READING NOTE Level 2

Unit 01 Why Do People Homeschool?

Some parents teach their children an academic curriculum at home instead of sending them to a regular
school.

This is called homeschooling. It has both advantages and disadvantages.

A primary benefit of homeschooling is the flexible schedule in the curriculum.

When children are good or bad at something, they can pace themselves.

Additionally, a strong relationship develops between parent and child while they share the joys of

everyday life.

Moreover, children are less affected by negative things at school such as bullies and too much
competition.

However, there is no guarantee that children will receive a quality education since parents are not expert
teachers.

They also do not have access to school facilities for subjects such as P.E., music, and science.

They may therefore learn those subjects less efficiently.

In addition, homeschooled students do not seem to socialize with their peers.

Although they have some friends in their neighborhoods, they may feel cut off from their friends
attending schools.
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Unit 02 No More Cyberbullying

Dear Advice Auntie,

I am a 13-year-old girl in junior high school.

Lately, I’ve been having issues with cyberbullies.

I receive hurtful messages online almost every day.

Things like, "Stay home from school today, or I will hurt you."

They also spread rumors about me on Facebook and use a photo editor to alter my photos.

Yesterday, I saw they replaced my head with a pig’s head.

It got 137 likes.

I can’t face people at school anymore.

What should I do?

Hurt

Dear Hurt,

Cyberbullying is a serious problem, but there are some solutions for you.

Don’t respond to the messages.

Instead, block the bully, and report his or her activity to Facebook.

I suggest you keep the bullying emails, pictures, and texts, including the times and dates.

Then, talk to adults you trust.

They can take steps to help you.

Sometimes the police can track down an online bully.

Most importantly, spend time with your friends, not with Facebook, and you will feel better.

Advice Auntie
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Unit 03 Sharing Activities at English Schools

A recent report states an interesting fact about donations.

People who donated continuously from their youth donate 12% more than those who didn’t.

It shows that it’s very important to get used to sharing from an early age.

So countries such as England include donations at their school events.

Every year, schools in England choose a place to donate.

Then, they encourage their students to participate in activities to raise money.

For example, students donate one penny every time they jump rope.

So the more they jump rope, the more money they can donate.

In addition, students sell cake and chocolate during lunchtime.

They sometimes run a mini-marathon with teachers to raise money too.

Those experiences make both students and their parents proud because they believe donations can
improve their society.

In England, it is schools that participate in donations the most actively.

They teach students to continue sharing throughout their lives.

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Unit 04 Mentoring in Schools

In Homer’s Odyssey, the Greek king Odysseus left home to fight in the Trojan War.

He was away for ten years.

Before he left, he asked his friend Mentor to take care of his son, Telemachus.

Mentor became Telemachus’ teacher and prepared him to be king.

Today, a mentor has the meaning of a wise and trusted advisor.

The person who learns from a mentor is called a mentee.

These days many schools run mentoring programs for their students.

Mentors are usually adults, but they can also be older students.

Mentoring programs have many benefits.

Mentors help their mentees adjust to school.

They offer support, advice, and friendship in their school life.

They also help mentees build social skills, positive attitudes, and self-confidence.

In practice, mentors play a big role in the growth of students.

Young people go through many challenges, but they can be encouraged by people like mentors.

Mentors are still great teachers today.

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Unit 05 Smart Animals

People often wonder how smart animals can be.

In order to find the answer, scientists studied animals and found out that some have amazing intelligence.

A few crows dropped stones into water in a jar and raised the water level.

It sounds like Aesop’s fable The Crow and the Pitcher, but it really happened in a recent study.

The hungry crows did that to get food as a reward.

According to scientists, crows have a seven-year-old child’s intelligence.

How brainy they are!

Unlike common thought, sheep have very good memories.

A study of sheep reported that they can remember more than 50 other sheep’s faces.

How amazing!

So when they meet in a field, they can recognize each other and sometimes form individual friendships.

Research shows that animals are much smarter than people think.

