Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 1 Greek Philosophers of the Golden Age

The Greek city-states were _____________________ by wars with Persia, as well as with each other, during
the fifth and sixth centuries B.C. When the fighting ended around 420 B.C., a new Greek culture
____________________, particularly in Athens, the most ____________________ city-state. This was Greece’s
Golden Age, when thinkers distanced themselves from religion, seeking to ____________________and explain
the universe in terms of logic, mathematics, and ____________________.
One of the most influential philosophers of this period was Socrates. Asserting that education was
____________________to personal growth, he developed a process of inquiry known as the Socratic Method
and taught it to many young Athenians. The questions he asked appeared simple—“What is courage?”
“What is duty?”—but in answering them, students were forced to think for themselves and
____________________their core beliefs. Socrates also used this method to expose the ____________________and
injustices of Athenian politicians. This earned him many enemies, and in 399 B.C. he was put on trial for
“corrupting the youth.” Had he ____________________his beliefs or apologized for his actions he would have
been acquitted, but Socrates felt truth was on his side. He refused, was found guilty, and was
____________________.
Socrates’ influence by no means ____________________with his death, as demonstrated by one of his
students, Plato, who agreed with Socrates on many issues. For instance, the two philosophers felt that
democracy was a failed form of ____________________, as it allowed those without wisdom to assume
positions of power. Rather, both Plato and Socrates advocated rule by a select group of philosophers. Yet,
Plato also wrote about many of his own ideas on the nature of reality. True reality, he believed, was not
represented in the world we know via the five senses. Instead, every object, material or
____________________, was an imperfect ____________________of the perfect idea of that object, its “form.” It
was only through logic that perfect forms could be experienced. For example, Plato argued that while
very few perfect squares exist in nature, the ____________________form of a perfect square can be
____________________easily by the laws of mathematics.
Plato, in turn, taught the talented Aristotle, who ____________________in and studied nearly every
investigative field known at the time. Aristotle developed drastically different notions about reality than
his teacher, however. He disagreed that idealized forms exist separately from the objects we see. For
Aristotle, an object’s true nature, which he called its “____________________,” existed within it and could be
____________________through sensory experience. He went on to become a teacher himself, and encouraged
his students to examine samples—be they of plants, animals, rocks, political systems, or literary works—
and critically ____________________and categorize them to determine the essence of each object and its
place in the cosmos. This process of categorization is one of the key elements of modern science.
Modern-day thinkers, whether concerned with science, psychology, or spirituality, are ____________________
to the philosophers of the Golden Age. Socrates’ method of inquiry, Plato’s emphasis on logic, and
Aristotle’s unyielding ____________________of sensory evidence have each greatly informed the ways in which
we see the world.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 2 The Age of Discovery

The year 1450 A.D. began a three-century era called “the Age of Discovery” that would see European
_____________________ spread throughout the globe. The impetus for this expansionism was commerce.
European trade at the start of the 15th century was carried out _____________________ via land routes to
India and the Far East, with gold, silver, silk, and spices being the products in highest demand. Two trends
during the first half of the century pushed the Europeans towards the sea. The first was
_____________________innovation; the introduction of improved sailing vessels, along with
_____________________ tools like the compass and the astrolabe, made open-ocean voyages feasible for the
first time. Secondly, the Ottoman Empire to Europe’s southeast was _____________________ the continent’s
access to overland trade. By 1450, Europeans were _____________________ to search for new maritime routes
if they wanted to acquire the Indian and East Asian treasures they desired.
Portugal and Spain were the first to _____________________ pursue this endeavor. While attempting to
reach India by sailing across the Atlantic under Spanish sponsorship in 1492, the Italian explorer
Christopher Columbus _____________________ on an island in the Caribbean Sea. This was the discovery of
the “New World,” lands that would feature _____________________ in the story of European expansionism in
the centuries to come. In 1497, the Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama carried out the first successful
_____________________ from Europe to India by sailing around the southern tip of Africa. And in 1522, an
expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan, another Spanish-funded explorer, _____________________ an around-
the-world voyage, signifying Europe’s global presence.
For several decades, Spain and Portugal _____________________ the major players on the world scene.
Spain managed to conquer the advanced native civilizations of present-day Mexico and South America,
and both _____________________ trading posts throughout India, China, and Southeast Asia. At the same
time, explorations were begun by three other European
powers: Britain, France, and the Netherlands. Each charted vast areas of North America, hoping to find a
northern sea passage to Asia. Though this prize did not exist, the three went on to _____________________
portions of North America for their kings and reached Asia by other routes.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the wealth _____________________ from their newly conquered territories
transformed the European kingdoms into overseas empires. The Americas proved rich sources of gold
and silver, while Asian trade routes gave Europeans nearly unlimited _____________________ to the valuable
spice trade. Colonies were founded all over the world to oversee the extraction and shipment of raw
materials, and Europeans settled them in the tens of thousands, bringing their languages, religions,
technologies, and cultural _____________________ with them. Many effects of this mass migration were
_____________________: a system of global trade was developed that eventually _____________________ people
and ideas from all over the world. Other consequences were not as positive: _____________________ cultures
were eradicated, especially in the New World, and the colonies’ labor demands gave rise to an
international slave trade. The Age of Discovery eventually led to the Age of Imperialism, when an empire
came to be seen as a precursor to _____________________ and its size was thought to represent a nation’s
status.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 3 Our Shifting Earth

