BASIC READING COMPLETION10

Cloudy with a Chance of Sun

Which country generates the most solar power? If you are like most people, you are thinking of somewhere sunny, maybe a vacation spot, such as Italy. You probably didn’t guess Germany. But if you did, you’d be right. Germany is the source of half the world’s supply of solar power. Germany gets a similar amount of sunshine to the state of Alaska, but solar power is still an option there. It is in Portland, Oregon, too, which is located in one of America’s cloudiest regions. That’s because solar power actually works best when it’s not too hot outside. Too much heat can damage the electronics in the panels; therefore, cloudy locations have the potential for solar power. In addition, solar power is dependent upon how much sun you get over a year, not just on a particular day. Once people understand this concept, they might consider solar power an option where they live.

The government of Germany did. In fact, that is a major reason that Germany derives over 4 percent of its yearly electricity from solar power. If that doesn’t sound like a lot, consider that 22 gigawatts of solar power an hour supplied nearly 50 percent of the electricity the country consumed on a recent Saturday in the middle of the day. A law in Germany requires power companies to buy the alternative energy that people create. The government provides financial assistance for this. In addition, people who install solar panels are paid for the energy that they don’t consume. This law has greatly affected the country’s energy sources. While both solar and wind power are covered by the law, more people are installing solar devices. That is because the average homeowner can install solar panels but not a wind farm. Germany isn’t the sunniest of climates, but it is producing a lot of solar energy.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. Many people think of as a country that produce the most solar power.

2. Germany generates about of the world's supply of solar power.

3. Germany and Alaska have nearly the same the quantity of .

4. People can receive the most solar power when the weather is not .

5. If there is too much sunshine, it can harm the in the panels.

6. Solar power depends on the amount of sunlight people receive , not just on one day.

7. A law in Germany request power companies buy the from people.

8. There is some from the government to support those power companies.

9. The government's law is supporting two kinds of alternative energy: .

10. Germany does not have the weather, but it produce a great amount of solar power.

---

BASIC READING COMPLETION 9

Improving Corn

In the summer of 2012, little rain fell across the region in the United States known as the “corn belt.” Corn from this region is used in products sold all over the world. Corn, though, doesn’t grow in fields without water. As a result, there was a shortage of corn. Because corn is a key ingredient in many grocery store items, the shortage of corn made food prices around the world go up. No one seemed prepared for the effects this extreme weather brought. 

However, some companies have been working on a solution. They’ve been researching how to alter corn so it can grow in these dry conditions. And these companies have benefited farmers in the past. For example, they engineered corn so that it can survive the pests and other bugs that eat it. In contrast to those changes, making corn survive with little water is much more complicated. For instance, if the dry conditions are at the beginning, middle, or end of a growing season, the corn is affected differently. Responding to all these conditions is difficult. 

One strategy scientists have used is making the pores on the surface of corn leaves smaller. This is important because these pores regulate the water in the plant. This alteration would make it so that corn can survive while absorbing very little water. Although companies don’t expect to achieve the same results that good weather would produce, they do hope to improve the corn crop in times of extreme dryness. In fact, companies have tested the newly altered corn. In one case, the engineered corn produced 7 percent more crop than the corn that hadn’t been altered. This is a small improvement, but with food prices on the rise, a small improvement is better than none.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. "Corn belt" is a time when ther is not much in the region.

2. Corn cannot develop when there is no .

3. When there is not enough corn, it causes the to increase all over the world.

4. Many companies are looking for a .

5. They try to create a kind of corn that can live in to create something new.

6. In the past, they created a type of corn that can protect it from being eaten by .

7. One way scientists have tried is to turn the on the leaves' surface smaller.

8. These things the water in the plant.

9. Scientists hope to help corn survive in periods.

10. In one test, the result is only a , but it is better than none.

---

BASIC READING COMPLETION 8

When Is Copying Okay?

Copying someone means you like their work. Some see copying as a form of flattery. This may be true, but copying someone’s work can also be illegal and is not allowed in schools. You may have read about this issue in the news. A young author’s best-selling book is found to have whole passages that match someone else’s work. This was the case with Helene Hegemann, a young German artist, whose new book was nominated for a prize. Initially, she was praised. Then it was discovered she had copied text. She’d made very few changes to the original work. The young author defended herself, though. She said that she was part of a new generation and culture. She explained that young people sample music. They mix music and art. They create something new with the pieces. But in Hegemann’s case, a blogger found evidence that it wasn’t just a couple of phrases here and there. It was a whole page of text that was taken from another story that was not as well known. Using someone's words without credit is a type of stealing called plagiarism. Hegemann may have created something new, but she never gave credit to the original author.

