on it, because after I come back from Lexington, Catherine will be staying here for two weeks, sleeping with me in my room and eating Mosley food. If Mammaw didn’t want the work and worry of another girl around, that would be the end of it, because she’s already got Grandmommy to care for. “Ivy June,” she says, “this may be your one chance to see what the rest of the world is like.” (Not taking Africa and China into account, of course). But if Lexington’s all I’m going to get, I figure I’ll take it. And I’ve got to remember to write about it every blessed day, which is part of the program. Catherine has to keep a journal too. We’re supposed to sign our names after each writing, even if we never show our journals to anyone, because putting our name on paper helps us own up to how we feel. The hardest part will be keeping my mind open and my mouth shut. Ivy June Mosley
36 WORLDWILDLIFE
a newer, stronger concrete.The concrete was poured into pilings that were sunk into the floor of the lake.The bridge was built on top of the pilings. • Workers sunk the first pilings in
Fantasy (Classic) Papaw says not to prejudice my heart before I’ve got there. But Miss Dixon says to write down what we think now so we can compare it with what we feel after. In the weeks I’ve been worrying on what 12/2/19 4:09 PM They’ll probably be polite—crisp as a soda cracker on the outside, hard as day-old biscuits underneath. to put in the old yellow suitcase—used to be Jessie’s—I’ve taken out every last thing and tried another. I think that how I look and what I wear shouldn’t matter, but I feel that anything I put on my back will stand out like a new pimple. Shirl says the folks in Lexington are so blue- blooded that even their snot is blue, but the farthest she’s been is up to Hazard or down to Harlan, same as me. We could count on our fingers the times we’ve been more than ten miles out of Thunder Creek, I’ll bet. Ma and Daddy don’t much like me going on this exchange program. If I was still living in their house, they wouldn’t let me have a stranger from Lexington staying at our place. But since I’m up the hollow at Papaw Mosley’s now, they can’t very well complain.
An almanac is a reference book that gives current facts and stats about different subjects. These excerpts are about inventors and inventions.
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In Greek mythology, Prometheus is the helper of humankind and wants people to flourish on Earth. This brings him into conflict with Zeus, king of the Olympian gods.
Informative / Explanatory
The road on the bridge is made of more than 9,000 concrete panels.
Health & Wellness
FROM CHAPTER 1
1955.The Causeway opened 15 months later as a two-lane bridge. In1969, two more lanes were added.
M atthew got to the train station a little late. Their orphan would be waiting! Matthew and his sister wanted a boy who could help with the chores. Matthew certainly needed help. He was getting old. However, he didn’t see any boy at the station. “You must be Matthew Cuthbert,” said a girl in an ugly, yellow dress. “I’m your orphan.” Matthew didn’t know what to say. Someone had made a mistake! “I’ve been waiting,” she said. “I was afraid you weren’t coming.” Matthew was a shy man. He wasn’t used to girls. What should he do now? He couldn’t leave this girl alone at the station. He’d better take her home. Then his sister could decide what to do. He hoped things would work out.
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Matthew didn’t say much. The girl didn’t notice. And she talked a lot. “Look at all the beautiful flowers! I’ve always heard about the flowers in Avonlea. What’s that pond called?” “That’s the Barrys’ pond,” said Matthew. “I’ll call it Shining Waters,” she said cheerfully. “That sounds more romantic. Does Green Gables have a pond? Then I’d be truly happy. Well, sort of happy. I’d be truly happy with dark hair. I hate my red hair.” The girl saw a small house in the distance and pointed to it. “Is that Green Gables?” Matthew nodded. “This will be my first real home,” she said. “It’s perfect!”
Inventors & Inventions
Adventure
“The Eagle has landed!” Apollo 11 Commander Neil A. Armstrong “A magnificent desolation!” Air Force Colonel Edwin F. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr. July 20, 1969 That afternoon in mid-July, Two pilgrims watched from distant space The Moon ballooning in the sky. They rose to meet it face-to-face. Their spidery spaceship Eagle dropped Down gently on the lunar sand. And when the module’s engines stopped, Cold silence fell across the land. The first man down the ladder, Neil, Spoke words that we remember now – “Small step for man…” it made us feel As if we too were there somehow. Then Neil planted the flag and Buzz Collected lunar rocks and dust. They hopped like kangaroos because Of gravity. Or wanderlust. A quarter million miles away, One small blue planet watched in awe. And no one who was there that day Will soon forget the Moon they saw.