If you looked at a world map from 250 million years ago, you probably would not
_____________________ it, for the positions of Earth’s landmasses relative to one another in the distant past
bore little _____________________ to their configuration today. In other words, they are not stationary. As
early as 1600 A.D., curious thinkers had _____________________ that the continents might be moving,
remarking that certain coastlines, such as those of eastern South America and western Africa,
_____________________ to fit together like puzzle pieces. It was not until the 20th century, however, that a
theory was _____________________ and eventually proven.
In the early 1900s, the German scientist Alfred Wegener _____________________ that all of the continents
had once been connected but later drifted away from each other. He conducted research to determine
whether this outlandish idea was _____________________, collecting and comparing rock samples from the
edges of different landmasses. He learned that rocks from eastern South America _____________________ the
same geological makeup as those from western Africa, and that they contained fossils of the same
prehistoric species as well. He also discovered _____________________ of tropical species buried in the frigid
wasteland of Antarctica.
Wegener developed a theory of continental drift to explain his findings. In it, he _____________________
his idea that Earth’s landmasses had been joined in a supercontinent, which he called Pangaea.
Continents now _____________________ by oceans had once existed side by side, accounting for their
_____________________ and biological similarities. Pangaea subsequently broke apart, and Earth’s continents
gradually assumed their present configuration. Unfortunately, Wegener was unable to _____________________
what force could possibly be driving the movement of continents, and continental drift was
_____________________ by the scientific community.
During the 1950s and 1960s, three decades after Wegener’s death, scientists started to
_____________________ continental drift due to advances in marine sonar technology. This equipment
produced detailed maps of the ocean floor and the _____________________ discovery of massive ridges under
the sea. These submerged mountain chains were created by hot magma–liquid rock spouting up from
_____________________ Earth’s crust. As it cooled and hardened, the magma became new crust, and at a
speed of about four inches per year, this crust traveled away from either side of the ridge.
Study of mid-ocean ridges led geologists to _____________________ the theory of plate tectonics. They
hypothesized that Earth’s crust was _____________________ into multiple plates, each containing a portion of
ocean, continent, or both and floating freely atop the liquid magma of Earth’s interior. Where two oceanic
plates moved away from one another, magma rose to the surface, forming new earth. Where two
continental plates _____________________, they crumpled and pushed each other upwards to build the
planet’s great mountain ranges. Plate tectonics became the _____________________ principle in the field of
geology, and it also _____________________ Wegener’s theory of continental drift, demonstrating the
mechanism by which landmasses move. Geologists now believe Pangaea was simply the latest in a long
progression of _____________________ that have formed and split, a process that will continue through future
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

eons.
Book 3 –Unit 4 Dance Language Among Honey Bees
Honey bees _____________________ in ways more complex than we might imagine. Since ancient times,
scientists have been aware that peculiar, dance-like movements are _____________________ by forager bees
returning to the hive after locating a food source. It was assumed these “dances” were performed to draw
the attention of other foragers and recruit their _____________________ in collecting pollen.
In 1947, however, a zoology professor named Karl von Frisch discovered a more _____________________
meaning behind the dances. He set up food sources near an _____________________ glass-walled hive and
trained a group of foragers, marked with colored paint, to locate a source and return a pollen sample to
the hive. Through careful _____________________ of the bees’ movements once inside, he discerned that, in
addition to recruiting aid, the foragers’ dances were providing specific data regarding the distance and
direction of the food source. Moreover, the bees _____________________ different dances depending on the
type of information they needed to convey.
For instance, when a food source is close to the hive, relatively simple dances are
_____________________. The forager completes a “round dance,” running in tight little circles, for sources
within 50 meters of the hive. A similar dance, called the “sickle dance,” is _____________________ to advertise
food sources between 50 and 150 meters away. Instead of a circular route, a bee performing the sickle
dance follows a crescent-shaped path. Neither round nor sickle dances communicate anything concerning
the direction in which the _____________________ can be found.
When a honey bee has located a food source that lies more than 150 meters away, it
_____________________ a “waggle dance.” First, the forager runs forward in a straight line, vibrating its body
so its back section appears to wag. It then loops outward in a _____________________ to return to the
starting point, after which it moves forward again in the same fashion and semicircles back on the
_____________________ side. The distance of the forager’s run during the waggle dance is
_____________________ to the distance of the food source—the longer the run, the farther the pollen. In
addition, the angle of the run describes the direction of the source, explaining its location in
_____________________ to the position of the sun. For example, if the pollen is located toward the sun, the
forager traces a _____________________ line directly up the hive wall. If the pollen is located in the
_____________________ direction from the sun, the forager runs straight down the wall. Otherwise, the angle
of the pollen’s location _____________________ to the sun is reflected in the angle of the waggle run.
Von Frisch’s dance language theory is often _____________________; there are zoologists who argue
foragers’ movements are intended only to attract the attention of other bees. Instead, they believe
olfactory data from the initial pollen sample found by the forager is enough to _____________________ the
source’s location. Even _____________________ of the dance language theory acknowledge the importance of
smell. In fact, they feel that, although foragers’ communicative dances can guide bees to the vicinity of a
pollen store, olfactory clues are used to pinpoint the exact source.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 5 The Invention of the Modern Printing Press

Prior to the 1300s, books were a scarce _____________________ in Europe. Each new copy of a text
needed to be _____________________ copied from an earlier edition by hand. The workers charged with
producing books were called scribes, and it often took a single scribe over a year to complete just one
book. The _____________________ labor involved, coupled with the fact that book pages were made out of
vellum—carefully treated and _____________________ animal skin—ensured that only the richest
_____________________ Europeans could afford to own a book. Yet, at this time, the continent was slowly
beginning to emerge from the Dark Ages. General wealth and literacy rates were rising, culminating in a
heightened _____________________ for books.
Bookmakers of the 1300s and early 1400s sought to meet this demand by _____________________
printing technologies from Asia. The most _____________________ was a Chinese technique known as
woodblock printing. A word, a sentence, or an entire page was carved into a block of wood, ink was
_____________________ to the surface, and the block was pressed onto a sheet of vellum, cloth, or paper.
While woodblock printing _____________________ the need for text to be handwritten, it failed to increase
the production of books in any _____________________ fashion. The woodblocks were very delicate, cracking
easily, and the carvings faded quickly. Moreover, the time it took to create the carvings was still
_____________________.
In the 1430s, a metalsmith named Johannes Gutenberg began work on an _____________________
printing press. In place of woodblocks, he employed metal moveable type, a technology that had been
invented centuries earlier in Korea but gone _____________________. Using a durable alloy mixture, he
fashioned small metal stamps for each of the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet. These stamps could be
placed in whatever _____________________ was needed to print one page of a book and then rearranged to
print the next one. The ease of arranging the _____________________ type compared to carving a block of
wood greatly reduced the effort involved in book printing. Working with this press, a single person could
now produce hundreds of copies of a book per year. Gutenberg also _____________________ the use of
longer-lasting oil-based inks and printed on low-cost paper in addition to vellum.
The impact of Gutenberg’s invention on European society became _____________________ immediately.
Before the close of the century, thousands of printers were in business, mass-producing hundreds of
thousands of books. Prices _____________________, giving ordinary people access to written texts for the first
time in history. Whereas previously books had _____________________ primarily with religious matters, these
new books covered a greater variety of subjects, and different European vernaculars were
_____________________ alongside the standard Latin. Philosophical and scientific ideas from ancient Greece
and Rome, as well as discoveries being made by contemporary thinkers, were rapidly diffused throughout
the continent. Seen in this light, the printing press can be understood as one of the most important
factors _____________________ Europe into the Renaissance in the 16th century, a period that ushered in the
modern age.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 6 Decoding the Rosetta Stone

