Breakthroughs

ln the last 20 years, technological breakthroughs have profoundly

advanced the way we communicate, bringing us computers, cell phones,
and the lnternet. Equally amazing, but less easily seen, are recent social
breakthroughs. First, we look at an extraordinary woman who fought
against great odds to turn a simple idea into an ecological movement of
far-reaching benefits for planet Earth. Then we examine a remarkable
achievement that will forever change medical treatment throughout the
world: the mapping of the entire human genome. Finally, we consider the
creation of a new territory owned and governed by the native peoples
who live there.

If at first you don't succeed, try try again. .,

proverb
-English
 .t1u8

ll wnat is the woman in the photo doing? How might she be involved in an
important breakthrough?
pl Wfrat breakthroughs in technology, politics, or economics do you think have
brought the most benefit to humaniry?

f! oescribe a situation where persistence, as expressed the the English proverb

at left, has paid off for you.
 Trees for Democracy

ln 2004, Wangari Maathai became the first woman from the African continent to
receive the famous Nobel Peace prize. Because of her work, she was chosen that
year as the one person out of the whole world who contributed the most to the
cause of peace.

The following reading is the speech that Wangari Maathai gave when she accepted the
Nobel Peace prize. Scan it for these important clues to her identity, and fill in the blanks
in the sentences below.

1. The native ianguage of the speaker is

2. Her country of origin is ; this is on the continent of

3. When she heard what women wanted, her response was to plant
4. She did this to help heal the land and break the cycle of
5. This idea has become a movement called the Movement.

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. ,..

ri,;,;:.t,;i:':ai i.,1;,;:, 'iltj'i"i:iii:'i*:i.ij :'l'ri,,il:r-;,,5 lt"tl.j t!r:: .

Word building can greatly extend your English vocabulary. ln the last chaptel you
practiced forming adjectives from nouns by adding suffixes to the roots of words.
Now extend this strategy and practice finding the root in a verb, noun, adjective,
or adverb and adding prefixes and suffixes to make related forms.

Examples
connect, disconnect, connection
month, monthly, semimonthly
prove, disprove, approve, proven

lilii;ri'i-iii 'L:,:ilr:
i.;Uii'i.i::r:l: Lookateach italicized
f* i::.1,,,:;,t1i.;:, l';l::.,r:, l,l);',+i':.iL;*i: .1ili.X
word and the comments about it. Add a suffix or prefix to the root of that word to form
the new word which belongs in the sentence taken from the reading. lf you need help,
scan the reading on pages 201-203 for the sentence.

198 chapter 8

)
l
1. suit The verb sztzl means to be fitting or good for something. For example,
you can say, "This house suits our needs; I like it." Add the stifix -able and you
get the adjective suitable meaning "fitting, appropriate," as in "This room is
get
suitable for the meeting." Add to this a prefix that means not, and you will
the adjective that belongs in this blank.
But today in Nyeri . . . the soil is parched (very dry) and for
growing food.

2. nutrition The noun nutri,tion means "taking in things to eat that are
nourishing (beneficial to health)." Take off the suffix-ti,ott, and you get the root
nutri-. Add the correct suffix to this, and you will get the adjective to describe
something that is nourishing and beneficial.

I listened as women related (told) what they wanted . . . clean drinking water
and food.

3. erode The verb erod,e mea;1s "to break apart, wear down, or wash away." It is
often used to describe the washing away of the soil^(ground, land). Add the
correct suffix to the root ero-, and you get the nor-rn that refers to this action'
T?ees stop soil

conserve The verb conserDe means almost the opposite of erode; it means "to
keep, preserve and protect." change the e at the end of consev-'ue to an o and
add the right suffix to get the noun that refers to this action and finish the
sentence from question 3 above.
Ieading to water

5. ecology The noun ecology means "the study of the relationship between
living beings and their environment." Change the 3r to z and add the correct
suffix to get the adjective describing this action.
As household managers . . . women are the first to encounter the effects of
stress.

6. primary your chance to build an adverb from the adjective primary,

Here',s
meaning,,main, most important, predomilant." change the y to z and add the
suffix, whrch almost always indicates an adverb.
My idea evolved into the Green Belt Movement, made up of thousands of
groups, of women. .

7. degrade The verb d,egrad,e means "to lower, bring down, make worse." Thm it
into a noun by changing the e to o and adding a suffix'
I came to see that environmentai
,.. was both a
source of their problems and a sS.rnptom.

8. deteriorate The verb d,eteriorate is similar to degrade since it means "to go

down in value or become worse." Use the same process you used in question 7
to change deteriorate into a noun'
Growing crops on steep mountain slopes leads to . . . Iand

Breakthroughs '199
 9. forest Start with the wordJoresf , which means "a group of trees." (In the
second sentence of the reading, the adjectiveJorested is used to describe land
with trees on it.) Now you want a word that refers to the action of losing trees.
Begin with a prefix that means to take awaA, make worse. Qlint: Look at
questions 7 and 8 above.) Add that toforest, and then add a suffix to make it a
noun that describes the action of losing trees.
Similarly, causes rivers to dry up . . .