So in book publishing and in school, copying is not okay. However, the rules aren’t as strict in other areas. For example, consider food items. Perhaps you’ve seen the addition of rice pudding to restaurant menus as a dessert, or maybe it’s been a different flavor combination that keeps showing up at different ice cream shops. There are no laws that say you can’t copy food items. A Wall Street Journal article on the topic of copying points out that some chefs may be angered that their dishes are being copied and they aren’t being credited. However, Thomas Keller, a famous chef from the restaurant French Laundry, thinks that copying can create better dishes. He thinks that a dish can be made better when someone else tries out new things with it.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. Some people believe that copying is similar to .

2. However, this action is and banned in schools.

3. Helene Hegemann, whose new book was nominated for a prize, was a .

4. She changed only a few words in comparison to the .

5. She explained that young generation often combined to create something new.

6. The action of copying others' words without permission is known as .

7. In some cases, copying something is not always illegal. An example for that is .

8. Rice pudding can be seen in restaurants as a dessert or at various .

9. Copying without credit makes several angry.

10. Thomas Keller thinks copying could be helpful in producing .

---

BASIC READING COMPLETION 7

ISBNs

Have you ever noticed the series of numbers on the back of a book? It’s different from a bar code. This number pattern is called an International Standard Book Number (ISBN). It is used to identify every book. Each ISBN is unique. The number consists of 13 digits, and the different digits have meaning. All 13-digit ISBNs begin with a prefix of numbers. For example, the prefix being used in 2012 is 978. After the prefix are numbers that identify the country of the book publisher. These numbers are followed by numbers which identify the specific publisher within that country. The last set of numbers identifies the title or edition of the book. And every ISBN ends with a single digit that identifies the number as an ISBN. 

  

A book needs to have an ISBN to be found in stores. For example, let’s say you want to read Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms in Spanish. First, you ask the sales clerk for help finding it. The sales clerk then looks up the title and author in the store database. After that she finds the ISBN for the Spanish version of the book. She sees that this store has one copy of the Spanish version left. Finally you follow her to the shelf to get the book, but that’s not all. After you purchase the book, the store records show that there are no more versions of this book in stock. When the ISBN was scanned, it automatically updated the information so the store can keep track of what they need to order. Stores also use the ISBN so they can update the publisher of the book on what books are selling. The ISBN helps customers find books, stores keep track of what is ordered, and publishers know what books are being purchased.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. ISBN is not like a .

2. There are in each number.

3. The prefix is used in 2012.

4. After the prefix numbers is numbers that refer to the that publishes the book.

5. The third set of ISBN numbers stands for the where the book is made from.

6. The last set of ISBN number tell you the book's .

7. The sales clerk can find the book's information in .

8. As soon as the ISBN was scanned, the book's information is in order to help the store keep track of their stock.

9. The ISBN also provides the with information about how many books are sold.

10. The ISBN helps buyers .

---

BASIC READING COMPLETION 6

The Perfect Cup

Many cultures drink coffee. Whether it’s a shot of espresso or a large brimming cup filled with milk and sugar and stirred to a caramel color, people all over the world enjoy the drink. There are many stories about who first discovered coffee. One says it was in the ninth century in Ethiopia. A man was herding his goats when he saw them munching on coffee cherries. He tried some and soon people all over Africa were drinking coffee and trading the beans. Over time, coffee spread to the rest of the world. In fact, by 1750, most of Western Europe had coffee houses. 

For such a popular drink, it’s a complex process to go from bean to coffee. The actual coffee beans, or seeds, come from coffee cherries that grow on the trees. There are two techniques for harvesting. Cherries can either be picked by hand or stripped off the trees by machines. Some growers pick by hand because this ensures that only the ripe ones are picked. When done by machine, all the cherries must be harvested at once, and some may not be ripe. 

The cherries have a thick skin. Inside the skin is a fleshy layer, called pulp. The bean is inside the pulp, but it is covered by two other thin layers that protect it. All these layers must be removed. Removing the layers is called processing the beans. Once beans are processed, they are sorted and put into bags so they can be shipped all over the world. But there’s still an important step before the beans can be brewed for the perfect cup. They must be roasted. This gives them their taste. To preserve their flavor, coffee suppliers recommend brewing the beans within a month.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. Some people said that the first coffee was discovered in the in Ethiopia.