Humans are not the only intelligent creatures on the Earth.

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Unit 06 An Animal Named After a Plant

The sea cucumber is commonly seen in oceans throughout the world.

It is black, brown, or olive green.

It is from 2.5 to 180 centimeters in length.

Don’t be fooled by its name.

The sea cucumber is not a plant but a sea animal.

It got its name because its shape is similar to the vegetable cucumber.

Most sea cucumbers have 8 to 30 tube feet underneath their bodies.

Their feet help them to move around.

But some have no feet, so they use their muscles to move.

By moving around, they catch small animals to eat.

Sea cucumbers live in the mud, sand, or seagrass.

They live in such places so as to hide themselves from enemies.

Sometimes they get scared by fish or crabs.

Then, they shoot sticky threads from their bodies to trap them.

They do this so as not to get hurt by predators.

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Unit 07 Cats: Man’s Best Friend?

Some people say that dogs are man’s best friend.

But for a 12-week-old baby boy in Russia, a cat was his best friend.

It was an awfully cold day.

A woman who lived in an apartment heard a cat meowing very loudly.

She thought the cat was injured and needed help.

The woman went outside and looked around.

When she found the cat with a freezing baby in a box, she could not believe her eyes.

The cat was Masha, a stray cat that lived in the neighborhood.

She was keeping the baby warm by licking his face.

She was also meowing desperately for help!

When the baby was taken away in an ambulance, Masha jumped into it.

It seemed that she wanted to protect him.

Fortunately, the baby was safe. Masha was the hero of the day.
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Unit 08 Interesting Parenting by Birds

It is never easy to become parents.

They often sacrifice themselves for their babies.

Of course, there can be some exceptions.

However, bird parents are not much different from humans.

Red-billed hornbills are great parents.

The female builds her nest in a tree hole.

She traps herself in her nest and lays her eggs there.

She stays there until the babies become too big for the nest.

In the meantime, the male feeds the female and the babies through a small slit in the nest.

It is really hard for them to be parents.

Cuckoos are an exception.

A female cuckoo neither builds a nest nor raises her babies.

Instead, she searches for a nest with eggs.

When she finds one, she waits for her chance to put her egg between the eggs secretly.

The host bird does not distinguish the cuckoo’s egg from her own.

She does not even notice the baby cuckoo after it hatches from the egg.
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Unit 09 The Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the yearly championship game in American football.

Two teams compete in the game on the first Sunday in February.

One team is from the National Football Conference.

The other is from the American Football Conference.

Both teams are in the NFL.

So why is the championship game called the Super Bowl?

In fact, there was no specific name when the first championship game was planned.

One day at a committee meeting, Mr. Lamar Hunt, one of the committee members, accidentally
suggested an idea.

He said, "You know, the last game, the final game, the Super Bowl."

He named it "Super Bowl."

"Bowl" is a term for a big match, and "Super Ball" was the most popular toy in the 1960s.

He just replaced the word "Ball" with "Bowl."

The name Super Bowl became official from the fourth championship in 1970.

Every year, millions of Americans watch the Super Bowl on TV.

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Unit 10 What Sports Drinks Can Do

After exhausting games, athletes appear with colorful drinks in their hands.

You may see this after many sports games.

What are these colorful drinks?

Why do the athletes need them?

The colorful drinks are called sports drinks, such as Powerade, Gatorade, and Pocari Sweat.

Athletes drink them instead of water because they provide immediate energy after exercise.

By sweating, their bodies lose essential substances like water, sugar, sodium, and calcium.

Sports drinks contain those substances and help athletes absorb them quickly.

This way, athletes can prevent tiredness and muscle damage.

The first sports drink was developed by a group of scientists at Florida University in 1965.

It was named Gatorade and was a great success.

It began a new era in the beverage industry.

Since then, other brands of sports drinks have been developed and joined the market.

Sports drinks can make exhausted bodies re-energized.

However, people may not need sports drinks when they exercise fewer than 30 minutes.

