[PDF] NAPLAN 2010 Final Test Reading Magazine Year 9.pdf | Plain Text

Reading Magazine 2010 Year 9 © ACARA, on behalf of the Ministerial Council for Education, Earl\b Childhood Development and Youth Affairs, 2010.

T i t a n i c The supposedly unsinkable steamship Titanic sank without trace on its first voya\be in 1912 after \whittin\b an iceber\b. It was not until 1985 t\what the wreck of th\wis famous ship was found. A French–American team\w, led by Dr Robert Ballard, used remote-contr\wolled submersible vehicles to locate the wreck where it lay 3.5 kilometres bel\wow the surface. Dr Ballard and his tea\wm made the first man\wned dive to the Titanic in 1986. They took thousands o\wf photos of the ship and th\we artefacts on the seafloo\wr around it. They also left a si\bn as\wkin\b people to leave the site undistu\wrbed. However, a year later, another team went to the site an\wd brou\bht back hundred\ws of artefacts. These included plates, jewellery, coins and even parts of the ship its\welf. This recovery team has now collected about 6\w 000 objects alto\bether from the Titanic and displays them in museums\w and travellin\b exhibitions. This team (now a company known as RMS Titanic Inc.) belie\wves that people will\w remember the tra\bedy\w and learn about the period \wif they can actually see these artefacts, instead of e\wverythin\b bein\b left to decay deep in the ocea\wn. Dr Ballard believes stron\bly that nothin\b shou\wld be taken from the site, and \wthat it should rema\win as a di\bnified memorial to those w\who died on that co\wld ni\bht in April 1912. The Titanic Historical S\wociety a\brees, and its museum only displays artefacts that were not on the ship when it sank or that\w were saved by survivors. These include shipbuildin\b plans, life\wjackets and small thin\w\bs carried in handba\bs, a\ws well as letters and \wpostcards written by passen\bers. 2

‘All right,’ Ben said. ‘Where are we going?’ Ja\bob was leaning ag\Wainst the white fen\W\be around the garden. He lifted his sti\bk. ‘That way,’ he said, pointing a\bross the paddo\bk to the trees on the other s\Wide. ‘How do you know?’ asked Ben, \burious. ‘I mean, how do you know where you are?’ Ja\bob paused. ‘I suppose I don’t think about it m\Wostly. Like you. I know the house is\W there, behind me, be\bause I just \bam\We out of it. I know we’re standing on the \Wtra\bk be\bause it fe\Wels different on my feet, not like grass or\W the path. I know th\Were are sheep paddo\bks around be\bause I \ban \Wsmell them, and I know the bus\Wh starts over there be\bause I \ban hea\Wr it.’ ‘The birds and things?’ asked Mary. ‘Sort of,’ said Ja\bob. ‘I \ban hear the trees too. A sort of furry sou\Wnd. You don’t hear the wind lik\We that on paddo\bks. \WThe smells are different too, and the way the wi\Wnd feels on your s\Wkin. Things like that.’ Ben glan\bed at Simo\Wn. Simon shrugged. ‘That’s what you mean by \W seeing?’ Ben asked. If tha\Wt’s all there was to it they ma\Wy as well go ba\bk inside. ‘Sort of,’ said Ja\bob. ‘But we \ban see all \Wthose with our eyes\W,’ said Mary. ‘We don’t need to feel them or he\War them or smell t\Whem.’ ‘Maybe I \ban show yo\Wu other things,’ said Ja\bob. Jacob Jacob 3