2. A man saw eating coffee cherries.

3. After that coffee beans were drunk and sold by people in .

4. There were many all over Western Europe in 1750.

5. The beans had to go through a to become coffee.

6. Farmers used to collect the coffee cherries from the trees.

7. Growers picked coffee cherries by hand to make sure all of them are .

8. The layer under the skin of coffee cherries are known as .

9. The coffee beans should be before being made into a nice cup of coffee.

10. The coffee beans should be brewed within a month to keep their .

---

BASIC READING COMPLETION 5

It’s Windy up Here

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. The engineers and architechs used to safely support the weight of buildings.

2. The engineers have been working on the that affects the building from side to side.

3. Wind is able to from anywhere.

4. All skyscrapers are designed in a way that it can .

5. The Burj Khalifa's tallest point can move at a range of .

6. There are some that stretch to the top to protect the building from strong winds.

7. The engineers also used a very heavy weight that works as the in a clock.

8. This weight is heavy.

9. It can help the tower keep its .

10. Other skyscrapers also apply .

---

Stand at the dizzying height of Taipei 101’s 1,046 feet and your biggest fear is how high you are. However, that’s not the main concern of the engineers and architects who designed the building. They rely on technology like steel beams to safely support the weight of buildings that now reach over half a mile (0.8 kilometers) into the sky. While anyone standing in the viewing area at the top of a skyscraper is focused on the vertical drop, engineers have been studying the force that pushes the building from side to side. That force is wind. 

The forces of nature, such as wind, gravity, and earth vibrations, all have to be considered when constructing a skyscraper. However, wind is the most difficult to plan for. Wind can push and pull from every direction. In fact, take an elevator ride to the top of any skyscraper on a windy day, and you’ll notice the movement. All skyscrapers sway. They are designed that way. For instance, the newly constructed Burj Khalifa in Dubai moves back and forth by about two meters at its tallest point. Engineers designed this building to fight dangerous winds. Several spires rise to the top of the structure. These stop the wind from whirling in circles and damaging the building. 

Taipei 101 uses different engineering tricks. One is a large weight that acts like the pendulum in a clock. This structure weighs 730 tons. As it slowly moves back and forth, it helps balance the tower as the wind pushes on it. Other skyscrapers use this same technique. It helps keep the structures stable. And that’s not easy to do 1,000 feet off the ground.

BASIC READING COMPLETION 4

Dads Need Time, Too

For many, nothing is as special as bringing home a new baby. Many countries across the world recognize the importance of time with newborns. In fact, 178 countries allow new mothers time away from work to care for their babies. In addition, these countries provide financial assistance. They give mothers pay for the time they are away. However, an international analysis by the Human Rights Watch questions whether families are given sufficient support. There are many factors involved in evaluating support. For example, some countries don’t provide part-time workers with the same assistance. But one of the biggest questions being asked is: What about dad?

Only around 50 countries provide time for new dads. As a result, some countries are reviewing their policies. Even Sweden, which gives dads the most time off of any country, is trying to improve its policy. They recently changed their laws so parents can take a total of 16 months off from work. Dad and mom decide how to divide the time. The maximum time one parent can take is 14 months. Since women traditionally take more time off than men, the government now gives families additional pay if the mother and the father share the time off evenly. And it’s working.

More and more men are taking the time. In fact, as a consequence of Sweden’s law, other countries are giving dads more time. In 2012, Britain changed their laws so that fathers can have up to 26 weeks off. These laws are leading to other changes. Some men are choosing to care for their children full-time. In Britain, the number of men staying home to care for children has tripled in the last 15 years. Dads need time, too. And in some places, they are starting to get it.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. Many people believed that the best thing is having .

2. There are letting mothers stay at home to take care of their babies.

3. Mothers also receive while they are at home with their babies.

4. The international organization Human Rights Watch is researching if families are providing .

5. The governments do not provide the same assistance for .

6. Because of no time off for new dads, some countries are renewing their .

7. Dads in receive the longest time off in the world.

8. New policies allow parents can stay at home with their babies for in total.

9. Parents will receive additional pay if they decide to take time off .

10. In 2012, British dads could stay at home with their babies for the maximum of .

---

BASIC READING COMPLETION 3

Bacteria and What You Eat

It’s living in your stomach. It eats what you eat. And now research shows it likes the foods you like. What is it? Bacteria. Your digestive system—the system that breaks down food so that it can be used by the body—is filled with bacteria. Not all bacteria are the same. A new study from the journal Science shows that there are two main groups. One group of bacteria exists on a Western-style diet, which is based on meat and fat. Another group lives mainly on an agrarian diet, or farm-based diet, which is made up of mostly fruits and vegetables.