The substances from sports drinks could cause them to gain weight.
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Unit 11 Treetop Walking

Date: July 17, 2015

Today was my third day in Singapore.

Daniel and I got excited about treetop walking at MacRitchie, the biggest reservoir in Singapore.

According to Daniel, treetop walking is a new sport, and people can walk above the trees!

Before beginning treetop walking, I felt my heart beat faster because the bridge was really high!

The bridge was hanging about 40 meters above the ground.

But soon, all my worries were gone.

The view was fantastic!

Birds were flying under my feet, and monkeys were swinging from tree to tree.

Far away, I saw a snake moving on a branch.

Luckily, I was able to follow the treetop trails easily and safely until the end of the walk.

It was very impressive that this bridge let visitors enjoy nature without harming it.

I will never forget the treetop walk!

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Unit 12 Why Do Golf Balls Have Dimples?

When you see a golf ball, you might be curious about its dimples.

Why is a golf ball covered with dimples unlike other balls, such as baseballs and basketballs?

The first golf balls did not have any dimples.

Rather, they were completely smooth.

But soon golfers noticed that older balls with nicks and cuts in the covers seemed to fly farther.

In fact, balls with dimples travel almost twice as far as smooth balls do.

How is that possible?

When a ball flies through the air, the air pressure holds the ball and reduces its speed.

But dimples on a golf ball destroy the flow of air around the ball and make turbulence in the layer of air.

This turbulence helps the ball lift higher and fly farther.

There is no precise number or fixed shape for the dimples on a regulation golf ball.

Golf balls typically have anywhere from 300 to 500 dimples.

Dimples also come in different kinds of shapes, such as circles, ovals, and even hexagons.
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Unit 13 Smartphones Are Changing Our Daily Lives

Smartphones have improved our quality of life.

With smartphones, we can study, work, and enjoy our pastimes.

We can even use smartphones for everyday conveniences such as controlling home appliances from
outside.

We just cannot imagine our lives without them, can we?

In some ways, however, smartphones have negatively changed our lives.

How many of your friends’ phone numbers or email addresses do you memorize?

Probably not many.

A similar thing happens at restaurants when we split the bill.

It is usually our smartphones that do the math, isn’t it?

In addition, when we find locations, we rarely read maps or try to recall locations from memory.

Instead, we just use Google maps or smartphone navigation apps.

Scientists warn that smartphones make our brains lazy.

It’s because we rely on smartphones too much as external storage.

Smartphones are surely necessary in our lives, but let’s not make our brains work less because of them!
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Unit 14 A Better World for Disabled People

It used to be very hard for disabled people to get around and to do common activities.

They were treated differently and received little help.

These days, life is much better for disabled people.

In France, there is a fishing area designed for people in wheelchairs.

The fishing area provides a fishing aid to hold a fishing rod.

There is also a bumper bar to protect the wheelchair from the water.

The Prado Museum in Spain is great for people with visual disabilities.

It has famous paintings in 3D.

People with visual disabilities can enjoy the paintings by touching them and feeling the images pop out.

In England, there is a spa for people with disabilities.

The special lift can be used to raise them into and out of the spa.

They can enjoy taking a hot bath without difficulty.

Many countries are making life more convenient for disabled people.

They know consideration for the disabled makes the world a better place.
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Unit 15 Are You a Gaming Addict?

A gaming addict demonstrates certain habits and manners in daily life.

Test yourself to see if you’re addicted or not.

Lately I’ve been playing games almost every day.

Lately I’ve stayed up all night because of computer games.

Lately I’ve neglected my duties because of games.

Lately I’ve argued with my family because I played games too much.

Lately I’ve done poorly on a test due to games.

Lately I’ve felt depressed without computer games.

Lately I’ve been failing in my attempt to reduce gaming.

If you’ve checked more than five, you may be a gaming addict.

These are common warning signs that you have lost control.

The following tips might help you.

First of all, you should play games after doing your duties such as completing your school homework.