The ancient Egyptian system of writing was _____________________ the world’s earliest forms of written
communication. It originally developed as a collection of pictographs, or hieroglyphs, which are
_____________________ that were drawn to represent specific objects or ideas. However, over the centuries
these symbols evolved to stand for spoken sounds, like the letters of the English alphabet. Hieroglyphs
were sometimes written on papyrus scrolls, an early _____________________ of paper made from dried reeds,
but they appeared most often _____________________ into the stone walls of temple buildings. The writing
system was therefore given the name hieroglyphics, which means ‘sacred writing.’
Unfortunately, sometime around 400 A.D. the use of hieroglyphics ceased, and with it vanished all
knowledge of how to read this script. Even during times when hieroglyphic writing was most
_____________________, at the height of the ancient Egyptian civilization, very few people could interpret the
characters. Reading and writing were skills _____________________ for scribes and government officials in
charge of taxation and other _____________________ tasks. Therefore, it did not take long for
_____________________ in hieroglyphics to fade once the system was no longer employed by the Egyptian
government, and the secrets of the hieroglyphs remained a mystery until the 1799 discovery of an artifact
called the Rosetta Stone.
French soldiers in Napoleon’s army, which had _____________________ an invasion of Egypt, found the
stone while digging the foundations of a fort near el-Rashid, also known as Rosetta. The object was a
large slab of rock 45 inches long by 28 inches wide, and it _____________________ three inscriptions in three
different languages: hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Greek. Demotic was the script used by Egyptian
commoners at the time of the stone’s construction, around 196 B.C., and Greek was the language of
government. The inscriptions told of a royal _____________________ passed down by a council of priests, but
more importantly, each inscription said the same thing. Thus, scholars assumed they would be able to
pair the hieroglyphs to the well-known Greek characters and _____________________ the meanings and
syntax of the ancient writing system.
Many accomplished linguists _____________________ to decipher the Rosetta Stone, but it was not until
1822 that one succeeded. His name was Jean-Francois Champollion, a French classical scholar, and
though he benefited greatly from the _____________________ of others, he claimed total credit for decoding
the hieroglyphic system. His breakthrough came with the realization that the hieroglyphs were not merely
pictorial but _____________________ phonetic values, much like a modern alphabet.
The impact of Champollion’s achievement is difficult to measure, but it is safe to say that nearly all
we now know about ancient Egypt’s history, myths, society, and _____________________ was made possible
by the decoding of the Rosetta Stone. Once the code was _____________________, scholars went out to the
region’s plentiful archaeological sites and began translating as much “sacred writing” as they could.
Indeed, this was the birth of a new field of study called _____________________, which has since given us a
vastly greater understanding of human history and the lives of our ancestors.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 7 The Great Depression

The world’s economies had __________________ economic recessions and even depressions many times in
the decades prior to 1929. However, none had reached the ___________________, in terms of both financial
loss and duration, of that experienced during the 1930s, a period now known as the Great Depression.
Many nations felt its __________________, but few suffered as extensively as the United States. In America,
thousands of banks and businesses failed, and unemployment and homelessness _________________ into the
early 1940s.
While the exact combination of financial and social factors that _____________________ the Great
Depression will likely never be fully understood, one event is _____________________ as its initial
manifestation: the U.S. stock market crash of late October, 1929. As stock values plummeted, investors
panicked and sold their shares at a loss, crippling entire companies in the process. Average Americans,
_____________________ about access to their savings, made massive withdrawals, which in turn led to a series
of bank _____________________. Funds evaporated, employers could not afford to _____________________ their
workers, and farmers and homeowners became unable to pay their mortgages. Widespread homelessness
and unemployment was the result, with the latter _____________________ a figure of 25% by 1932.
The American leader _____________________ over this financial disaster was Herbert Hoover. Following a
philosophy of limited government, he refused to take _____________________ action to stem the collapse,
believing the market would correct itself. Needless to say, the millions of Americans living without work
or shelter did not _____________________ this tactic. So it was not unexpected when, in the elections of 1932,
Hoover was overwhelmingly defeated by challenger Franklin Roosevelt, who _____________________ decisive
government action to end the Depression.
Roosevelt immediately _____________________ a bundle of policies he termed the New Deal, aimed at
righting the U.S. economy through federal intervention. He placed a temporary ban on bank withdrawals
to prevent more bank failures and passed laws to support the recovery of businesses. He
_____________________ money to families for food and clothing purchases, implemented a program of
unemployment compensation, and founded the Social Security system to _____________________ financial
assistance to the elderly. Moreover, the New Deal _____________________ numerous government agencies to
generate employment. These included the Civilian Conservation Corps, which hired workers to
_____________________ deforested areas; the Works Progress Administration, which created jobs in
_____________________ as well as among artists; and the Tennessee Valley Authority, which
_____________________ electricity service to rural communities through hydroelectric projects.
Despite the breadth of the New Deal policies, they were more successful in halting the Depression
than reversing it. It was not until America’s soldiers and, consequently, its industries became
_______________ in World War II that true recovery occurred. However, many of Roosevelt’s programs, such
as unemployment compensation and Social Security, remain, and today they are considered fundamentals
of American society. In addition, subsequent __________________ of the causes and consequences of the
Great Depression have informed federal policymakers on how to avoid future catastrophes. Ultimately, the
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Great Depression transformed______ about the role the federal government should play in ________ matters
Book 3 –Unit 8 Understanding Hurricanes
The most destructive type of storm on Earth, producing _____________________ winds and torrential rain,
is the hurricane, a word originating from the extinct Caribbean language of the Taíno people and their
name for the god of storms, Juracán. When speaking more technically, _____________________ prefer the
term “tropical cyclone,” referring to both where the storm forms and its cyclical shape. In Asia, the
_____________________ is known as a typhoon, but _____________________ of which terminology is used,
hurricanes are defined as storms with sustained wind speeds of at least 74 miles per hour.
Hurricanes develop over open _____________________ oceans under certain conditions, the most
_____________________ of which involves water temperature; the ocean surface must be at or above 80
degrees Fahrenheit for a hurricane to form. This heat is _____________________ to the humid, tropical air
above the water, pushing it upwards at great speeds and causing the _____________________ within it to
build into tall clouds. As warm air vacates the lower _____________________, cooler air rushes in from all sides
to take its place, resulting in strong winds. The winds begin to spin, a phenomenon _____________________
by Earth’s rotation, and a cyclonic storm is born.
The storm takes on a thick, ring–like structure with a hollow core known as the “eye,” which is shaped like
a narrow _____________________ shaft. Within the eye, there is little to no wind and the sky is clear of clouds,
but directly surrounding it rise tall, dense thunderclouds where storm activity is the most
_____________________. This region is called the “eyewall,” and depending on the overall _____________________
of the storm, it may extend anywhere from 10 to 50 miles out from the eye. Beyond the eyewall, weaker
storms known as “rain bands” _____________________ the eye, forming a giant spiral or wheel.
As long as the storm remains over areas of warm water, its _____________________ increases; it can be
thought of as “feeding” on this _____________________. Once its winds reach sustained speeds of 38 miles
per hour it is _____________________ a tropical storm, and hurricane status is bestowed when the figure
reaches 74 mph, but it can continue to climb to 185 mph and perhaps even higher. It will keep building
in _____________________ until it passes over cooler water or makes landfall.
Not surprisingly, hurricanes result in _____________________ damage when they come ashore. Their winds
are forceful enough to tear the roofs off of buildings, flip _____________________, and blow down power
lines, and the rains they unleash can lead to severe flooding hundreds of miles inland. Hurricane winds
also give rise to _____________________ sea levels that rush in as “storm surges” and flood entire coastal
cities, and once on land, they can spawn separate but equally _____________________ thunderstorms and
tornadoes. All told, a single hurricane may cause thousands of deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars
in property damage. Like any natural disaster, hurricanes require ample _____________________ and a healthy
dose of respect in order to minimize the harm they dispense.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 9 What Are GMOs?