Explore • For at least 8 miles (13 km) of your drive across the Causeway, you won’t see any land. • When vessels taller than 15 feet (4.5 m) need to pass through, they head for the bascule span.A bascule is a kind of drawbridge that uses a lever and counterweights to raise and lower the bridge surface.
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To Your Health Unless you happen to be sick and unable to do what you want to do, you probably take your health for granted. But keeping healthy is the most important thing you can do for yourself. The first step is to eat a healthy diet with lots of vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and fruits. But you also need to do other things: keep moving and keep clean. Shake a Leg
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the Fire-Giver
The Causeway is open 24 hours a day, depending on weather and traffic conditions. For more information, visit www.thecauseway.us. If You Visit
I n the early days of the universe, the Titans ruled the Earth. Prometheus was the wisest of the Titans. He disliked the other Titans, who were always fighting, so he joined the god Zeus to overthrow them. With Prometheus’s help, Zeus defeated the Titans and sent them into Tartarus, a fiery subterranean region of torment and misery. Then Zeus took control of the Earth. When Zeus became king of the gods, the people upon the Earth were nothing more than savages. They lived in caves, wore skins of wild animals, and ate all their food raw because they did not know how to make fire.
Flip a Switch and Say Thanks From texting to snowboarding to brushing your teeth, and even turning on a light, you’ve got an inventor to thank for almost everything you might use to make life easier and more interesting. Sometimes you have more than one inventor to thank! Benjamin Franklin’s famous experiment with lightning showed the world that this force was a form of electricity—a power that could be harnessed and used. Thomas Edison then invented an incandescent lightbulb and lit up our world. Phoning It In Nowadays we take for granted how easy it is to chat or text on a cell phone. But someone had to invent the technology first. In this case it was Martin Cooper, in 1973. But the first telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876— almost 100 years before cell phones showed up! Moving Along Some inventions made it easier for us to get from one place to another: • Richard Trevithick of England invented the locomotive in 1803. • Gottlieb Daimler of Germany came up with the first gas-engine motorcycle in 1885. In Germany that same year, Karl Benz came up with the first automobile with an internal combustion engine. • Benjamin Holt of the United States made the first tractor in 1904. • The Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, gave us the first airplane in 1903. (Thankfully, France’s Louis-Sébastien Lenormand had already given the world the parachute in 1783!)
by pam muñoz ryan
7
Informative / Explanatory
Running, jumping rope, playing tag, skating, skiing, playing basketball or baseball, swimming, or riding a bike is serious fun. Activity is good for you, too. Every day you should play outside for at least an hour. The more you move, the more you protect yourself from being overweight and running the risk of getting diseases like asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and heart disease. Get up and get out! Sweet Dreams You snooze, you lose. Actually, that’s not true. You need your sleep. Every night you need to shut down and reboot your system by sleeping for at least eight hours. When you sleep, your brain reshuffles information, spreads a few chemicals around, repairs damage done during the day, and maybe even solves problems! Sleeping is also the time when your body grows. So go to bed—and grow up!
T he wind blew hard that night and the house moaned and whistled. Instead of dreaming of birthday songs, Esperanza’s sleep was filled with nightmares. An enormous bear was chasing her, getting closer and closer and finally folding her in a tight embrace. Its fur caught in her mouth, making it hard to breathe. Someone tried to pull the bear away but couldn’t. The bear squeezed
harder until it was smothering Esperanza. Then when she thought she would suffocate, the bear grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her until her head wagged back and forth. Her eyes opened, then closed again. She realized she was dreaming and for an instant, she felt relieved. But the shaking began again, harder this time.