And then there wer\ e 8 In 2006, the International Astronomical Union \w(IAU) voted to chan\be the \wrules about what constitutes a plan\wet. As a result, Pluto,\w which was the smallest, c\woldest and \benerall\wy most distant planet from\w the Sun, no lon\ber\w qualifies. It does orbit the Sun, and\w it does have enou\bh \bravity to force it in\wto a spherical shap\we, but – and here’s the problem, the third criterion – it does\w not dominate its nei\bh\wbourhood. In other \wwords, Pluto still h\was lots of lar\be objects orbitin\b \waround it. The IAU therefore created \wa new cate\bory – dwarf planet – into w\which Pluto now fits, alon\b with four other cele\wstial bodies in ou\wr solar system. Astronomy Forum What do \bou think about Pluto\r’s demotion from pla\rnet to dwarf planet? UserComment Cookie 4.15 pm Let’s start with the word ‘demotion’. Pluto is still the\r same fascinating astronom\rical object, whether we classif\b it as a \rplanet or not. Spacegirl 4.23 pm Well \bes, Cookie, but classifications a\rre ver\b important to science. I know the IAU’s decision was ver\b controversial at the time \rbut, as technolog\b impro\rves, the\b are likel\b to change their\r minds again. Bookman 4.27 pm And that will be a \rcomplete disaster! \rAll the textbooks will have to be rewritten \bet again, especiall\b those f\ror little kids. The Doc 5.48 pm It’s far from a disaster. There’s a reall\b valuable lesson in this. Ever\bone needs to underst\rand that our scienti\rfic knowledge is alwa\bs open to change a\rs we learn more about the world around us. Cookie 6.02 pm It’s also misleading t\ro sa\b that Pluto is not\r a planet, but it is a dwarf planet. That’s like sa\bing a black dog is not a dog!\r Spacegirl 6.10 pm That’s a false analog\b. The IAU did define them as \rseparate things. It’s more like comparing fruit and vegetables – the\b’re all food. Pearl\b 9.05 pm You are arguing about \rthe wrong thing. The real problem is how \bou define when a dwarf planet has final\rl\b cleared the junk \rout of its neighbourhoo\rd, out of its orbit. That’s what the Union di\rdn’t clearl\b define. It seems to me th\re\b left that for others to sort out in the future. 4

Our body rhythms Shortly before you wak\me up in the morning, hormones flow from your \m glands into your bl\moodstream to get you\m ready for your dai\mly a\btivities. As you get ready for s\m\bhool, your heartbeat speeds up, and your breathing\m be\bomes more intense\m. Throughout the day, your body goes thr\mough other \bhanges. \mBy late afternoon your body temp\merature has gradual\mly in\breased by abo\mut 0.5° C. Your blood pressure, whi\bh is lowest du\mring the early morning, flu\btuates during the\m day until it rea\bh\mes its peak by ear\mly evening. Later at night, after the day’s a\btivities, you start to feel tired. Wh\mile you are sleeping, your body goes thr\mough even more \bhang\mes. Deep within your brain a stru\bt\mure \balled the pine\mal gland se\bretes a \m\bhemi\bal \balled melatonin that flows\m into your brain t\mo make you feel sle\mepy. The highest levels of melatonin\m o\b\bur at about 2 a\m.m., rising to about fo\mur to six times greater than during \mthe day. If you woke up du\mring this time of n\might it would be very diffi\bult to do eve\mn simple tasks be\ba\muse the in\breased levels of melatonin\m would \bloud your \bo\mn\bentration and judg\mment. Sleep also brings o\mther \bhanges. While\m your body is at re\mst, there is a de\brease in respi\mration, heart rate and blood pr\messure. Your overall metaboli\b rate – th\me rate of the \bhemi\m\bal rea\btions that \mgo on in the body – also drops. The s\me\bretion of growth \mhormone, however, in\breases. About half the total day’s amount of growth \mhormone is released dur\ming the first few hours of sleep\m, and most of the gro\mwth and repair of y\mour body tissues o\b\burs during sleep.\m By morning the \by\ble starts all over again. pineal gland 5

The stowaway The lights of the \Wservi\be station \breated a \bir\ble of warmth and movement amid the \Wdarkness. Weary travellers pul\Wled in from the highway, gathering like mo\Wths around a grimy bulb \Wto refill the petrol tank, stret\bh a\bhing mus\bles \Wand hun\bh over a \bu\Wp of tea for a few minutes in the all\W-night \bafé. None o\Wf these travellers\W noti\bed a lonely figure who shunned the b\Wright light to wait\W among the semi-tr\Wailers parked at the edge \Wof the tarma\b. Only\W when a bus halted \Wnearby, its airbrakes hissing, the gravel \brushed and \bra\bking \Wunder the massive \W wheels, did the figure stir and \breep to the \borner of\W an enormous prime mover to wat\bh\W as the passengers \Wstepped down, and wandered, yawning, into the \bafé. An elderly man was \Wthe last to leave.\W He lowered an arthriti\b leg\W gingerly from the bottom step, leaning heavily o\Wn the driver who waited patiently bel\Wow. With this man safel\Wy on solid ground, the driver \blosed the d\Woor and headed off towards the lights in t\Whe wake of his passengers. The figure stepped from the darkness an\Wd tried the door. Lo\bked. Twenty minutes later\W the driver returned, leading this time\W an informal line of passengers \Wat his ba\bk. With a qui\bk twist o\Wf his key, the door folded open and he \Wstood aside to let\W them pass. The str\Wagglers would be a few moments ye\Wt so he \blimbed abo\Ward, easing his way int\Wo the seat as they \bame i\Wn ones and twos. He\W didn’t noti\be a woman st\Wep from the shadows of a\W removal van and \blos\We up behind a pair o\Wf sleepy teenagers. S\Whe mounted the ste\Wps, \bareful to keep the te\Wll-tale knapsa\bk \bon\bealed as\W best she \bould and\W \bontinue down the \Wbus, non\bhalantly \bhe\bkin\Wg the webbed po\bkets\W behind ea\bh seat u\Wntil she found an empty one.\W She slipped into th\We seat, then leaned forwar\Wd, taking an age to t\Wie and re-tie her shoela\bes\W. The front door sighed as\W it \blosed and the \Wbus lur\bhed forward, to pause briefly at the\W edge of the highwa\Wy. A \bar swept past, leaving the road behind it sudd\Wenly bla\bk and empty\W. The driver gunne\Wd the engine, \bommanding its thr\Woaty roar and the bus pul\Wled away from the road-house into the\W sea of darkness. Only then did the \Wwoman sit up and per\Wmit herself a smil\We. 6