The types of food you eat change the environment in your gut. The effect is that the environment is only good for some bacteria. Scientists found that the bacteria are based on your long-term diet. In order to change the bacteria, you would need to change the types of food you eat not just at some meals, but over your lifetime.

Scientists are now beginning to study the effects of different bacteria. They found that too much of the bacteria caused by high-fat foods can be harmful. It can cause inflammation, or swelling and pain, in the body. To prevent this kind of pain, some doctors recommend changing what you eat. They tell people to stay away from foods high in fat. They also encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. There are living in your stomach.

2. The digestive system food for the your body to use.

3. The Western-style diet includes .

4. The farm-based diet includes mainly .

5. The food you eat affects your stomach's .

6. The type of bacteria living in your stomach depend on your .

7. You can only change the type of bacteria in your stomach by changing your diet throughout your .

8. Scientists found that a great number of bacteria come from are dangerous.

9. This is the main reason for , inflammation, and pain in the body.

10. Doctors advised people to eat more to avoid those health problems.

---

BASIC READING COMPLETION 2

Time to Go to Bed

The time people go to bed varies across cultures and from person to person. Some people think they do their most creative work late at night. Others like to get to bed early so they can wake up early and get to work. Compare the sleep patterns of a college student and a farmer and you’ll see almost opposite schedules. But according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, sleep patterns didn’t used to be so different.

Before coffee shops and electricity, people slept in two segments, or parts. They first went to sleep after the sun went down. Then they woke up around midnight and stayed up for about an hour before going back to sleep for a second time. This was true in different cultures.

However, these sleep patterns shifted with the invention of the light bulb. Coffee houses, factories, and other places could stay open all night. And with the development of the computer, sleep patterns have shifted even more. It’s not uncommon for people to stay up all night working on the computer, playing games, or using social media. In fact, the glow of a computer screen is as common as sunlight for some people. They might even see the computer screen more than they see the sun.

Researchers have found that in cultures that don’t use electricity, people still sleep in two segments at night. In a recent study, the same sleep pattern appeared. In the study, people had electricity taken away from them. After time, they too slept in two segments at night. Our sleep patterns may be different now. However, without electricity, they look very similar.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. It is thought that people can do their best at late night.

2. a college student and a farmer have nearly .

3. Before the presence of electricity and , people used to sleep in two segments.

4. The length of time that people stayed awake between the two sleeps was about .

5. Sleep patterns has changed since the appearance of the .

6. The growth of the has changed the sleepp patterns even more.

7. People usually stay up all night to use , playing games, or working on computer.

8. They now see the sun less often than the .

9. Researchers discovered that people still sleep in two patterns at places without .

10. Without electricity, our sleep patterns are to the past.

---

BASIC READING COMPLETION 1

Farming around the world

In many countries, farmers are getting older and few young people are becoming farmers when older farmers stop working at the end of their career. However, technology is helping with this problem because, with new farming machines, farmers do not have to work so hard and fewer people can do the same work. But farming still needs more young people.

Farming is hard work and involves long working hours with early starts and late finishes to the day. Also, young people all believe the same thing: it will be hard to make much money from farming.

In Kenya, Mary Nyale, who works on the Farm Africa’s Growing Futures project, is trying to change young people’s ideas about farming. Mary is doing this because over 80% of Kenya’s population are younger than 35 years old. Also, around one in four young people do not have a job. Through the programme, young people learn how to grow things like French beans, tomatoes and cabbage. These are what are called high-value crops because you get the most money for them. The young people also learn about farming as a business. And they meet buyers on the programme, so that when they finish the course, they have someone that will buy their vegetables.

Since the project started in 2011, over 4,000 young people have become farmers. The money the farmers get has also increased by 50% in two years.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. There are not many want to become famers in some places.

2. Farming work is going to be easier for farmers with the help of .

3. A lot of work can be done with .

4. People see farming as hard work because it requires as well as early starts and late finishes.

5. Young people think it is to earn a lot of money from farming.

6. Mary Nyale is working on how to change the youth's view on .

7. The majority of Kenya’s population are under the age of .

8. It is believed that young people will learn how to plant vegetables after the programme.

9. Beans, tomatoes, and cabbage are known as as they can be sold at good prices.

10. After 2 years of the programme, farmers' income has risen by since 2011.

---