Realistic Fiction (Classic)
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Myth
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Wangari Maathai Nobel Lecture, Oslo, December 10, 2004 The following speech was made in acceptance of this annual prize awarded to a person whose remarkable work helped bring peace and make the world a better place.
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This book takes place in England in the late 1800s. In this excerpt, a cylindrical Thing from outer space has landed, creating an enormous pit in which it is now embedded. A crowd of onlookers has gathered, and both scientists and townspeople are mystified.
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Recycling: A System That Works! Recycling can take many forms. Worn-out tires can be used to create paving materials. Grass clippings left on a lawn help nourish the soil. Old newspapers can be turned into insulation. Simply put, recycling is the collection and reuse of materials that would otherwise be thrown away. Recycling efforts have been amazingly successful. By 2008, 500 million tons of materials were being produced worldwide by recycling each year. In addition, the recycling industry generates some $160 billion in revenue annually. This directly creates more than 1 million jobs. Another 1.4 million jobs in related industries are also created. The consequences to the environment are even more far-reaching. Recycling diverts tens of millions of tons of garbage per year from incinerators and landfills. This significantly reduces the environmental problems associated with waste disposal. Out of Site, Out of Mind Recycling has not always been a priority. Throughout history, there have been three ways to get rid of garbage: dump it (often in rivers, lakes, and oceans), burn it, or bury it. As human populations have increased in certain areas, the harmful effects of those tactics have become obvious. Dumping pollutes waterways and breeds disease. Burning waste pollutes the air with harmful or toxic gases and pumps tons of greenhouse gases into the air, contributing to changes in global temperatures and weather patterns. Burying waste contaminates groundwater. In addition, landfills are filling up, and it is becoming harder to find places to bury garbage. The problem of waste disposal captured the public’s attention in the United States back in 1987. A barge loaded with 3,000 tons of household garbage departed from Islip, New York. It was headed for Morehead City, North Carolina, where it intended to off-load its cargo at a landfill. When the load reached its destination, however, rumors that the garbage included potentially harmful medical waste caused officials in Morehead City to refuse to accept it. For weeks the barge traveled up and down the East Coast, looking for landfills that would accept the garbage. It even sent inquiries as far away as Mexico and Belize. Eventually, the waste was incinerated. The media attention that was paid to the incident awakened the public to the need for better waste disposal. Many experts consider the modern recycling movement to have begun with that barge load of unwanted garbage. Short Reads for
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September 11, 2001 On September 11, 2001, the United States experienced what has been described as the worst and most audacious terrorist attack. Four American airplanes were hijacked by Islamist militants, members of a terrorist group called al-Qaeda. Two planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, which collapsed soon after impact. Another plane struck and damaged the Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense in Arlington, Virginia. Passengers aboard the fourth plane struggled with the hijackers, but the airliner crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Cell phone calls made by passengers on the flights provided evidence about the hijackings. Everyone aboard the four hijacked planes was killed. The death toll for the day was 2,977 people. The events of this terrible day are now collectively referred to as “9/11.” An Account of the Events At 8:46 am that Tuesday morning, the first plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, which burst into flames. The hijacked airliner was American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston, which was bound for Los Angeles. At 9:03 am., a second hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 175, en route from Boston to Los Angeles, hit the South Tower, setting it ablaze. The fires continued to rage unchecked until both 110-story buildings collapsed with stupendous force. The South Tower went down at 9:59 a.m., and the North Tower at 10:28 am. Meanwhile, at 9:30 am, a third hijacked airliner, American Airlines Flight 77, flying from Washington Dulles International Airport and bound for Los Angeles, crashed into the Pentagon. On the same morning, a fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, took off from Newark International Airport, now renamed Newark Liberty International Airport, bound for San Francisco. This plane was flying west on its way to Cleveland when it was taken over by hijackers. The plane turned around and headed back east toward Washington, DC. According to cell phone messages received from the people on board, a group of passengers planned to invade the cockpit and try to regain control of the aircraft. The plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, evidently during a heroic struggle between hijackers and passengers. The psychological effect of the attacks on the United States, and especially on New York City, was profound. A siege mentality was the predominant mood. Strict security procedures went into effect everywhere. National Guard units