You should also set a time limit for games.

Fewer than two hours is recommended.

Last, but not least, go out with your friends or family and exercise more than twice a week.

Then, you can shift your focus away from playing games.
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Unit 16 Am I Adding to Noise Problems?

The number of multifamily residential buildings is increasing rapidly these days.

Accordingly, problems related to noise are also increasing.

Quite frequently, you can see people argue over a variety of noises.

Some people get upset when they hear their neighbors talk or walk too loudly.

Some are annoyed by the sound of the toilet flushing or late-night showers.

Before you blame your noisy neighbors, ask yourself if you’re causing any unwanted noises in your house.

For example, in your daily life, you may keep the volume of your TV and music too loud.

You may slam the door unconsciously.

Maybe you don’t warn your dog when it’s barking too much.

To reduce noise problems, it is important to respect other people.

Remind yourself that the sound from your house can be a problem to others.
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Unit 17 Facts About Plastic Bags

Plastic bags were made in Sweden in 1965.

However, they became popular when they were introduced to the USA in the 1970s.

They started replacing paper grocery bags and became international hits.

Since 1982, plastic bags have become widely used items.

It is easy to explain the advantages of plastic bags.

They are cheap to make, easy to carry, and convenient to use.

However, plastic bags cause problems for the environment.

It is a well-known fact that they take hundreds of years to decay.

In addition, too much oil and gas are used to make plastic bags.

It is wasteful to use such valuable resources to produce plastic bags.

Moreover, plastic bags are one of the most common types of ocean debris.

Many sea animals get hurt by floating plastic bags and die.

We use plastic bags with ease.

However, we had better not use plastic bags for the environment.

Simply by replacing plastic bags with eco bags or paper bags, we can make a huge difference.

The environment depends on you.

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Unit 18 The Ice Bear

Hello, Mr. Lewis Pugh.

Thanks for joining us for this interview.

I understand you are the first person to swim long distance in every ocean in the world.

Yes, I am.

But I want to say that I don’t swim as a hobby or for work.

It’s the sea environment that I swim for.

I heard you’re especially interested in melting polar ice.

Right. So I swam in the polar sea to highlight that problem.

That’s why you’re called the Ice Bear.

Can you tell us more about it?

Sure. It was in 2007 that I swam at the North Pole.

I swam one kilometer in minus 1.7 °C water.

I wanted to draw people’s attention to the Arctic sea ice.

Its extent was the lowest ever in the satellite record at that time.

That sounds very serious.

It is.

The polar sea ice keeps disappearing faster than scientists predict.

We must take action now.

Otherwise, 2/3 of the world’s polar bears could disappear by 2050, and we would be the next victims.
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Unit 19 Global Warming Is Increasing Wildfires

About 90% of wildfires are started by people such as campers or hikers.

Some careless people leave fires burning and cause huge wildfires in the mountains.

The University of California in the USA did research on wildfires.

The results were quite interesting.

The study shows changing weather patterns are likely to cause more wildfires in the next 20 years.

The reason behind this is mainly linked to global warming.

According to the study, the warmer the temperature gets, the drier the environment becomes.

Therefore, a dry environment increases the prospects of wildfires.

This trend is expected to continue until the end of the century.

Sadly, there is no possible way to stop wildfires besides our efforts to slow down global warming.
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Unit 20 Help the Everglades!

The Everglades are natural wetlands in Florida, USA.

They are the world’s biggest marsh.

They have provided food and shelter for native animals.

But the Everglades are in danger.

And the threat comes from pets.

Every year, numerous exotic pets enter the USA from faraway places like rainforests or the African plains.

Snakes, lizards, and monkeys are popular ones.

However, some people leave the pets in the Everglades when they do not want to keep them anymore.

Those exotic pets threaten the native animals in the marsh.

For instance, more than 150,000 Burmese pythons have become the top animals in the food chain in the
Everglades.

Naturally, they eat the native animals.

Exotic monkeys are another case.

They spread diseases like monkeypox which can kill the native animals.