Gorillas under thr\ eat THEY’RE CALLING ON YOU Recycle your old m\sobile phone today \s and help save goril\slas in the wild. \bur reliance on mobile pho\snes is driving gorillas to extinct\sion. Your phone contains \sthe metal coltan mined from gorilla\s habitat. Each time you recycle a\s mobile phone, the need to mine c\soltan is reduced. Next time your mob\sile rings, remember that ‘they’re calling on you’! Recycle your old m\sobile phone today! Funds raised from r\secycling your phon\se will be donated by \sZoos Victoria to primate\s conservation. www.zoo.org.au/Calling_\son_You Coltan facts • Short for columbite- tantalite • Hi\bhly heat-resistant • Valuable ‘ma\bic dust’ component of commo\wn electronic products\w such as computers, DVD players and mobile phones • Main le\bitimate mines are \w in Australia, Canada a\wnd Brazil • 80% of the world’s reserves are in the Democrat\wic Republic of the Con\bo Crisis in the Cong\ o Gorillas and other wild animals have always been hunted for meat by traditional forest peoples. However, in recent years there has been an unsustainable increase in the number of \borillas bein\b hunted commercially. Whenever new \bold or coltan mines are built, and forests are lo\b\bed, \borilla habitat is destroyed. This makes it easier for commercial hunters to access previously inaccessible areas of forest. The Jane Goodall Institute is a not-for-profit or\banisation that focuses on wildlife conservation in Africa. The Institute believes that the ille\bal commercial trade in wild meat is the \breatest current threat to \borillas, and is workin\b with local communities, \bovernment and businesses in Central Africa to develop solutions to the c\wurrent crisis. 7

It was Johnno. No mist\wakin\b the bi\b, lops\wided \brin, the oversized head with i\wts Ca\bney-style middle partin\b and brillianti\wne waves. But what puzzled me, an\wd had, I suppose, even more than the od\wdness of his pose,\w leapt out from the\w pa\be and cau\bht my eye, was the \blasses he w\was wearin\b. Round \bold-r\wimmed \blasses that mi\bht have belon\bed to his \b\wrandmother or been a\w property from an end-of- term play. Surely they were wron\b! Johnno ha\wd never worn \blasses. I stared\w at the photo\braph for a \bood thre\we minutes, searchin\w\b my memory for some ima\be of\w him, burstin\b in throu\bh t\whe door – breathles\ws, late as usual, \whis socks round his\w ankles – or swervin\b dan\berously close as he hurle\wd off on his bike; he was as clear in my mind as if he were there. But the \w\blasses, those odd \w\bold-rimmed specs that sat so \wf irmly on the saddle of\w his nose in the l\wifesavin\b photo\braph, they simply refused to materi\walise. Either my memory was at fault or the camera,\w on that particular afternoon, had lied. I ran my eye alon\b the row of faces and checked my memory a\bainst the names below. Carl Reithmuller, Jim Bostock, Bill Braithwaite, Neil Pickup, Colin Smalls, Tippy Thompson, Mervyn Deeks – I named\w every last one of them\w without fail. My memory, like Johnno’s eyesi\bht, was perfect. Twenty-twenty every time. I could see myself paired with e\wach one of those fi\b\wures, as we stood opposite o\wne another ready to be\w\bin, hands on shoul\wders, heads up. With each of them, \wthat is, except Johnno. And it occurred to me suddenly that he had never been a lifesaver at all. So how had he \bot into t\whe picture? What was he doin\b there? \wI counted. And sure enou\bh, th\we number was uneven. Johnno made th\wirteen. So the camera had lied. Or Johnno ha\wd. Those \blasses, if o\wne could check the\wm, would turn out, I was certain now, to have nothin\b in the fr\wames. They were a dis\buise, a delib\werate bendin\b of th\we facts. A trick set up as c\warefully that afternoon as Mr Peck’s camera, to preserve somethin\b other t\whan the truth, and to make someone like me, nearly twenty years later, stop and look a\bain. A joke with a time fuse. How like him! The photo 8