Wangari Maathai
Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Honorable Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen: I stand before you and the world humbled by this recognition and uplifted by the honor of being the 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate. As the first African woman to receive this prize, I accept it on behalf of the people of Kenya and Africa, and indeed the world. I am especially mindful of women and the girl child. I hope it will encourage them to raise their voices and take more space for leadership. I know the honor also gives a deep sense of pride to our men, both old and young. As a mother, I appreciate the inspiration this brings to the youth and urge them to use it to pursue their dreams. In 1977, when we started the Green Belt Movement, I was partly responding to needs identified by rural women, namely lack of firewood, clean drinking water, balanced diets, shelter, and income. Throughout Africa, women are the primary caretakers, holding significant responsibility for tilling the land and feeding their families. As a result, they are often the first to become aware of environmental damage as resources become scarce and incapable of sustaining their families. The women we worked with recounted that, unlike in the past, they were unable to meet their basic needs. This was due to the degradation of their immediate environment as well as the introduction of commercial farming, which replaced the growing of household food crops. But international trade controlled the price of the exports from these small-scale farmers, and a reasonable and just income could not be guaranteed. I came to understand that when the environment is destroyed, plundered, or mismanaged, we undermine our quality of life and that of future generations. Tree planting became a natural choice to address some of the initial basic needs identified by women. Also, tree planting is simple, attainable, and guarantees quick, successful results within a reasonable amount time. This sustains interest and commitment. So, together, we have planted over 30 million trees that provide fuel, food, shelter, and income to support their children’s education and household needs. The activity also creates employment and improves soils and watersheds. Through their involvement, women gain some degree of power over their lives, especially their social and economic position and relevance in the family. This work continues. When we Since the death of their mother, Carter and Sadie have been living apart. In this excerpt, the siblings are visiting London’s British Museum with their Egyptologist father.
At the beginning of this award-winning novel, Cole, a troubled teenager, is in a remote part of Alaska, where he has been sent as a punishment to avoid jail time. The author uses flashbacks to help tell Cole’s story.
During World War I, in England, Albert’s father struggles to keep the family’s farm. He makes a decision that changes the lives of Albert and of Albert’s beloved horse, Joey, who narrates this excerpt.
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The end of the cylinder was being screwed out from within. Nearly two feet of shining screw projected. Somebody blundered against me, and I narrowly missed being pitched onto the top of the screw. I turned, and as I did so the screw must have come out, for the lid of the cylinder fell upon the gravel with a ringing concussion. I stuck my elbow into the person behind me, and turned my head towards the Thing again. For a moment that circular cavity seemed perfectly black. I had the sunset in my eyes. I think everyone expected to see a man emerge—possibly something a little unlike us terrestrial men, but in all essentials a man. I know I did. But, looking, I presently saw something stirring within the shadow: greyish billowy movements, one above another, and then two luminous disks— like eyes. Then something resembling a little grey snake, about the thickness of a walking stick, coiled up out of the writhing middle, and wriggled in the air towards me— and then another. Short Reads for
“Broken Toys” is one of the fifteen short tales that create the particular not-quite-normal mood of Shaun Tan’s Tales From Outer Suburbia.
Agreeing to spend a whole year alone in Southeast Alaska had been his only way of avoiding a jail cell in Minneapolis. Two men accompanied Cole on this final leg of his journey. In the middle sat Garvey, the gravelly- voiced, wisecracking Indian parole officer from Minneapolis. Garvey said he was a Tlingit Indian, pronouncing Tlingit proudly with a clicking of his tongue as if saying “Klingkit.” He was built like a bulldog with lazy eyes. Cole didn’t trust Garvey. He didn’t trust anyone who wasn’t afraid of him. Garvey pretended to be a friend, but Cole knew he was nothing more than a paid baby-sitter. This week his job was escorting a violent juvenile offender first from Minneapolis to Seattle, then to Ketchikan, Alaska, where they boarded a big silver floatplane to the Tlingit village of Drake. Now they were headed for some island in the middle of nowhere. In the rear of the skiff sat Edwin, a quiet, potbellied Tlingit elder who had helped arrange Cole’s banishment. He steered the boat casually, a faded blue T-shirt and baggy jeans his only protection against the wind. Deep-set eyes made it hard to tell what Edwin was thinking. He stared forward with a steely patience, like a wolf waiting. Cole didn’t trust him either. It was Edwin who had built the shelter and made all the preparations on the island where Cole was to stay. When he first met Edwin in Drake, the gruff elder took one look and pointed a finger at him. “Go put your clothes on inside out,” he ordered. “Get real, old man,” Cole answered.