Would you eat a plant whose genes were _____________________ by scientists in a laboratory? You probably
already have, for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), also known as genetically engineered
organisms, are _____________________ in modern food supplies. The concept underlying genetic modification
is not new. For centuries, farmers have used a method called selective breeding to produce more
_____________________ crops. They do this by choosing seeds from plants that appear to be particularly
_____________________ to pests and cold or dry weather and planting those seeds in place of weaker strains.
Over time, the desirable strains come to _____________________ the genetic profiles of the farmers’ crops.
In the 1980s, scientists developed a shortcut to the time-intensive and _____________________ selective
breeding process. Using advanced laboratory equipment, they learned how to insert genetic material
directly into plant seeds, leading to the immediate _____________________ of desirable characteristics in the
plants. These were the first GMOs. Additionally, the scientists discovered they could _____________________
genes from non-plant species, such as bacteria, to food crops. Currently, just over a dozen countries
around the world produce and sell GMOs, with the United States responsible for the _____________________
of the crops. Along with corn, soybeans are the most common genetically _____________________ crop.
The advantages of GMOs are _____________________. Farmers enjoy higher crop yields because fewer
plants are lost to pests, cold spells, and droughts. Plants with pest-resistant genes also require fewer
pesticide treatments, leading to safer produce for consumers and reducing the threat of environmental
_____________________. Moreover, many GMOs contain nutritious substances necessary to good health, as
everything from vitamins to _____________________ drugs can be implanted in crop seeds, something that
proponents of GMOs say could one day bring about the end of hunger in the _____________________ world.
Not everyone is _____________________ of the technology, however. Critics point to the fact that GM foods
are simply too new to be embraced, alleging that there could exist long-term health risks that have yet to
surface. Also, consumers with allergies have had _____________________ reactions to the implanted genes;
due to the lack of labels on GMOs, they did not _____________________ they were ingesting something that
could harm them. In response to claims that GM foods could help end hunger, critics say the seeds of
these plants are patent-protected and much too expensive for farmers in poor _____________________ to
afford. The _____________________ surrounding the GM revolution go beyond human health to
environmental issues, as well. There is fear that pest-resistant genes could spread beyond farm fields,
introducing toxins to the food supplies of insects and other organisms.
For the time being, concerns over GMOs have led many governments, particularly in Europe, to
_____________________ regulate the use and labeling of these organisms, banning them outright in some
cases. Ultimately, though, the choice lies with the ____________________l consumer. Given the potential
benefits and risks, what _____________________ would you make?
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 10 The History of Salt

There is perhaps no single _____________________ so vital to life yet so often taken for granted in modern
times as salt. Throughout history, salt has played pivotal roles in human health as an agent of both
_____________________ and food preservation. Salt is so important, in fact, that in the past access to it could
determine the success or _____________________ of a population.
Humans have collected naturally _____________________ salt for millennia. Such natural sources are found
in rocky pools near coastlines, where seawater is trapped and _____________________, leaving behind its salt
content. Further inland there are salt springs, mineral-rich water that can be heated using sunlight or fire
to _____________________ its salt. Additionally, some mountainous areas, such as those of Western and
Central Europe, contain salt-bearing rocks. Many of the earliest cities were founded and
_____________________ specifically due to their proximity to a natural salt source.
The ancient world was made up of regions where salt was _____________________ and others where it was
not; therefore, salt was one of the original motivators for trade. Given the weight of the commodity, it
was most easily _____________________ by boat. Evidence has been uncovered of a Mayan salt production
center in Guatemala _____________________ next to a principal riverine trading route. The marine salt trade in
the Mediterranean region, from ancient Roman to _____________________ times, is well documented, and
Marco Polo noted during his visit to China that salt was shipped from the coast up the Yangtze River in
great _____________________.
The high value of salt provided great power to those who controlled its _____________________, and many
of history’s great cities owed their _____________________ to it. Venice, for example, gained prominence
partly as a result of the salt _____________________ in its lagoons. By the 10th century A.D., Venice had
become one of the Mediterranean’s most prolific salt producers and a strong Italian city-state, and it set
out to dominate the salt market. Salt-making centers run by its rivals were _____________________, and wars
were waged with other city-states over control of the salt trade. By 1350, Venice had _____________________
a monopoly, and all salt produced in the Adriatic region had to pass through Venice, where its price was
marked up _____________________ before it could be sold. The wealth derived from this trade helped fuel the
artistic and scientific innovations of the Italian Renaissance.
The role salt has played throughout history, in Venice and beyond, is _____________________. Columbus’
voyage of discovery to the New World was financed by salt production in Southern Spain. France’s
_____________________ expansions under Napoleon were largely paid for by a tax charged on salt purchases,
and the State of New York used a similar tax to fund the creation of its 363-mile Erie Canal. Consider this
history the next time you pick up a shaker to _____________________ salt on your meal.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 11 The Cultural Advances of Hellenism

