11th Grade Reading Comprehension (2 passages, free)

Her father drew maps of places he had never seen. Sailors brought him sketches and stories, and from these he built coastlines line by careful line, filling the empty spaces with rumor when facts ran out.

Lucía learned the trade at his elbow. She learned to mix ink, to measure angles, and, more quietly, to notice when a sailor’s story changed from one telling to the next.

When her father fell ill, a merchant commissioned a chart of the southern coast. Lucía finished it alone. Where her father would have drawn a confident harbor from a single rumor, she left the space blank and wrote in small letters: “Not yet known.”

The merchant was furious; blank space did not sell. But three years later, the only ships that returned safely from the southern voyage were the ones that had carried her map.

Cities are often several degrees warmer than surrounding countryside, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. Dark asphalt and rooftops absorb sunlight during the day and release heat slowly at night, while buildings block cooling breezes.

The consequences are significant. Higher temperatures increase energy demand for air conditioning, worsen air quality and pose serious health risks during heat waves, particularly for older adults and people without access to cooling.

Cities are responding with a range of strategies. Planting trees provides shade and cools the air through evaporation. Reflective “cool roofs” bounce sunlight back into the sky, and lighter-colored pavements absorb less heat.

Researchers caution that solutions must be distributed fairly. Lower-income neighborhoods often have fewer trees and more pavement, so the benefits of cooling projects should reach the communities most at risk.