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A sudden chill came over me. There was a loud shriek from a woman behind. I half turned, keeping my eyes fixed upon the cylinder still, from which other tentacles were now projecting, and began pushing my way back from the edge of the pit. I saw astonishment giving place to horror on the faces of the people about me. I heard inarticulate exclamations on all sides. There was a general movement backwards. I saw the shopman struggling still on the edge of the pit. I found myself alone, and saw the people on the other side of the pit running off, Stent among them. I looked again at the cylinder, and ungovernable terror gripped me. I stood petrified and staring. A big greyish rounded bulk, the size, perhaps, of a bear, was rising slowly and painfully out of the cylinder. As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather.
THE RED PYRAMID
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ENVIRONMENT
12/3/19 10:26 AM We were strategically planning our opening remarks when the dull, scratched faceplate turned toward us and said something we couldn’t make out. The diver moved forward, creaking, babbling. We backed off. “Crazy talk,” I said. But you listened carefully and shook your head. “Nah, I think it’s . . . Japanese .” He was saying the same sentence over and over— ending with something like “tasoo-ke-te, tasoo-ke-te.” And he was holding out one hand to show us a little wooden horse, which might once have been golden and shiny, but was now cracked and sun bleached, held together with string. Short Reads for sleepwalking, leaving big wet glove prints that dried to ghostly patches of salt. You said, “I’ll give you ten bucks to go and say hello.” I said, “No way.” “We’ll both go then.” “Okay.” We crept closer. The smell was weird, like the ocean, I suppose, but with some other sweet odor that was hard to identify. Red dust had collected in the creases of the suit, as though he had been through a desert as well as an ocean. “Maybe we should take him to Mrs. Bad News,” you suggested, meaning old Mrs. Katayama, the only Japanese person we knew in our neighborhood.
i know you think you saw him first, but I’m pretty sure it was me—he was over there by the underpass, feeling his way along the graffiti-covered wall, and I said, “Look, there’s something you don’t see every day.” Well, we’d certainly seen crazy people before—“shell- shocked by life” as you once put it. But something pretty strange must have happened to this guy to make him decide to wander about in a spacesuit on a dead-quiet public holiday. We hid behind a postbox to get a better look. Up close it was even more perplexing: the spacesuit was covered in barnacles and sea stuff, and dripping wet in spite of the fierce summer heat. “It’s not a spacesuit, stupid,” you whispered. “It’s that old-fashioned diving gear, from the pearlers up north. You know, in the olden days, when they got the bends because they didn’t know about decompressification and how it turns your blood into lemonade.” You sighed loudly at my blank look and said, “Never mind.” But, as we stealthily followed our crazy person, I could tell you were right, because of the helmet and the long air-hose dragging behind. He shuffled aimlessly across the empty football oval, past the petrol station, and up and down people’s driveways. He plodded around the edge of the closed corner deli, feeling along walls and windows as if SCIENCE IN ACTION
Sadie caught her breath. Dad was writing on the stone. Wherever the boomerang made contact, glowing blue lines appeared
I was led back to Albert’s father who took the offered money from Captain Nicholls, stuffing it quickly into his trouser pocket. “You’ll look after him, sir?” he said. “You’ll see he comes to no harm? My son’s very fond of him, you see.” He reached out and brushed my nose with his hand. There were tears filling his eyes. At that moment he became almost a likable man to me. “You’ll be all right, old son,” he whispered to me. “You won’t understand and neither will Albert, but unless I sell you, I can’t keep up with the mortgage and we’ll lose the farm. I’ve treated you bad—I’ve treated everyone bad. I know it and I’m sorry for it.” And he walked away from me, leading Zoey behind him. His head was lowered and he looked suddenly like a shrunken man.
