2.2C – Read the Text #3: Practicing Fluency
Read the module text again with a partner or in a small group.
Take notes:
- Do you still have questions about words or ideas in the module text?
- Ask your classmates or teacher–make sure to cite the paragraph numbers where you have questions (and where you find the answers)!
READING TEXT
Module 2: Immigration and Global Human Movement
PARAGRAPH 1
When immigrants first came to the Americas, Native Americans had already been living there for thousands of years. People came to the Americas for different reasons. Europeans began traveling in ships across the Atlantic Ocean more than 500 years ago. They moved to the Americas for religious freedom and to earn money. In the 1800s and early 1900s, large groups of Europeans arrived in the United States to find work on farms and in growing cities.
PARAGRAPH 2
Poor white immigrants wanted to come to the United States (U.S.) for freedom and opportunity. But Africans were forced to come to the Americas as enslaved people starting in 1619. They worked very hard without pay or freedom. Immigrants from China and many other countries helped to build railroads and cities in the U.S. Because of the hard work of people from all over the world, the U.S. became a rich and powerful country.
PARAGRAPH 3
At any time, about 10% of the U.S. population are people born in other countries. Immigrant groups often live with discrimination and strong opposition. For example, in the 1800s and early 1900s, some people incorrectly thought that Chinese, Italian, or Irish immigrants were not smart or hard-working people and wanted to keep them away. However, these immigrants helped build the United States and today, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren continue to be productive in the U.S. The U.S. is home to a mix of many peoples, languages, and cultures. This country welcomes new immigrants because they bring new ideas and contribute to the country’s culture and economy.
PARAGRAPH 4
It can be very painful to leave your home country and try to learn a new culture. Immigrants usually find other people to make a community in the U.S.; they can look for places to eat foods from home, practice their religion, speak their languages, or enjoy their culture. They might also build new communities at work, at school, or in their neighborhoods. With the help of these new communities, immigrants do something amazing: they learn about the culture and systems of their new home. They also find ways to combine this new culture and their culture of origin.
PARAGRAPH 5
Immigration is at the center of U.S. history. Immigrants make the culture, economy, and future of the U.S. strong, successful, and hopeful.
Let’s review some words we studied in this module.
Dictation: What do you hear?
When someone is speaking to you, it’s very important that you understand what they are saying. For practice, listen to the following sentence from the reading and write what you exactly hear on a piece of paper. You can listen to it as many times as you want. Then, type the sentence into the space below and check and see if it is correct.