The Hellenistic Age refers to an epoch when Greek culture held sway from the Mediterranean to parts
of modern-day India. This _____________________ was the immediate result of the military prowess of
Alexander the Great, a Greek-educated Macedonian who, in little more than a decade, built the ancient
world’s largest _____________________. Alexander promoted the diffusion of Greek culture by
_____________________ interracial marriages and inviting Greek merchants and scholars to settle throughout
his _____________________. Even after his sudden death in 323 B.C., Greek influence continued to
_____________________, intermingling with local customs and institutions.
Alexander’s empire was _____________________ divided by his generals into a number of smaller kingdoms.
Though _____________________ politically, each hosted the distinct Hellenistic culture that had emerged. In
some regards, Hellenism resembled Classical Greek culture—the Greek language was _____________________
by rulers and the upper classes, for example—but many other _____________________ of Classicism, including
democratic rule, were _____________________. The Hellenistic Age also witnessed the rise of commercial hubs
that _____________________ from new opportunities in international trade. Cities like Alexandria, Egypt and
Antioch, Syria were transformed by this _____________________ in commerce. Their newfound wealth
attracted thousands of immigrants from all over Greece, who further contributed to the
_____________________ culture that had developed.
As in Classical Greece, philosophers were _____________________ under Hellenism, only now, instead of
_____________________ the universe’s ultimate truths, they advocated ethical conduct and human happiness.
Several schools of thought formed with this aim. The Stoics believed humans should _____________________
themselves from emotion and concern for material well-being to achieve happiness. The Skeptics
_____________________ the virtue of doubt, while the Cynics called for a return to a more primitive manner of
_____________________.
Elaborating on a broad base of Greek and non-Greek traditions, Hellenistic scientists made many
advances, with the _____________________ Aristarchus becoming one of the earliest to argue that Earth
circled the sun. Also, _____________________ that to this day define the study of mathematics—trigonometry,
geometry, and calculus—had their foundations _____________________ by the Hellenistic figures Hipparchus,
Euclid, and Archimedes, respectively.
Developments in philosophy and science were matched by those in _____________________ and the arts. A
simplified form of the Greek language called Koine was _____________________, making texts more accessible
to audiences in Hellenistic lands, and important literary works, such as the Jewish Old Testament, were
_____________________ into Greek. Significant changes in sculpture occurred during this time as well.
Whereas Classical sculptors had focused solely on idealized human forms, usually those of young males,
they now began _____________________ children, women, and the elderly, all in striking naturalistic detail. The
world-renowned Venus de Milo dates from this _____________________.
Despite their cultural achievements, the Hellenistic dynasties were unable to maintain political
_____________________. Many small independent kingdoms gradually broke away, and by 200 B.C., a new
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

regional power was on the rise: Imperial Rome. Between 146 and 31 B.C., Rome _____________________ the
last vestiges of Alexander the Great’s once mighty empire, yet these successors _____________________ much
more of Hellenistic culture than they destroyed. The philosophical, scientific, and artistic progress
achieved under Hellenism survived to influence countless _____________________, including many aspects of
our modern world.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 12 Impressionism

The Impressionist movement began in the late 1860s in France and was _____________________ by artists
such as Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Impressionism was a
new style of painting that _____________________ to capture the artist’s sensory impressions of a subject
rather than to reproduce reality. It was a _____________________ against the strict rules of traditional
academic painting whose _____________________ were set by France’s Academie des Beaux-Arts. Preferring
dark colors, portraits, and historical subjects, the Academie frequently rejected the Impressionists’ bright,
loosely _____________________ landscapes in its annual art show, the Salon de Paris. In an
_____________________ showing, Monet’s Impression: Sunrise (1872), eventually won public acceptance and
gave the movement its name.
Impressionism was characterized by quick, _____________________ brushstrokes and the absence of sharp,
defined lines. Impressionist paintings often had an “unfinished look,” which was meant to
_____________________ a fleeting, spontaneous moment. When it came to color, Impressionist painters stayed
away from the dark tones of academic paintings, and pure Impressionists _____________________ using black
altogether. They applied bright colors next to one another on the canvas while the paints were still wet in
order to create soft edges. The blending or mixing of colors was _____________________. The Impressionists
came to understand the optical effects of layering colors, which seemed to make their paintings glow
with light.
With the introduction of pre-mixed paints in lead tubes, _____________________ painters no longer had to
grind and mix dry pigment powders with linseed oil in advance. As a result, they were able to work
_____________________ and wherever they wished. Instead of painting important people in a studio or using
the canvas to tell a religious or moral story, the artists stepped outside to _____________________ vivid
scenes of nature. For this reason, they were said to be working “en plein air,” which is French for “in the
open air.” Therefore, common _____________________ in Impressionist paintings were scenes from everyday
life,
landscapes, and the modern, bustling city of Paris.
Owing to the fact that the Impressionists’ works were unwelcomed by the Academie des Beaux-Arts,
they set up their own independent _____________________. The exhibitions were held from 1874 to 1886 and
included paintings by Paul Cezanne, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Renoir, Monet, and Degas. A
_____________________ of art critics had found the Impressionist paintings formless, incomplete, and
unsophisticated; however, they were rather successful with the general public. So, while it was not
understood or _____________________ by everyone, the Impressionist movement flourished for about two
_____________________.
Impressionism had a profound impact on other French painters as well as on artists around the world.
The artists who followed developed new _____________________ and movements like Pointillism, Post-
Impressionism, Cubism, Expressionism and Modernism based on the developments made by
Impressionists. Impressionism also _____________________ to other areas, with French composer Claude
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Debussy leading the movement in music. Musical Impressionism turned away from the
_____________________ pieces of composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven
and _____________________ on tonal color and mood. The Impressionists’ legacy, then, is _____________________
that they paved the way for artists of all mediums to experiment with their _____________________ and
materials.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 13 The Great Barrier Reef