Abandoned exotic pets have become a threat to the ecosystem of the Everglades.

Therefore, the government should make new laws to protect the Everglades from these pets.
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Unit 21 A Teenager’s Life-Changing Invention

How do you feel about waking up to the loud sound of an alarm clock?

Most of you may not feel good.

Then how would you like to wake up to the smell of bananas?

Guillaume Rolland, an 18-year-old French inventor, had to wake up at 5 a.m. as his school was far away.

Every morning, he woke up frustrated by hearing the noisy alarm sound.

He really wanted to start his mornings happily.

So he invented Sensor Wake.

It is an alarm clock that wakes people up with a pleasant scent of their choice.

Sensor Wake was well-received on the market.

Most users say that they can wake up easily and that the scent of the clock refreshes them.

Sensor Wake made the teenage Guillaume a millionaire inventor.

It was selected as one of the 15 life-changing inventions by Google Science Fair 2014.
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Unit 22 Suejin Kang, the Greatest Ballerina

The graceful ballerina glides across the stage like a swan.

No one can imagine how her feet hidden in her toe shoes look.

Here is a picture of her feet.

They are world-renowned ballerina Suejin Kang’s.

Suejin Kang was born in 1967 in Seoul, Korea.

Unlike most ballerinas, she got a late start at ballet.

At the age of 12, she moved to Monte Carlo, Monaco, and started doing a difficult training every day.

She practiced more than ten hours and wore out three to four pairs of toe shoes a day.

She used to practice under the moonlight until late at night because her school had a lights-out rule at 9 p.m.

Through her constant effort, she won the Prix de Lausanne ballet competition in Switzerland in 1985.

She was the first Asian to receive the prize.

After that, she joined the prestigious Stuttgart Ballet in Germany and rose to fame over the next 20 years.

About the secret to her success, she says, "It’s simple: discipline and focus."
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Unit 23 Life Without Limits

Life Without Limits, by Nick Vujicic, is one of my favorite books.

It’s an autobiography.

Nick is an Australian who was born with no arms or legs.

No one was sure if he could overcome his physical disabilities.

In the book, Nick focuses on how his disabilities affected his life.

In his youth, he was often depressed because of teasing from bullies.

He felt limited by his body.

He even tried to commit suicide.

It seemed that there was no way out of his miserable life.

However, his faith in God and the support of his family changed him.

He became a motivational speaker and created a purposeful life.

Today, he speaks to audiences about life with disabilities and hope.

I’ll never know what his life is like unless I become disabled.

However, one of his comments really impressed me: "You may not control what happens to you, but you
can control how you respond."
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Unit 24 Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie(1835~1919) was among the richest people of his day.

He founded the Carnegie Steel Company, the largest industrial enterprise in the world.

Andrew Carnegie was born in Scotland but moved to the United States as a boy.

His family was poor, so he was forced to work to make money.

He was hired for many different jobs.

Carnegie could not get much schooling.

Instead, he read a lot of books borrowed from his local libraries.

He was really eager to learn.

Carnegie always worked hard but rarely spent money.

As a result, he could save money and invest it in various businesses, such as sleeping cars and an oil company.

In 1892, he established the Carnegie Steel Company, which brought him great wealth.

After Carnegie made his fortune, he decided to help others.

He built schools, public libraries, concert halls, institutions for science, and other similar places.

He did his best to improve people’s lives.

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Unit 25 The Best Places to Live

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly released its World Happiness Report.

It listed the best 10 countries to live in.

The top 10 countries share many of the same characteristics.

They provide not only affordable education and social support but also low unemployment and safe
environments.

In addition, most of them have plenty of resources.

Denmark has a high standard of education, and students can attend its universities for free.

Norway is very rich thanks to its oil reserves.

Both Denmark and Norway have crime rates close to zero.

Switzerland is economically strong and has a beautiful natural environment.

The list is dominated by the countries of Europe.

