8541RB Reading for Me Level 4 Part A

Persuasive
Spiders Deserve Better
Spiders are notorious for being
scary and creepy. Many people are
scared of them. Maybe it’s the eight
legs. Maybe it’s the idea that they
can climb walls. Maybe it’s because
you’ve heard that in your lifetime,
you will swallow eight spiders while
you are sleeping.
Good news! The swallowing spiders
in your sleep bit, has been proven
to be untrue. Rumour has it that a
columnist, Linda Holst, supposedly
wrote fake facts for PC Magazine
in 1993, to show how easily people
believe what they read. I’d say
that her experiment worked quite
well. Scientists have unanimously
debunked the myth. It is highly
unlikely that you will swallow even
one spider in your sleep.
Spiders have been treated
unfairly for many years. They are
very important to nature. The
unnecessary killing of spiders is
harming the environment.
One reason why spiders should be
welcome in your home is that they
eat pests. They catch cockroaches,
fleas, mosquitoes, flies and moths in
their webs. Mosquito-borne viruses
kill more humans than any other
animal.
Spiders are very good mothers. They
usually carry their sack of eggs on
their back until the spiderlings are
ready to hatch. The spider then ties
the sack underneath a leaf. When
the spiderlings hatch, the mother
stands guard until her babies are
ready to leave. Sometimes this
takes up to a week.
Most spiders have venom. Only
a few species are dangerous to
humans. Black Widow venom is being
researched for cancer treatment. It
is also used in the development of
painkillers.
Spiders are found everywhere in
the world, except Antarctica. They
are crucial to keeping the number
of insects under control. If spiders
were to vanish from the planet, the
insect population might spiral out of
control.
Remember to always be cautious
around spiders. Leave them alone.
Spiders are good for you, as well
as the environment. They definitely
don’t deserve their bad reputation.
Spiders won’t attack humans. They
will only defend themselves if they
feel threatened. There is not one
species of spider that feeds on
humans. They are not aggressive and
just want to be left alone.
58 Reading for Me Level 4 (Part A) 978-1-922843-63-0 R.I.C. Publications ® Prim-Ed Publishing