Off the northeast coast of Australia stretches the largest _____________________ structure in the world, the
Great Barrier Reef. It is an _____________________ system of coral reefs that covers an area of 344,400 square
kilometers in size and is visible from space.
Once thought to be plants, corals are actually _____________________ of colonies of tiny cylindrical animals
called polyps. When polyps feed, they ingest minerals like calcium, and this calcium is _____________________
by the polyps to form a hard skeleton around their soft bodies. Over time, as the colony expands, the
_____________________ grows and eventually takes on the characteristic reef structure. Coral polyps also
maintain a _____________________ relationship with species of algae, which live inside them. Symbiotic
relationships are mutually beneficial:
the polyps _____________________ the algae with a protective environment, while the algae, through
photosynthesis, supply the polyps with food energy and are also _____________________ for some of the
bright coloring seen in corals. Because algae require _____________________ sunlight to perform
photosynthesis, coral reefs are found in shallow, transparent waters with warm temperatures, such as
those off of Australia’s Queensland _____________________.
The Great Barrier Reef is itself alive, but it also harbors extraordinary _____________________. Due to waste
excreted by the corals, the water around the reef is particularly nutrient rich. This attracts bacteria, plants,
and _____________________, which in turn encourage the presence of larger species, and so on up to the
highest tier of predators like sharks and rays. It is _____________________ that around 1,500 species of fish
and 4,000 species of mollusks live in the Great Barrier Reef, a fact that contributed to its
_____________________ as a World Heritage Site in 1981.
Unfortunately, the world’s largest coral reef system is very much in need of the protection
_____________________ such sites. One of the most serious threats to its continued existence is human
activity. Oil drilling, fishing, and tourism _____________________ can catastrophically harm the reef, and trends
like increased coastal development and the runoff of _____________________ sewage and contaminated
rainwater also pose serious risks. To mitigate these factors, the Australian government created the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park in 1975. The park divides the reef into different zones, each of which carries
strict guidelines on what activities are and are not _____________________, and there are some areas where
human activity is not _____________________ at all.
Another serious threat, and one that cannot be so easily _____________________, comes from global
warming. The algae within corals are sensitive to _____________________ changes in the water; a rise of just
two degrees Celsius can cause them to die off. This is known as “coral bleaching,” for without algae the
coral _____________________ its color and turns grayish white. While the corals can _____________________ for a
time without the algae, a prolonged _____________________ will lead to the death of the reef. Therefore, the
Great Barrier Reef serves as a kind of early warning system for the effects of global warming,
_____________________ how serious the problem will become if no action is taken to curb it.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 14 The Frozen Continent

Sitting directly over the South Pole and _____________________ by thick ice, Antarctica is a continent of
extremes. Its desert-like climate has an _____________________ year round temperature of–49 degrees
Celsius, making it both the most _____________________ and one of the most arid places on Earth. Stronger
winds have been recorded on Antarctica than anywhere else, and the continent’s _____________________
elevation is more than three times that of any other. Surrounded by three oceans, it is as large as Mexico
and the United States _____________________, and in the depths of winter it receives absolutely no sunlight.
Though _____________________ in Antarctica are always chilling, variations exist depending on season and
region. The lowest _____________________ in the continent’s interior, where the average remains under–30
degrees Celsius even in summer and drops to–65 degrees in winter. On the coast, _____________________,
summer can bring above-freezing temperatures, but these plunge to between–10 and–20 degrees Celsius
in winter. Water in the _____________________ seas either freezes to form loose sea ice or hovers just above
freezing.
Antarctica’s _____________________ climate makes permanent human settlement impossible, but the frozen
continent _____________________ a home for many other species, which live in the oceans around the
landmass, in coastal habitats, or both. Within the marine ecosystem, tiny _____________________ called
phytoplankton harness the energy of the sun through photosynthesis and are consumed by krill, small
shrimp-like animals. Krill, in turn, serve as the primary food source for a number of larger species,
including fish, whales, and penguin chicks. Seals and bird _____________________ make up the rest of the
Antarctic animal community.
Antarctica hosts human _____________________ as well, researchers engaged in projects at the continent’s
science stations. Fields as diverse as _____________________, biology, and volcanology are regularly
investigated on the continent. By international treaty, Antarctica is regarded as a “Zone of Peace;” all
countries have access to it and are free to conduct research as they see fit, provided it does not harm the
environment or _____________________ on the rights of teams from other nations. The American-operated
McMurdo Station is the largest human settlement on Antarctica, _____________________ of supporting as
many as 1,258 residents.
Unfortunately, though sometimes well _____________________, human activity does not always leave the
Antarctic environment _____________________. Tourism is a growing concern, as more cruise ships visit the
Antarctic Ocean every year and sometimes dispose of waste _____________________, as do the science
stations, which have even contaminated the surrounding landscape with _____________________ waste.
However, the greatest threat to Antarctica, and _____________________ the rest of the world, comes from
global warming. Rising sea and air temperatures are weakening the Antarctic ice sheet, causing massive
chunks of ice to _____________________ and enter the open ocean. This trend has the potential to raise sea
levels around the world by more than a meter, presaging severe flooding of coastal areas. Clearly, action
should be taken to _____________________ Antarctica, both for the sake of the animals that call it home and
the security of millions of people worldwide.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 15 The Birth of the Skyscraper

The first skyscraper was the ten-story Home Insurance Building, _____________________ in Chicago in
1885. Though a building of such stature would likely fail to impress anyone today, both its height and
structure were _____________________ at the time, ushering in an age of vertical urban growth.
Before the mid-1800s, buildings _____________________ load-bearing masonry walls, made out of brick
or stone, to support the weight of their upper floors. The taller a building, the more weight its lower walls
had to bear, and the thicker they needed to be. This _____________________ a relatively strict limit on
building height—anything taller than six stories would _____________________ load-bearing walls so thick
they would impede any use of the building’s _____________________. Yet, during the latter half of the 19th
century, city planners were demanding more and more tall buildings as populations swelled and available
_____________________ space became scarcer.
The solution came from a new building material: steel. Steel weighed less, allowed for more
_____________________, could support more weight, and was far less bulky than masonry walls. Tall, grid-like
frameworks were fashioned using steel, and these _____________________ as the “skeletons” of buildings, on
which thin, light-weight concrete and glass walls were hung. Whereas in traditional _____________________
walls played an essential structural role, in these new buildings they served simply to keep out the
elements and let in light. It was this manner of steel-frame construction that made possible Chicago’s
Home Insurance Building and the hundreds of much taller _____________________ that followed it.
Of course, people also needed a _____________________ for reaching these towering structures. Steam-
powered _____________________ had been in use for several years, but the public did not consider them safe,
for if the cable that lifted and lowered the elevator broke, the _____________________ would plummet and
crash at the ground floor. A man named Elisha Graves Otis _____________________ this concern with the
invention of the Otis safety elevator, which featured a braking system that, if a cable broke and the
elevator started to _____________________ out of control, would halt the fall of the elevator box. Soon, the
“Otis safety” became a standard element of this new generation of tall buildings.
Once all of the components to make the construction of skyscrapers _____________________ were in
place, they began to take over city skylines at a rapid pace. New York quickly _____________________ into a
home for the tallest buildings in the world, including the Chrysler Building in 1930 and the Empire State
Building in 1931. Ever since, the world’s metropolises have been _____________________ in something of a
competition to possess the highest skyscraper, and in 2010 Dubai claimed the title with its 2,717-foot Burj
Khalifa, far _____________________ the previous record holder, Taiwan’s Taipei 101 at 1,671 feet. Throughout
the world, the skyscraper serves to define cities and will continue to do so for the _____________________
future.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 16 The Placebo Effect