Out of the top 10 countries on it, only Canada and Australia are non-European countries.
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Unit 26 The Running of the Bulls Festival

July 7 － I’m in Pamplona, Spain, for the Festival of Saint Fermin.

It is world-famous and is held every year from July 6 to 14.

At the festival, there are many exciting events, such as a carnival, fireworks, and bullfights.

Among them, the Running of the Bulls is the most popular event.

Thus, I decided to take part.

This morning, the Running of the Bulls, the encierro in Spanish, started.

The bulls were released onto the streets at 8 a.m.

They had to run 850 meters to the bullring.

I was running with hundreds of other men in white clothes with a red scarf.

While I was running, I suddenly looked back and saw a huge bull behind me.

I jumped out of the way just as the bull ran by me.

It was so close!

I was thrilled, and my excitement didn’t calm down easily.

Later, I saw my picture in the newspaper.

It seemed that the bull almost hit me!

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Unit 27 Living Life as a Refugee

There have always been civil wars in my homeland, Afghanistan.

Every morning, I woke up to the sound of guns and bombs.

My village was destroyed, and many people, including my father and brothers, were killed.

I was afraid. So I decided to leave for hope.

Now here I am in France.

Do you think my life is better now?

I hear no more bombs but the French police chase me every night.

That is because I’m a refugee and France hasn’t allowed me to stay here.

I’ve been wandering around the streets without any shelter for a year.

My only protection in this freezing weather is a thin blanket.

Can you guess what it’s like to sleep under bridges and in the mud?

I feel exhausted without a home or family.

The police keep forcing me to make a choice.

They tell me either to get out of France or to be arrested. I need help.

This is a report from a 22-year-old Afghan named Sabir.-

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Unit 28 Gestures in Different Countries

People around the world make various gestures.

Using hand gestures is an interesting way to deliver messages effectively.

However, these gestures do not always have the same meanings in every country.

Many Americans and Canadians make a circle with their thumb and forefinger.

This gesture means "okay" or "great."

However, this same gesture means "zero" or "worthless" in France and "money" in Japan.

In many Western countries, nodding the head up and down indicates "Yes" while shaking the heads
sideways means "No."

However, people in Bulgaria shake their heads for "Yes" and nod for "No."

Finally, North Americans often hold their palms out toward others to indicate "Stop."

But in Greece, that’s very insulting.

That basically means "I don’t want to talk to you. Talk to the hand."
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Unit 29 Pet Food Taster

Have you ever tried pet food?

You might taste your pet’s food out of curiosity, but you never eat it.

However, there is a person who eats pet food every day.

The person is a professional pet food taster, Lucy Postins.

Lucy Postins runs the pet food company The Honest Kitchen.

She believes that pet food should be as good as human food.

So she has tasted its products every day since she started her business.

She even checks every single ingredient that goes into the pet food.

In 2004, her efforts paid off, and The Honest Kitchen achieved a "human grade" rating from the FDA.

How do dogs like Ms. Postins’ pet food?

They love it.

Most owners report that their pets lose weight and get nicer coats after eating it.

Apparently, Ms. Postins is quite an excellent pet food taster.

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Unit 30 Unique Professions in India

India is the second most populated country in the world and the seventh largest.

Therefore, there are numerous professions, and some of them are quite unique.

Drive on the streets of Delhi, and you’ll see a few men wearing red cloth caps.

They are professional ear cleaners.

These ear cleaners clean the ears of between 20 to 30 people a day.

Around a mosque in southwestern India, there are coin collectors hired by the mosque.

The mosque is located by a highway, so drivers throw coins as offerings when they pass by.

The coins are picked up by the coin collectors.

Unfortunately, they are always in danger because they work on the highway.

Some women in India have jobs as professional mourners.

Most high-class people avoid showing their emotions because of their social standing.

Therefore, they hire these women for funerals.

The mourners come from low social classes, and their duties are to sob and scream.
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Unit 31 The Future of Work Is STEM

Researchers at the University of Oxford made a surprising discovery.