1 0. advocate The notxr aduocate tefets to a specific pelson who supports and
works for an idea or belief. Change the last two letters, te, to two different
letters to form the more general noun that refers lo the words and actions of
these people.
Through public education, political and protests, we
also sought to protect open spaces . . .

11. harass The verb harass means "to arrtoy, bother, or attack." Change it to a
noun by adding the right su-{fix.
Mr. Moi's government strongly opposed advocates for democracy and

environmental rights; beatings, death threats, and jail

timefollowed...
'!2. desert Adesert is an exlension of dry land that is infertile (not capable of
producing crops or providing for animals). In recent years, much of the fertile
Iand on Earth has become desert. A new word with a rather long and unusual
ending has appeared in English to refer to this recent phenomenon. CarL you
guess r rhat this word is and fill in the blank? ffou will probably have to scan for
this one or look it up on the Web.)
. . . community efforts to restore the Earth at a time when we face the ecological

crises of deforestation, water scarcity, and a lack of

biological diversity.

lntroduction
Great journeys often begin with one small step. Wangari Maathai's Green Belt
Movement is based on a simple idea, planting trees. Because of the place she was
born and the fact that she was a woman, she had to face immense obstacles t0
put her idea into practice. Her speech, which follows, describes her work, the rea-
sons that make it effective, and some of the difficulties she had to overcome.
E Do you know of any environmental movements?
E How do you think planting trees might help a country?
E What kind of obstacles would you Suess a woman like Maathai might face in
starting an environmental movement?

200 chapter 8
r
?
a

Trees for Democracy

When I was growing up in Nyeri in central Kenya, there was no word
for d,esertinmy mother tongge, Kikuyu. Our land was fertile and forested.
But today in Nyeri, as in
much of Africa and the
developing world, water
sources have dried up,
the soil is parched and
ursuitable for growing
food, artd conflicts over
land are common. So it
should come as no
surprise that I was
inspired to plant trees to
help meet the basic
needs of ruralwomen. As
amemberof the National
Council of Women of Kenya in the early 1970s, I listened as women related
what they wanted but did not have enough of: energr, clean drinking water,
and nukitious food.
My resporse was to begin ptanting trees with them, to help heal the
land and break the cycle of poverLy. Thees stop soil erosion, leading to
water conservation and increased rainfall. TYees provide fuel, material
for building and fencing, fruits, fodder, shade, and beauty. As household
managers in rural and urban areas of the developing world, women are
the first to encounter the effects of ecological stress. It forces them to
walk farther to get wood for cooking and heating, to search for clean
wateq and to flnd new sources of food as old ones disappear.
My idea evolved into the Green BeIt Movement, made up of
thousands of groups, primarily of women, who have planted 30 million
trees across Kenya. The women axe paid a small amount for each
seedling they grow, glving them art income as well as improving their
environment. The movement has spread to countries in East and
Central Africa.
Through this work, I came to see that environmental degradation by
poor coilrmunities was both a source of their problems and a s5rmptom.
Growing crops on steep mountain slopes leads to loss of topsoil and land
deterioration. Similarly, deforestation causes rivers to dry up and rainfall

Breakthroughs 201
 patterns to shi-ft, which, in turn, resurt
in much rower crop flelds and less
land for grazing.
In the 1970s and 1gg0s, as I was encouraging
farmers to prant trees
on their land, I arso discovered that comrpt government
agents were
responsible for much of the deforestation
by ilesailv selling off rand and
trees to well-connected developers. In the
early tgg0s, the rivelihoods,
the rights, and even the lives of many Kenyans
in the Rift valley were lost
when elements of president Daniel arap Moi,s government
encouraged
ethnic communities to attack one another
over rand. supporters of the
ruling parby got the land, while those in the pro-democrlcy
movement
were displaced. This was one of the government,s
ways of retaining
power; if communities were kept busy
flghting over land, they would
have less opportunity to demand democracy.
Land issues in Kenya are comprex and easily
exploited bypoliticians.
communities needed to understand and be
sensitized about the history
of land ownership and distribution in Kenya and
Africa. we held
seminars on human rights, goveming, and
reducing conflict.
In time, the Green Bert Movement became a teaaing
advocate of
reintroducing multiparty democracy and free
and fair erections in Kenya.
Tt*ough public education, poritical advocac;r,
and protests, we arso
sought to protect open spaces and forests
from unscrupulous
developers, who were often working hand
in hand with poriticians. Mr.
Moi's government strongly opposed advocates
for democracy and
environmental rights; harassment, beatings,
death threats, and jail time
followed, for me and for many others.
Fortunately, n'r zo0z, Kenyans rearized their
dream and erected a
democratic government. what we've learned
in Kenya-the symbiotic
relationship betrveen the sustainable management
of natural resources
and democratic governance-is also relevant
globally.
_ Indeed, many local and intemational wars, rike those in west and
central Africa and the Middle East, continue
to be fought over resources. In
the process, human
.. rights, democracy, and
democratic space are
denied.
: r I believe the Nobel
Committee recognized
' tne links between the
environment, democracy,
and peace and sought to
bring them to worldwide
atlention with the peace
Prize that I am accepting
Successful African women selling their products today. The committee,
at a market

202 Chapter 8
r
I

I believe, is seeking to encourage community efforbs to restore the Earth at

a time when we face the ecological crises of deforestation, desertification,
water scarcity, and a lack of biological diversity.
Unless we properly manage resources like forests, water, land,
minerals, and oil, we will not win the flght against pover[y. And there will
not be peace. Old conflicts will rage on and new resolrce wars u'ill erupt
unless we change the path we are on.
To celebrate this award, and the work it recognizes of those around
the world, let me recall the words of Gandhi: My life is my message. Also,
plant a tree.