A placebo is an _____________________ medical treatment that generally comes in the form of a sugar
pill but can also be any ‘dummy treatment’ such as an _____________________ of a saline solution, a special
diet or exercise program, or ‘fake’ surgery. Placebos were discovered in the 18th century and have
_____________________ the medical world for their uncanny ability to heal. In fact, one third of the people
who take placebos for illnesses experience _____________________ from their
symptoms, a phenomenon known as “the placebo effect.”
Doctors are still _____________________ how exactly placebos work; however, they have learned that
certain factors greatly influence the outcome of a placebo _____________________. Skepticism, for example,
often hinders the positive results of a placebo. A poor relationship between a patient and his or her
doctor can do the same. On the other hand, those who trust their health care _____________________ are
more likely to have a _____________________ outcome. Additionally, research shows that the characteristics,
such as the color and design, of a
placebo pill are more powerful than the pills themselves. Yellow pills have _____________________ the most
effective in treating depression; patients find red pills more _____________________; and green pills are the
most helpful in reducing anxiety. Sugar pills that resemble widely recognized drugs are also more
_____________________ than generic ones.
There are several theories that _____________________ to explain why the placebo effect works. One idea
is that a person’s expectations of certain improvements are powerful enough to bring about the desired
results. Others believe that the placebo effect is merely _____________________, as many disorders treated
with placebos are self-limiting, meaning that they will heal themselves _____________________ over a certain
period of time. Some theorists suggest that taking a placebo may motivate people to take better care of
themselves or _____________________ their fears and anxieties, explaining any improvements they may
experience. Another theory says that the act of taking a placebo could also cause a _____________________
to re-evaluate their symptoms as less severe.
Placebos have been known to cause certain side _____________________, including nausea, drowsiness,
and skin rashes. In some cases, doctors have seen their patients become dependant on placebos,
_____________________ that they will fall ill as soon as they stop taking them. In other cases, patients who
are convinced that a treatment will produce _____________________ consequences may come to experience
the feared symptoms. This phenomenon is called “the nocebo effect.” Healthy _____________________ who
are prescribed placebos over a long period of time can also become _____________________ that they are
indeed sick, triggering the onset of genuine _____________________.
Despite their potential unwanted side effects, placebos are vital to _____________________ trials where
researchers must determine the effectiveness of a new drug. They do this by _____________________ the
results of their potential product with those of a placebo. The new drug may receive government
approval in countries like the United States only if it _____________________ better results than a placebo.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), half of all new drugs fail to beat a placebo in
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

the _____________________ clinical trials.

Book 3 –Unit 17 Greenwashing
The late 1980s saw the _____________________ of new trends in environmentalism and
_____________________ social responsibility, which led to the birth of green marketing. Companies realized
that customers were becoming more ecologically concerned, which _____________________ affected their
shopping habits. It seemed natural, then, for businesses to adjust their marketing processes so that there
was more focus on the environmentally friendly _____________________ of their products or services. Green
marketing proved to be so successful, however, that many businesses started _____________________ green
marketing practices in order to sell products that were not really good for the environment.
This practice of falsely _____________________ products or services as environmentally friendly is called
“greenwashing” and it is widely used across the globe. Some companies have turned to greenwashing
because it is the _____________________ and least expensive way to satisfy customers demanding ecologically
friendly products. Others do it to compete with _____________________ companies that have already jumped
on the “go green” bandwagon or to prevent government bodies or environmentalists from
_____________________ their business practices. Many times, the exaggerated environmental claims of
companies are intentional, while other times they can be the result of _____________________ or sloppy
marketing.
One of the most _____________________ tricks of the advertising trade is to play with a product’s
packaging design, and this is often done in greenwashing practices as well. Green, blue, and white have
turned into _____________________ color choices for companies wanting to promote the environmental
benefits of their products. Hemp sacks and _____________________ brown paper wrapping, along with
pictures of the globe, clear skies, and growing grass, are used to _____________________ customers that the
product they are about to purchase will not harm the earth. But the line between green marketing and
greenwashing can be hard to discern: These smart packaging designs do not _____________________ mean
that the product they contain is environmentally friendly.
Examples of greenwashing can be found in almost every _____________________. A classic example is a
hotel chain that claims to care about the environment because it asks guests to consider reusing their
towels and bed sheets. While this practice does _____________________ save water and energy, the hotel
chain is not truly green unless it is _____________________ similar energy-conservation practices elsewhere.
The water and energy saved from reused towels does not make up for excessive electricity, heat, air
conditioning, or overall water usage. In fact, one of the biggest _____________________ for hotels to ask
customers to reuse their towels and bed sheets is simply to save money.
As greenwashing becomes more and more _____________________, it is hard for customers to know
exactly who they can trust. Products to look out for include those that claim to be green without
_____________________ any proof. Truly green products are generally backed by a third-party
_____________________. Customers should also be wary of products that use _____________________ key words
like “all-natural,” “earth smart,” or “environmentally safe” to get their attention. These terms are not
recognized as meaningful by any government or third-party ________________. As a smart consumer, it is
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

essential that you do your research before making any purchases. Despite the companies who greenwash,
there are still a good number of businesses that have truly taken on the _____________________ of
conservation.
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 18 Predicting Volcanic Eruptions