According to them, robots will take over millions of our jobs by 2030.

They are not only challenging blue-collar jobs like taxi drivers and cashiers but also white-collar jobs like
librarians and surgeons.

But don’t worry.

We still perform better at certain jobs.

And they are closely related to STEM.

What is STEM?

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math.

In the modern age, economies are based on science and technology.

Therefore, people need to have knowledge of STEM fields.

STEM-related jobs require creative thinking, which robots cannot do, and can provide us with promising
careers.

Some STEM-related jobs are software developer, chemical engineer, IT manager, and chemist.

If you’re looking for an interesting and promising career, how about choosing a STEM-related one?
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Unit 32 Does Your Teenager Want a Part-Time Job?

When children get older and become teenagers, they often ask their parents if they can work part time.

Should their parents allow them to work?

There are both pros and cons.

Pros

The most obvious benefit is that the teens earn pocket money.

They can learn to budget while planning how to use their earnings.

The teens also get useful skills.

They can learn to communicate with people and to manage a work schedule.

They gain invaluable work experience, too.

By working, they can take responsibility for their own job development and careers.

Cons

There are several cons.

First, the teens spend less time on their studies.

So they may struggle to keep up with their schoolwork.

Second, they often suffer from a lack of sleep and fatigue.

They may have trouble paying attention in class.

Lastly, hard working conditions can cause emotional or physical stress for the teens.

There is the possibility that they may develop bad views about work itself.
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Unit 33 A Taste Test Without Smell

Have you ever wondered why your favorite food loses its flavor when you have a cold?

Don’t doubt your taste buds.

Blame your blocked nose instead.

Your nose is more responsible for the loss of flavor than any other part of your body.

In fact, your nose and your sense of taste are strongly connected.

Let’s try a simple experiment.

All you need is a potato and an apple.

Peel both and cut one small piece from each of them.

Make sure they have the same size and shape.

Now, close your eyes and mix the two pieces up.

You should not know which piece is which.

Then, hold your nose and take a bite of each piece.

Can you tell what you are eating?

You may not answer right away.

More than 75% of what you taste actually comes from your sense of smell.

The taste of the food you eat really is affected by your blocked nose.
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Unit 34 The Types and Causes of Natural Disasters

The Earth is a beautiful planet.

However, this beautiful planet has a lot of disasters.

Some natural disasters occur due to the weather.

Tornadoes occur when cold air starts spinning after it is trapped by warm air.

Hurricanes happen when hot air meets warm ocean waters and gets energy.

Floods and droughts are caused by rainfall.

Heavy rainfall creates floods, but low rainfall creates droughts.

Other natural disasters happen due to the movements of the Earth.

There are volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis.

Volcanoes occur when magma inside the Earth erupts.

The moving of the Earth’s plates results in earthquakes and landslides follow them.

Tsunamis occur when earthquakes happen underwater.

Natural disasters create financial and environmental damage and take human lives every year.

Scientists are working hard to predict disasters and to give early warning to minimize the damage.
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Unit 35 How Did the Ice Age Start?

The latest ice age began more than 1.8 million years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago.

Scientists are uncertain what caused and ended the ice age.

But they suggest some theories.

Scientists think that a meteorite hit the Earth and caused the ice age.

According to them, the giant meteor would have destroyed forests and caused great earthquakes.

A thick cloud of dust and gases could have finally covered the atmosphere, and the Earth would have
turned icy cold.

They also suggest that a comet, a huge object in space, struck the Earth 12,800 years ago.

The explosion would have caused wildfires, melted thick sheets of ice or glaciers, and sent cold water into
the sea.

It might have brought an end to the ice age.

Do these theories sound reasonable?

Whatever the reason was, no one wants another ice age to come for sure!
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Unit 36 Are Genetically Modified Foods Beneficial?

Humans have altered plants ever since they discovered agriculture.

In the past, farmers selected good seeds to grow the next year.

Nowadays, scientists can modify plants by changing genes to make better seeds.