reached the entrance of the
RISEUP_Z_WarOfTheWorlds.indd 1 It was then that I fully realized I was being abandoned, and I began to neigh, a high-pitched cry of pain and anxiety that shrieked out through the village. Even old Zoey, obedient and placid as she always was, stopped and would not be moved on no matter how hard Albert’s father pulled her. She turned, tossed up her head, and shouted her farewell. But her cries became weaker and she was finally dragged away and out of my sight. Kind hands tried to contain me and to console me, but I was inconsolable. I had just about given up all hope, when I saw Albert running toward me through the crowd, his face red with exertion. The band had stopped playing, and the entire village looked on as he came up to me and put his arms around my neck. Short Reads for
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Egyptian gallery, we stopped dead in our tracks. Our dad stood in front of the Rosetta Stone with his back to us. A blue circle glowed on the floor around him, as if someone had switched on hidden neon tubes in the floor. My dad had thrown off his overcoat. His workbag lay open at his feet, revealing a wooden box about two feet long, painted with Egyptian images. “What’s he holding?” Sadie whispered to me. “Is that a boomerang?” Sure enough, when Dad raised his hand, he was brandishing a curved white stick. It did look like a boomerang. But instead of throwing the stick, he touched it to the Rosetta Stone. Short Reads for
CHAPTER 1
United States President John F. Kennedy gave his “Moon Speech” on September 12, 1962, at the Rice University Stadium in Houston, Texas.
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Persuasive
Informative / Explanatory
Informative / Explanatory
12/3/19 10:04 AM on the granite. Hieroglyphs. It made no sense. How could he write glowing words with a stick? But the image was bright and clear: ram’s horns above a box and an X.
C OLE MATTHEWS KNELT defiantly in the bow of the aluminum skiff as he faced forward into a cold September wind. Worn steel handcuffs bit at his wrists each time the small craft slapped into another wave. Overhead, a gray-matted sky hung like a bad omen. Cole strained at the cuffs even though he had agreed to wear them until he was freed on the island to begin his banishment.
Science Fiction (Classic) Q:Who needs math? Who needs science? A: Architects, musicians, engineers, climatologists, city planners, and engineers, to name a few. Many people work in careers that demand using math and science. Q: What does an architect do? 12/3/19 10:42 AM A: Architects are professionals who envision and build in the spaces all around us. From homes to offices, schools to hospitals, airports to shopping malls, parks to entire cities, architects design spaces that affect and enrich the way we live our lives. Historical Fiction Q: What kind of talents does an architect need? A: Artistic ability, technical skill, and business sense are all essential. The experienced architect can imagine a building and then draw it using pen and paper or a computer. Most important, an architect has to be able to apply science and math to make the structure sound. Q: What is a climatologist? A: A scientist who studies climate variations and their effects is a climatologist. Q: What does a climatologist do? 12/3/19 10:32 AM A: In order to study climate change, climatologists must observe changes in worldwide precipitation—snowfall and rainfall—and temperature. Then they must pinpoint the causes of these changes. They collect, analyze, and interpret records of wind, precipitation, sunshine, and temperature in specific regions. All of those pieces of information use both math and science to gain knowledge about the climate. This work has many practical applications. It is useful for guiding building design in ways that maximize the efficiency of heating and cooling systems. Increasingly, such studies are also being used to guide the location of power plants that harness solar, wind, or water energy. In 2007, a movie called An Inconvenient Truth won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. It focuses on the efforts of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore to alert the world to the fact of global warming. He spells out the potentially catastrophic effects of such warming, thus making the case for curbing its human causes. That same year, Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to publicize this issue. His corecipient was a body called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC is a scientific organization that has been in existence since 1988. Its work has been to study the scientific literature on climate change and assess the risk that climate change poses.