WRITING ANYTHING that’s any good is hard work, but science writers labour unde\lr a particular, and rather peculia\lr, set of constraint\ls. Science is new \b only about 400 ye\lars old, as a going concer\ln \b and prodigious, having transforme\ld our conception of t\lhe universe and of\l our place in it. Bu\lt precisely because its\l impact has been so rapid a\lnd so monumental, science has not y\let been absorbed i\lnto our common conscio\lusness. Readers com\le to the printed pa\lge already knowing something about cr\lime and punishment, love and loss, triumph and traged\ly \b but not, necessarily, about the roles played by theor\ly and observation \lin identifying a v\lirus or tracing the cur\lvature of intergalactic \lspace. Hence scienc\le writers have to \lkeep explaining things, from the significance\l of scientific fact\ls to the methods b\ly which they are adduced, while simultaneous\lly holding the readers’ attention and mov\ling the story along. It’s as if business r\leporters had to con\lstantly explain what \lis meant by “turning a profit”, or sportswriters b\ly “scoring a touchdow\ln”. Unsurprisingly, we science writer\ls are often misunderst\lood. People tend to \lassume that we write compu\lter software manuals or those \lbuckram-bound engi\lneering textbooks assigned \lto students in tec\lhnical studies. Fell\low authors dismiss\l us as translators. Editor\ls may think us nar\lrow. A quarter-century ago, when I was strugg\lling to move away from writing about po\llitics and rock music in order to concentrate\l on astronomy, the editor of a m\lajor magazine pressed me to do an \larticle, called “The Bionic Man”, on artificial body \lparts. When I declin\led, he became impatien\lt. “Well, what do you want \lto write about?” he asked, throwing up his hands, like a motorist cut off in traffic. “Astronomy,” I replied. “You’ve already written about\l astronomy!” “Yes, but I like it. It \lwas my original int\lerest in life.” “Aren’t you afraid of be\lcoming some sort o\lf Johnny One Note?\l” “Well, not really. You know, what’s out there is something like\l ninety-nine, then a decimal point, then twenty-eight\l more nines per cent of\l everything. Coveri\lng nearly everything doesn’t seem all that limi\lting. And it leads \lto lots of other th\lings.” I’ve been on the wrong side of arguments with editors more often than it is comfortable to recall, but on this occas\lion I turned out to have be\len right. Astronomy did lead to everything else.\l It led me into oth\ler sciences of cou\lrse \b among them ph\lysics, chemistry, and biology \b and \lalso, by many winding pa\lths, to poetry, literature, history, philosophy, art, music, and into conversa\ltion with some of \lthe smartest and m\lost creative people in the\l world. Being a science writer 9

END \bF READING MAGAZINE

ACKN\bWLEDGEMENTS Titanic Text and diagram adapted from Underwater Treasures b\b Maureen Haselhurst,\r Pearson Education Australia, 2004. Jacob Extract adapted from Rain Stones b\b Jackie French, HarperCollins Australia, 1991. \bur body rhythms Extract adapted from Clocks and Rhythms b\b Alvin Silverstein, Twent\b-First Centur\b Books, 1999. Image b\b Chantal Stewart. The stowaway Extract from \b Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove b\b James Molone\b, Universit\b of Queensland\r Press, 2007. Gorillas under thr\Ueat Adapted from Poster © Zoos Victoria, 2009. The photo Extract from Johnno b\b David Malouf, Universit\b of Queensland\r Press, 1975. Being a science wr\Uiter Extract adapted from The Best \bmerican Science Writing © Timoth\b Ferris, 2001. Surf lifesavers Photograph b\b Sarah Rhodes, newspix.com.au

Australia was the fi\vrst country in the\v world to have surf lifesav\vers. In the early 1\v\b00s, surf lifesavers were\v all males. Today , the mix of people who p\vatrol our beaches \v reflects Australian society. We can be proud that the lifesavers\v of today are both \vmales and females and com\ve from many cultura\vl backgrounds. Surf lifesavers 12