22 열대 우림을 삼키는 햄버거

Reader's Bank_Level 7_Unit 08                                    Reading Text

Do you like hamburgers? You might be surprised to learn that forests in Central and South America are cut down to make your hamburgers.

It is hard to see how hamburgers and trees are related. To produce the meat for just two hamburgers, we have to cut down a piece of forest that is the size of your classroom! In addition, to make one hamburger, we destroy the homes of many plants, bugs, birds, and other animals.

Since the early 1900s, about half of the world’s rainforests have been taken away to make land for cows. Most of these cows are sent to people all over the world to make hamburgers and steaks. Because many people want to eat meat, more forests might be cut down. If we keep cutting down trees like this, all the rainforests could be gone in the next 100 years.

23 시시포스의 바위, 포기하지 않는 힘

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a clever but selfish king who tricked the gods. As punishment, Zeus made him roll a huge rock up a hill forever. Every time he neared the top, the rock rolled back down, and he had to start again.

Sisyphus’s story can be compared to our lives. Sometimes we feel stuck doing the same things over and over—like studying, sleeping, and repeating. It can feel monotonous, just like his task. But perhaps the meaning lies not in reaching the top but in the journey of doing our best.

Sisyphus teaches us about persistence. Even though he fails each time, he doesn’t give up. His unyielding effort to overcome the challenge suggests that we might grow stronger by trying again and again.

What are you going to do? Will you see the challenge as a punishment, or will you accept it as your fate and try to find meaning in it?

24 세균은 진짜 악당일까?

What makes us sick? A long time ago, a scientist named Louis Pasteur said that tiny things called germs, like bacteria and viruses, make us sick. But some other scientists didn’t agree. They thought bacteria showed up after we got sick, not before. They said bacteria were like f lies. Bacteria are found in sick bodies, just as flies hang around rotten food. But flies don’t make food go bad; they come after it’s already spoiled. Similarly, bacteria are in sick bodies to help break down dead cells and clean up, not to cause illness.

Today, doctors often say bacteria make us sick and give us medicine called antibiotics. But maybe that’s not always the answer. Killing bacteria is like killing f lies—it doesn’t fix the problem. We might not get better just because the bacteria are gone.

It’s interesting that Pasteur changed his mind before he died. He said, “Germs are not the problem; how strong our bodies are is the most important thing.” If that’s true, being healthy is more about having a strong body, eating good food, and moving our bodies than killing germs.