ESTABLISHED 1882 NO. 5212
MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1912
PRICE FIVE CENTS
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We build roads that cut across animal migration routes. We cut down trees to create farms, leaving only patches of forest. Urban areas spread into the countryside. Species that retreat to these habitats become crowded and struggle to survive. Today, the leading cause of habitat destruction is human activity. More than natural events such as tornadoes and hurricanes, habitat destruction by humans is the main cause of the endangerment of plants and animals. Direct threats include cutting down trees and other plants and the illegal hunting, capturing, or killing of wild animals. Too Late? Loss of habitat affected the ivory-billed woodpecker after the forests where the bird lived were cut down. This bird’s range once stretched from the Mississippi River to North Carolina to the swamps of Florida. Ultimately it was thought to be extinct in the United States. In 2005, a team of scientists claimed that at least one ivory bill was still living in the remote Big Woods region of southeastern Arkansas. Though they backed up their
ALL TITANIC PASSENGERS SAVED LINER GASHED BUT ALL ARE RESCUED
The Moon Speech [. . .] The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space.
An almanac is a reference book that gives current facts and stats about different subjects. These excerpts are about how people’s actions affect the environment.
A government wireless at 4:15 o’clock this afternoon brings the news that the Titanic is sinking in shallow water near Cape Race. The passengers have been taken aboard the Carpathia , brought rushing to assistance by wireless. Thrilling scenes were enacted when the transfer was made. The insurance on the Titanic amounts to about $7,500,000. The great steamer is carrying $500,000 worth of diamonds.
Adventure HALIFAX, N. S., Apr. 15.—The White Star liner Titanic , which rammed an iceberg near Cape Race yesterday, is doomed, but the passengers are saved. 12/3/19 9:59 AM MONTREAL, April 15.—Manager Mitchell of the White Star line denies the sinking of the Titanic . He reports that the damaged ship is making for Halifax under her own steam.
assertion with audio recordings of the bird’s call, other scientists doubted the evidence. One species harmed by loss of food supply was the American black-footed ferret. This ferret feeds almost exclusively on the black- tailed prairie dog, a grassland rodent. Ferrets also live in burrows dug by the prairie dogs. Ranchers objected to prairie dogs because they ate the grass designated for grazing livestock, and their burrows were sometimes responsible for injuring cattle and horses. So ranchers killed them. As their numbers declined, so did the ferrets’. By the 1980s, only a few ferrets remained. In the 1990s and early 2000s, efforts to replenish the species entailed breeding them in captivity and releasing groups of them into protected areas to establish small, stable populations. The American black-footed ferret and the ivory-billed woodpecker are two species that are victims of habitat loss.
“ Open ,” Sadie murmured. I stared at her, because it sounded like she had just translated the word, but that was impossible. I’d been hanging around Dad for years, and even I could read only a few hieroglyphs. They are seriously hard to learn. In this excerpt from the first of eight books, we are introduced to Artemis, the prodigy and criminal mastermind who has set out to reclaim his family’s fortune.
Short Reads for
Environment
Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be a part of it—we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon, and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding. [. . .] There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. It is for these reasons that I regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in space from low to high gear as among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the Presidency.
Ulysses, a heroic Greek warrior cursed by the sea-god Neptune, faces one obstacle after another as he tries to return to Ithaca after his victory at Troy. In this passage, Ulysses recounts what befell him and his men during one harrowing part of his journey.
