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Reader's Bank_Level 5_Unit 12                                    Reading Text

In 1598, Portuguese sailors arrived at Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean. The sailors saw big birds with small wings there. The birds couldn’t run or fly. They probably did not need to do so because they had no natural enemies. They just fed on fruits and nuts that fell on the ground. Since the birds had never seen humans, they were not afraid and approached people. The sailors misunderstood this and thought the birds were stupid. This is why they called the birds “dodo,” which means “stupid” in Portuguese. The sailors hunted the birds for meat. More ships arrived, and the hunting continued. By 1681, the last dodo had disappeared from the world. Mauritius, once home to the dodo, is now a graveyard for the birds that “stupidly” welcomed the sailors.

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In school, we usually learn that only plants make oxygen, but scientists found special rocks deep in the ocean that also do this. These rocks are called polymetallic nodules. They are very deep—about 4,000 meters under the sea. These rocks work like batteries that can break ocean water into hydrogen and oxygen. What’s cool is that they can do this without sunlight! However, this amazing gift of nature doesn’t exist in every part of the ocean. In fact, scientists have discovered many deep-sea areas where no life can survive. Why does this problem happen only in certain parts of the ocean? One possible reason is that too many of these rocks have been taken away for industrial use. If humans take away too many, we could damage the ocean and turn it into a place where nothing can survive. It’s truly amazing that such tiny rocks can be so important for sea creatures. Nature never stops amazing us.

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Jonas Salk, a scientist from the United States, helped change the world. In the 1950s, polio was a serious disease because it made many children sick. Salk worked for years to create a vaccine. After many tests, it finally worked. His vaccine saved countless lives, but he did not get a patent. When asked who owned the patent, Salk said, “The people. Could you patent the sun?” Masahiro Hara, an inventor from Japan, did a similar thing. In the 1990s, he created the QR code. He made it while working at Denso Wave. His invention made it easier to store and share information. Like Salk, Hara chose not to patent his work. His company allowed everyone to use the QR code freely, which helped it spread around the world. Both Salk and Hara put people before their own interests. If they had wanted, they could have become very rich. However, they believed great ideas should serve everyone. Their choices made  the world a better place.