Throughout history, somewhere around 500 volcanic _____________________ have been recorded on
planet Earth and scientists estimate that there are about 1,500 _____________________ active volcanoes in
existence today, excluding those on the ocean floor. Approximately 500 million people live near an active
volcano and many are _____________________ of the potential danger they are in. In the past, trying to
_____________________ out when a volcano would erupt was more or less a guessing game; however,
although not an exact science, volcanologists are now able to more accurately predict volcanic eruptions
thanks to three _____________________ techniques: seismic monitoring, gas monitoring, and ground
deformation studies.
Seismic monitoring is the _____________________ of ground motion, which can tip volcanologists off
about an impending eruption. Also used to detect earthquakes, seismographs are capable of
_____________________ the shifting of rock in the Earth’s crust, which may be the _____________________ of
rising magma, or liquid molten rock, in an agitated volcano. During the beginning stage of an eruption,
_____________________ gas pressure inside a volcano causes magma to rise to the surface, breaking rock
along the way. Using seismographs, data of these ruptures is collected and _____________________ via radio
to computer-equipped monitoring stations, where scientists can keep an eye out for _____________________
behavior far from the volcano’s danger zone.
A second, equally important technique used for _____________________ volcanic eruptions is the
monitoring of gas _____________________ at the mouth of a volcano. When magma bubbles to the surface
just before an explosion, it releases extremely large _____________________ of sulfur dioxide into the air.
Previously, it was necessary for volcanologists to crawl into the crater of a volcano in order to record the
_____________________ of the gases being emitted; however, scientists are currently developing new tools
such as _____________________ telescopes that can transmit gas emission data automatically and
continuously from a volcanic crater to a laboratory so that vital warning signs may be _____________________
without putting human lives in danger.
It is also valuable to study ground _____________________, or the change in a volcano’s shape or
positioning, because such movement can be an _____________________ of magma rising to the surface.
Sensitive tools like tiltmeters and surveying instruments can detect minute changes below the surface of a
volcano, which volcanologists use to _____________________ the depth of a magma source, as well as how
fast the magma is traveling to the surface. As with gas monitoring, ground _____________________ studies
used to require humans to climb dangerously close to the mouth of a volcano until the invention of
global positioning system _____________________ that allow for the constant and continuous transmission of
ground deformation data to remote observatories.
While volcanic eruptions can be predicted using seismic monitoring, gas monitoring, and deformation
studies, _____________________ method is unable to tell us exactly how large or serious an eruption will be.
Furthermore, even with the combined use of ______________ monitoring techniques, each volcano’s eruptive
behavior is unique and ever-changing. Volcanologists must therefore be aware of a volcano’s complete
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

history if they hope to understand anything about the type, direction, or ___________ of its future
eruptions.
Book 3 –Unit 19 A Star is Born
There are _____________________ of billions of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Each one is
_____________________ and has a life of its own. Stars have life cycles like humans and other living creatures.
They are born, live, and then die. Unlike humans, though, stars do not have parents. Instead, they are
born through a _____________________ process.
All the elements must be right for a star to be born. Our galaxy contains _____________________ clouds
of gas and dust called nebulae. More specifically, nebulae _____________________ of leftover parts of old
stars, lots of hydrogen, and a little bit of helium. A nebula has the _____________________ to become a star,
as well as an asteroid or a planet. However, before it can become a star, it must first become a
_____________________. When gravity pulls a cloud of gas and dust together, it contracts into a dense ball
with a very hot center. This dense ball is called a protostar, and it is the beginning stage of a star’s life.
As the protostar heats up, the _____________________ builds on the energy particles, or atoms. The
heavier elements of the protostar are pushed to its core and the lighter elements, such as
_____________________ and helium, move to its surface. Eventually, a protostar will reach the
_____________________ temperature of 15 million degrees Celsius. When this happens, the nuclei, or center
part of the atoms, start to _____________________ into one another. The impact is so hard that the nuclei
stick together. This process is called nuclear fusion, and it keeps the _____________________ from falling apart
under the _____________________ of gravity. Nuclear fusion also causes the hydrogen and helium gases to
catch on fire, creating a new _____________________ glowing star.
Like humans, stars go through many changes throughout their _____________________ . After burning its
hydrogen for millions or billions of years, a star reaches the middle of its life. A star without much mass
will not glow as _____________________ or be as hot as a star that was made with more gas and dust. Stars
with more mass also have a larger supply of hydrogen and can burn longer. Eventually, every star will
_____________________ run out of hydrogen and lose the _____________________ to glow. At this point, the star
will begin to cool down and expand. When all that is left is helium, the star will become bright red and
transform into a glowing red giant.
Red giants can take one of two paths. Medium-sized stars, like our Sun, turn into white dwarves that
burn _____________________ their helium supply is gone. Then, they turn inside themselves and die,
becoming black dwarves. _____________________ stars, on the other hand, take another route. A massive red
giant gets hotter and hotter until it _____________________ a supernova, which is a massive stellar explosion
that can get as hot as 1,000,000,000 _____________________ Celsius and light up the sky for several months.
Then, the _____________________ left behind after the explosion is swallowed up by gravity and a black hole
is _____________________ .
 Read Up 3 Dictation – Gina

Book 3 –Unit 20 Inventing the “Talkie”

During the earliest era of cinema, from the 1880s to the 1920s, films were silent. Any essential
_____________________ or background information was presented in the form of _____________________ cards
inserted between action scenes. Films were also _____________________ by live music, from a full orchestra in
the case of major screenings to a single pianist or guitarist in small-town theaters, and an announcer was
sometimes employed to narrate the story when needed. Though the notion of _____________________ film
may seem limited from a modern perspective, filmmakers developed a unique aesthetic, and audiences
were generally _____________________ with the medium. Yet, throughout this period, inventors were
_____________________ working on a means of combining picture with sound.
There were a few basic problems these inventors faced, the most _____________________ being
synchronization: precisely aligning the audio with the video. Initial attempts to add sound utilized
_____________________ devices such as phonographs (early record players) to play tracks of music and sound
effects to accompany the film. However, it was very difficult to _____________________ that the timing of the
sound exactly matched what was being seen on the screen. Amplification was another limiting factor, for
the technology to project recorded sound in large theaters with sufficient _____________________ and volume
simply did not exist.
The Kinetophone, _____________________ by the Edison Manufacturing Company in 1895, was perhaps
the first sound-film technology to be manufactured. It was based on the company’s prior invention of the
Kinetoscope, a cabinet-shaped device _____________________ single-person viewing of short films. In the
Kinetophone, the motion-picture element was paired with a phonograph, so it _____________________ from
synchronization issues. On the other hand, the fact that the Kinetophone had only to accommodate a
single viewer meant _____________________ was not a hindrance. Unfortunately, this was also what led to the
machine’s abandonment, for by the turn of the century, filmmakers were coming to
the _____________________ that cinema was only marketable as a public offering.
It was not until the early 1920s that an _____________________ finally solved the problems associated
with sound film. Called Phonofi lm, it was _____________________ by Lee De Forest and made use of a
process by which sound could be recorded photographically onto a thin ribbon alongside the visual
filmstrip. This _____________________ that, as long as sound and picture were correctly synchronized at the
start of recording, they would remain in step throughout the film. De Forest’s Phonofi lm device also
included mechanisms that _____________________ electrical signals, thus producing sounds full and loud
enough to be projected to theater audiences.
Despite the advances made possible by Phonofi lm, it took the 1927 release of The Jazz Singer, the
first feature-length film to _____________________ synchronized speech in addition to musical soundtracks,
for the talking picture, or “talkie,” to become a _____________________ success. All of the Hollywood studios
_____________________ to the triumph of The Jazz Singer by producing their own talkies and the
_____________________ of the medium skyrocketed, pushing cinema into a new golden age.