RISEUP_Y_TheRedPyramid.indd 1 Don’t Be a (Carbon) Bigfoot Using fossil fuels, such as gasoline, to power our cars, and burning oil and coal to heat our homes releases harmful gases into the atmosphere. These gases, known as greenhouse gases, include methane and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and they can increase the temperature and change the weather on Earth. The amount of CO 2 humans create through activities and energy choices is called their carbon footprint. For years scientists have warned that correcting the CO 2 emissions will be impossible once we reach over 400 parts per million. Unfortunately, in 2013, our planet surpassed the 400 mark. 12/3/19 9:47 AM Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels The amount of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), in the atmosphere has been steadily rising for more than a century. Experts say the increase comes mostly from the burning of fossil fuels for energy. Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere, 1903–2018 Year CO 2 1903 295 1927 306 1943 308 1960 317 1980 339 1990 354 2000 367 2018 407 (parts per million)
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It’s Up Close and It’s Personal
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locations are noted on a grid map of the scene, but nothing is touched or moved. The visible evidence provides the basis of the narrative description. Photographs are also taken of any spectators watching the activities, as sometimes the perpetrator returns to observe the action. These photos can also help identify potential witnesses. Whether written, recorded, or videotaped, the narrative description is an account of the conditions at the crime scene. Is there a distinctive smell? Is a radio on? Tuned to what station? Are lights on or off? Are drapes open or closed? Are there old newspapers on the porch? Are there drinking glasses lying around? Do they have lipstick marks? Based on the initial assessment, investigators can start to piece together how the crime could —and could not—have happened.
Persuasive The most critical of all investigative operations is the search at the scene of a crime. The scientific methods used during the investigation will help to find proof of guilt or to establish innocence. A crime scene investigation doesn’t really begin until the Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) unit arrives. First they study the scene. Are the doors locked or bolted? If so, from the inside or outside? Are there marks of forced entry? What is the condition of the scene? Is there evidence of a struggle? Is the place dirty or clean? Are clocks running? Do they show the correct time? There is only one chance to perform this job properly—it is the only opportunity investigators will have to review untainted evidence. 12/3/19 10:20 AM
H ow does one describe Artemis Fowl? Various psychiatrists have tried and failed. The main problem is Artemis’s own intelligence. He bamboozles every test thrown at him. He has puzzled the greatest medical minds, and sent many of them gibbering to their own hospitals. There is no doubt that Artemis is a child prodigy. But why does someone of such brilliance dedicate himself to criminal activities? This is a question that can be answered by only one person. And he delights in not talking. Perhaps the best way to create an accurate picture of Artemis is to tell the by- now famous account of his first villainous venture. I have put together this report from firsthand interviews with the victims, and as the tale unfolds, you will realize that this was not easy. The story began several years ago at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Artemis Fowl had devised a plan to restore his family’s fortune. A plan that could topple civilizations and plunge the planet into a cross-species war. He was twelve years old at the time. . . .
(left) The Titanic sets sail from Southampton; (top right) surviving passengers in their lifeboat; (bottom right) the iceberg that ripped into the great liner.
I spoke to my men: “My friends, I will share with you the advice given to me by the sorceress Circe, so that you know what dangers to expect. Whether we live or die, we shall do so with our eyes open. “Circe warned us to keep clear of the Sirens, who sit amid fields in flower and sing enchantingly to all sailors. She added that if I alone, and no one else, were to hear them, we could make it safely past their island. Therefore, you must bind me tightly to the crosspiece of the mast. Bind me so that I cannot break free from the ropes and go to the Sirens, and no matter how much I beg you to set me free, you must keep me bound.”
RISEUP_Z_WhoNeedsMath.indd 1 The wind had been favorable until then. Now, all of a sudden, the water became deadly calm, without so much as a ripple on its surface. The men put away the sails and took up their oars, rowing so quickly that it made the water white with foam. I took a wheel of wax and with my sword cut it into small pieces. I worked the wax in my hands until it became soft from the kneading and from the warmth of the sun, then plugged my men’s ears with it and had myself tied to the mast. When the Sirens observed us drawing close to their island, they began to sing.
Informative / Explanatory
Shaping the Future Although it’s discouraging to learn that the amount of CO 2 is building, people should still be encouraged to try to prevent greenhouse gas emissions. Planting trees is one reliable way that we can shape the future. The fact is, if every American family planted just one tree, more than a billion pounds of greenhouse gases would be removed from the atmosphere every year.
Informative / Explanatory
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A level 1 search is the least intrusive. The investigators take note of any evidence left in plain view by taking photos, making
Informative / Explanatory
sketches, and measuring distances. They may place numbered markers next to visible evidence. The
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