These genetically modified(GM) foods have both advantages and disadvantages.

GM supporters claim that GM foods taste better.

They also say that GM foods stay fresh longer and are more nutritious.

In fact, genetic modifications can make corn sweeter and peppers spicier.

They also keep tomatoes fresh longer.

Genetically modified Golden Rice contains more iron and vitamin A.

However, after the introduction of GM foods, the number of people with food allergies has increased
tremendously.

According to scientific research, GM foods may cause cancer and damage to body organs like the heart
and liver.

They may also cause damage to the environment because changing genes is not natural.

These drawbacks seem to be more serious than the benefits of GM foods.

 READING NOTE Level 2
Unit 37 A Mummy in the Trash

Some people spend their lives in the deserts of Egypt while searching for ancient treasures.

However, one lucky woman found a treasure not in the deserts but in her own house.

She actually discovered it by accident!

In 2001, a French woman living in a suburb of Paris, was doing some housecleaning.

When she started cleaning her cellar, she discovered the mummy of a child in a casket.

The woman did not recognize its value.

So she took it to a garbage dump and asked where to put it.

A dump employee knew what it was as soon as he saw it.

He set the mummy aside and called a local museum.

The mummy was fairly well-preserved and was believed to be more than 2,000 years old.

There were no jewels or other valuables on it.

Experts from the Louvre Museum assume that this mummy was brought back to France by a soldier in
Napoleon’s army in the 1800s.
 READING NOTE Level 2
Unit 38 What Are the Nazca Lines?

In the 1930s, some pilots were flying across the Nazca Desert in Peru.

They looked down and noticed some huge pictures and symbols in the desert.

They discovered the Nazca Lines.

The Nazca Lines are geoglyphs.

Geoglyphs are images and symbols made in the ground.

There are more than 70 geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert.

Some are pictures of animals, such as monkeys, fish, and jaguars, while others are just lines or geometric
designs.

The largest geoglyph is a picture of a bird. It measures about 900 meters across.

Experts believe that the Nazca Lines were made between 500 and 2,000 years ago.

Nobody knows why and how they were made.

Some experts think that ancient people made them for their gods.

They prayed for rain and successful harvests.

Some claim that aliens made the Nazca Lines.

Perhaps aliens used them as landing strips when they visited Earth.

Despite all the guesses, the purpose of the Nazca Lines remains unknown.
 READING NOTE Level 2
Unit 39 Mysterious Circles on the Ice

There is a perfectly round-shaped piece of ice in icy water.

It is not manmade.

The ice rotates by itself and never changes its position despite the water flow.

Does it sound possible?

People call it an ice circle, a mysterious circle in icy waters.

The first ice circle appeared in the Mianus River in the USA in 1895.

People immediately reported it to a science magazine.

However, when researchers came, the ice circle suddenly disappeared.

Sightings of ice circles increased dramatically in the 1970s.

Then, in 2009, a 4-kilometer ice circle was found in Lake Baikal in Russia.

But there was no clear explanation for its appearance.

Various experts such as river specialists, geographers, geologists, and Arctic researchers have worked
together to solve the mystery.

But ice circles still remain unanswered.

They are just mysterious objects that are interesting enough to discuss.
 READING NOTE Level 2
Unit 40 The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine

In Arizona in the American Southwest, there is an area called the Superstition Mountains.

People believe a gold mine worth $200 million lies hidden in these mountains.

In 1868, a man called the Dutchman went to the mountains to look for gold.

In 1876, he told people there really was a mine underground and it was full of treasure.

But when he left it, he hid its entrance, so nobody could find it.

When the Dutchman became old and ill, his friend Julia took care of him.

The Dutchman told Julia that he wanted her to know where the mine was.

He gave her a box full of gold and a few oral clues.

Then, the Dutchman died at the age of 80 in 1891.

Julia searched for the mine for 20 years. Unluckily, she ended up penniless.

Since then, many have tried, but nobody has found it yet.