04

Reader's Bank_Level 8_Unit 02                                     Reading Text

People tend to link themselves to someone’s success to feel proud. This behavior is called “basking in reflected glory.” It means feeling good when a group you belong to succeeds—even if you didn’t actually do anything.

One weekend, a college football team played a big game. Afterward, researchers studied how the college students talked about the result. When the team won, 32% of students said “we won.” But after a loss, only 18% said “we lost.” Students wanted to share in the win but not the loss. Researchers also looked at what students wore on the following Monday. After a win, 64% wore school colors or clothes with the school’s name. After a loss, only 44% did. Pride is easier to wear when your team wins.

As expert Robert Cialdini put it, we avoid the shadow of defeat and enjoy the glow of victory. Even if it’s not our own success, standing close to it can still give us a tan.

05

Antibiotics were first discovered in 1928. Since then, they have greatly improved our lives. Children no longer die from common illnesses. People’s life spans have become much longer than before.

But now, we face an unexpected problem. People overuse antibiotics. Because of this, some bacteria slowly adjust to antibiotics. At first, only a few bacteria survive the medicine. Over time, these survivors grow stronger and stronger. They get used to the antibiotics and stop being harmed by them. These strong bacteria are called “superbugs.” Superbugs cannot be killed, even by strong medicine. When humans make new antibiotics, superbugs soon adjust again and stop being affected. They change faster than scientists can create new drugs. Even mild diseases caused by superbugs could become deadly.

So, how can we solve this growing problem? Instead of always trying to kill bacteria, we should learn to coexist with them. Almost 90 percent of the bacteria in our bodies are helpful. Only 10 percent are harmful. Good bacteria help us digest food and protect us from bad germs. Perhaps it is time to start seeing them as allies, not as enemies.

06

Paul Bunyan was an American folk hero. He was a logger who cut down trees at an incredible speed. One amusing tale says that as a newborn baby, he yelled so loudly that he scared all the fish out of a river. Additionally, he had an unbelievable appetite. His parents had to milk two dozen cows each morning just to fill his bottles!

This kind of folktale is called a “tall tale,” a uniquely American form of storytelling. The main feature of tall tales is exaggeration. Their heroes solve problems in funny, almost unbelievable ways, making the stories humorous and unexpected. Some tall tales are based on real American heroes while others are purely fictional. Storytellers mixed real events with wild imagination.

Tall tales were first told by early American settlers. Back then, people had no TV and few books, so storytelling was their main entertainment. After a hard day’s work, they would gather around a fire and share unbelievable tales to relax and have fun.