Sorrrce: "Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech" The New Yorh Times (Wangari Maathai)

No matter how good a person'S Work is or what prize he or she wins, there will al-
ways be people who will say negative things. ln such cases, that person may want
to disprove those negative or false things.

lf you have understood a reading well, you Should be able to find evidence from it
to disprove arguments about it that are false. Disproving false arguments with evi-
dence helps you practice your skills for argurnentation and persuasion.

made the following untrue comments. Find evidence (facts and direct quotations) from
the article to disprove these false arguments.

1. "There is no new problem with the land in central Kenya or any place else. It is
just the same now as it was 30 or 40 years ago. The Earth doesn't change."

2. "Tlees? Who cares about trees? Women like trees because they are beautiful
but they serve no practical use at ali. You can't eat a tree."

3. "The ladywho wrote this speech sounds like a troublemaker. Back in the
1990s, they said in the newspapers that she was put in jail and beaten by the
police, so she must have done bad things."

Breakthroughs 203
 4. "why is this Green Belt Movement pushing for democracy? They are supposed
to be an ecological movement, so they should keep their noses out of politics.
What does politics have to do with ecology?

. Work in groups of three to five students. The

object of the game is to build (and write down) as many new related words as possible
in the time allowed from the list of 20 words given below.

Rules
To be considered new a word must be spelled differently from the word on the
list and be either a different part of speech or have a different meaning. so, if
the list word is the verb celebrate, you can not say thatcelebrates is a new
word, but celebration is a new word because it is a noun. The word cetebrated
could also be considered a new word since it can be used as an adjective. e.g.,
the celebrated author. celebrating can be used as a noun, so that would also be
correct, e.9., Celebrating birthdays is fun!

However, someone on the team musf know what the word means and be able
to use it in a good sentence, if asked to do so. when the teacher calls time, the
team with the most new words wins. tf there is a difference of opinion, the de-
cision of the teacher is final. The winning team should take a bow and get a
round of applause.

corrupt education global protest

democracy encourage improve recognize
develop energy inspired responsible
disappear environment manage scarce
ecology fertile protect wood

.,,. ::,.: : : '.,:., . ir.,: ,t

,,:' ,::..:. Remgmbef thatCompoundwOfdSafeWOfdS
made up of two smaller words. some have a hyphen, but most do not. usually, it
is not hard to guess their meaning if you know what the smaller words mean. An
example of a compound word is rainfall.

204 chapter 8
 for the words and write
- compound words taken from the reading. scan the readinS
them in the chart. The definitions are in the order of the
words' appearance in the
reading.

1. people living in a home

2. dirt on the highest part of the ground :

3. what comes down from the sky l

4.

all across the globe

I ,

QD . student' Try to think

Discuss at least three of the following topics with another
Maathai' After you finish'
about them from the point of view of the speech by wangari
compare your ideas with those of the rest of the class'

l.BreakingtheCycleofPovertyAcgclemeansacompletesetofeventsthat
Maathai mean by "the
occurs over and over again in the same order. what does
to "heal the land" in order
cycle of poverty"? 11;5y-6oes she say that she wants
you know weII who are in a cycle of
to break this? Are theie people in cultures
poverty? ExPlain.
2.PayingforPlantingTheGreenBeltMovementhasplantedS0milliontrees
,.io*rk"nya and the women are paid for each seedling they grow. what do
if they
you think a'bout that? Is it a good idea to pay them? would it be better
from?
did this for free? Where do you think that the money comes
and deserts
3. Deforestation and Desertifrcation why are trees disappearing
places' too? What
growing larger? Is this happening only in Africa or in other
probtems will this cause and what can be done about it?

4. sustainable Management what does this mean? The verb susta'in

means
,,to in existence." Maathai speaks about
maintail, arrppor-t, or keep something
(water, land, minerals'
the sustainable management of natural lesoulces
plants,animals,etc-).Howcouldthisbedone?Whyisitnecessary?
5.Tlr-eEelationshipBetweenDemocracyandSustainableManagement
Maathai refers to "symbiotic" relationship between these two. Symbiosis is a
i
that cart
term from biology that refers to two organisms (plants or animals)
orrlylivetogetherandwi]ldieiftheyareapart.Whywoulddemocracybe
vice versa? Do you
necessary for sustainable management of resources, and
agree with this?

Breakthroughs 205