the unreadable writing - weeblylincolnbooks.weebly.com/uploads/2/9/4/7/29472507/_merged...austin...

ZZLEVEL

Benchmark Passage

© Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.readinga-z.com

Name

The Unreadable Writing

Easter Island is an isolated piece of land in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean. For such a tiny speck, it holds an unusually large number of unsolved mysteries. The most famous is the mystery of the moai—statues of stern faces carved out of giant stones. Experts still aren’t sure how the people on Easter hauled these huge objects to their locations, often far from any beach. Another puzzle is why the population of Easter Island dropped from a peak of tens of thousands to just a few thousand in less than a century. And yet another mystery—one that might contain clues about Easter Island’s past—is the Rongorongo tablets.

Rongorongo is a system of writing made up of pictographs—pictures that stand for letters, words, or ideas—carved into wood tablets. Many of these pictographs seem to show animals, plants, and people. European explorers and religious missionaries visiting Easter Island in the early 1800s took note of the unusual tablets. In an attempt to get rid of the native religion, they banned the writing. By the time outsiders became interested in what the pictographs meant, most of the

Word Count: 288


of 2

ZZLEVEL

Benchmark Passage


Name

of 2

Word Count: 288


tablets had been destroyed, and not a single native of Easter Island could read the ones that remained.

Today, the last examples of Rongorongo are in museums and collections. Scientists who study writing and language guess that most Rongorongo texts are religious. However, they have little idea what the pictographs mean, partly because so many of the pieces needed to solve the puzzle are missing.

Solving the mystery might provide important clues about the native people of Easter Island. Someday, we could learn how and why they carved the moai heads and why their population collapsed.

ZZLEVEL

Benchmark Passage


Name

Microfinance: It All Adds Up

What if you were a poor woman who wanted to start a business making rugs but didn’t have the money? What if you were an artist who didn’t have the money to create what you wanted? What if you were a parent who had lost your job and needed money to feed your children?

In the past, people in these situations might not have had access to banks or other ways of getting money. However, the rise of the Internet has allowed people to create helpful websites for microfinancing. These systems bring together small amounts of money to help people who cannot otherwise find funding for projects and needs.

Websites that arrange microcredit share information about people, usually in developing countries, who need loans to start businesses. The purpose of these sites is often more to encourage the business rather than to make a profit. Website visitors loan money—as little as twenty-five dollars—toward the amount each person needs. Investors get their money back, sometimes with interest, when the loan is repaid.

Word Count: 295


Page 1 of 2

ZZLEVEL

Benchmark Passage


Name

Page 2 of 2

Word Count: 295


Other websites fund creative projects, allowing people to support the arts with small contributions. The sites describe CDs, books, films, or other creative projects that need funding. People donate money in small or large amounts to the projects that interest them. Each contribution is a gift, not a loan, but donors often receive incentives, such as a copy of a completed CD or book.

Still other sites operate more like charities. They help people and groups collect money for causes, such as groups that stock food pantries or people who need help paying medical bills.

Each microfinancing website has its own focus, yet they all have one thing in common: bringing people who need money together with people able to give it.

ZZLEVEL

Benchmark Passage


Name

Seeing Eye

Camilla’s grandfather often tried to recruit his relatives for what he called his “walkabouts,” by which he meant his archaeological adventures. Some people, including Camilla’s dad and brother, detested the exhausting treks through deserts, mountains, and other wild areas. They preferred to spend their vacations lounging by a pool or sipping drinks at a snack bar. Camilla, however, tirelessly led the way on Grandpa’s adventures, and she was so attentive that Grandpa nicknamed her his “Seeing Eye.”

“What will you spot for me today, Seeing Eye?” Grandpa asked before each adventure. Most often, Camilla would find something interesting, even if it was something small.

Once, Camilla, Grandpa, and Mom went hiking through the untouched rain forest of British Columbia, hoping to unearth artifacts from the Haida people.

They had already toured a re-created tribal village with its iconic totem poles, carved wooden lodges, and dugout sea canoes. “The Haida carved most of their possessions out of cedar wood,” a guide had explained, “which was

Word Count: 295

Seeing Eye

Page 1 of 2

ZZLEVEL

Benchmark Passage


Name

Page 2 of 2

Word Count: 295

Seeing Eye

not waterproof. Unfortunately most of them have decomposed in the area’s damp climate.”

Grandpa heard this, but he still wanted to scout around. So they trudged along slick trails through the coastal mountains.

During a water break, Camilla spotted the flash of a shimmering green beetle walking across a stump, and she crouched down to watch. She was so intent on the beetle that when a snarling face suddenly appeared in the old wood, she screamed.

Grandpa and Mom sprinted over, but by the time they got there Camilla had realized what she’d seen and was delighted instead of scared. She brushed away moss and lichens so they could all observe the remains of an ancient totem pole.

“What did I tell you?” Grandpa chuckled. “My Seeing Eye always spots something!”

ZZLEVEL

Benchmark Passage


Name

Inspiration at the Ballpark

Austin slid his bat from his bag, settled a batting helmet on his head, and strode from the dugout to join his friend Luke near the on-deck circle. The first game of their doubleheader would start in moments—as soon as the opposing pitcher had finished warming up—and Austin and Luke were the first two batters.

Luke, taking a practice swing, asked, “Are you going out for pizza after the game?”

“No, I have that presentation due Thursday for social studies,” said Austin, “and I haven’t even started because I’m just not that interested in the Great Depression.”

“It should be easy,” said Luke. “We talked about the Great Depression in all those lectures about the stock market crash and economies around the world collapsing. What about the millions of people unemployed, wandering the country looking for work, seeking food from charities and all that?”

“Yeah,” said Austin, “but I need to find something we didn’t cover in class.”

Word Count: 287


Page 1 of 2

ZZLEVEL

Benchmark Passage


Name Word Count: 287


Page 2 of 2

The two of them stopped talking and looked out across the infield.

“All I want to think about is baseball,” Austin continued. “I bet professional ballplayers never have to worry about depressing things like the Great Depression.”

“Ballplayers sure had to worry about it back then,” said Luke, smacking his bat against his cleats to knock out the dirt. “To save money, professional teams slashed their rosters and the players’ pay. They even gave away groceries to get people to attend games.”

“That’s interesting,” mused Austin, squinting at Luke. “In fact—”

“Batter up!” the umpire bellowed from behind home plate.

“You’re up,” said Jake.

Austin nodded. “Hey, thanks. I think I just found my topic. Why not research the thing I want to think most about anyway?”

the unreadable writing - weeblylincolnbooks.weebly.com/uploads/2/9/4/7/29472507/_merged...austin...

Documents