CAS Reading Grade 8 Summative Assessment for the term 3 2. The 3. Tom Ruiz reports. 5. To 6.1 going until it reaches Mexico. 1 Monarchs arrive at their destination. 2 This November, a hundred million butterflies will drop from the sky over Mexico, like autumn leaves Monarch without a Kingdom But for how long? Genetically modified maize could mean extinction for this beautiful butterfly. Rafae km each year. It seems to be so fragile, but its long journeys are proof of its amazing ability to survive Although its body is about 3 cm and it only weighs 1 g, the Monarch butterfly manages to travel 5,000 This autumn, the Monarch butterfly will once more set out on its journey from the US. It will koop In November, millions of Monarchs fall like bright, golden rain onto the forests in the mountains of central Mexico. In the silence of these mountains you can hear a strange flapping of wings, as the Before reaching their journey's end they have faced strong winds, rain and snowstorms and they do not all manage to reach their destination. When the winters are really bad, perhaps 70 per cent of them with of the American continent. When they get there they will stay until the beginning of April, when the not survive. Their long journey to Mexico is thought to be one of the most amazing events in the whole internal calendar, tells them that it is time to go back. 3 These delicate creatures now face danger of another kind - from Laboratory experiments have shown that half of the butterflies which feod on the leaves of genetically modified maize die within 48 hours. Not all experts agree that this variety of maize is responsible for the hectares of modified maize). The environmental organization recently published a fist of 100 species of Greenpeace is campaigning against genetically modified, products (in Spain, therefore already 20.000 butterfly in Europe alone which are threatened with extinction. scientific progress. 4 threat to the Monarchs, 5 A–F the one which best fits A It travels these huge distances to escape the cold weather in the north. C In the mountains, which reach a height of 3,000 metres, the butterflies are safe. D In spite of these doubts, the European Union has refused to approve new crops of genetically modified maize until further investigations have been carried out. E The long journey, with all its dangers, begins again. B) Find words in the text which have a similar meaning to these definitions Ben maize which is pure poison for the butterfly Example: An organism containing genetic material that has been artificially altered genetically 6. something which tells you the time of year (paragraph 4). 7. the noise wings make as they move (paragraph 3) 8. what a scientist does in order to find something out (paragraph 5). modified a Lieto