[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-90554-en":3,"doc-seo-90554-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},90554,8796095461610,"Oliver","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c",2,"Literature","Literacy International - Three Great Men in Latin America","The text argues that “greatness” often starts quietly and becomes known only after a person’s work and sacrifice. It profiles Chico Mendes in Brazil and Bartolome de las Casas in Latin America, showing how they confronted injustice affecting forests, workers, and Indigenous people. Their actions—organizing unions, defending the Amazon, challenging colonizers, and urging rulers to protect human dignity—illustrate how moral courage can shape communities and influence future preservation and reform.","Literacy International: Three Great Men in Latin America  \nCopyright © 2015 Literacy International [info@LiteracyInternational.net](info@LiteracyInternational.net)  \nEnglish Spiritual  \nLiteracy International: Three Great Men in Latin America  \nCopyright © 2015 Literacy International [info@LiteracyInternational.net](info@LiteracyInternational.net)  \nEnglish  \nCopyright © 2015, Literacy International  \n[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)  \nYou are free to make commercial use of this work. You may adapt and add to this work, but you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. You must keep the copyright and credits for authors, illustrators, etc.  \nWho is someone great? Someone big or important? Is he someone that we all know about? Does the “news”talk about him? Or is he or she unknown at first, doing a quiet work that helps us all later?  \nEverybody wants good food, comfort, or approval of other people. But great men and women live for more. They live for things beyond themselves. They have goals and they may have tough times. Sometimes their work is never known until after they die.  \nA man in Brazil named Chico Mendes was one of these. He lived in a huge, deep forest in Brazil. It is called the Amazon Forest.  \nWild animals, poisonous snakes and insects made life tough in the forest. Neighbors were often hungry and sick. Very few boys and girls lived past the age of nine. Chico had over 15 brothers and sisters. Only six of these lived to become adults. He had to start working with his father when he was nine years old.  \nHis father was a “serengueiro”(rubber tapper) . A rubber tapper would find certain trees in the forest and cut the sides carefully with knives. He would makeslashes. Juice or “sap” would run out and fall into buckets. Then the sap was made into rubber.  \nFor many years the men sold the rubber for tires and other things. They used it in their businesses and for wars. Then, somehow, the sap from rubber trees became less important in the world. Men made other kinds of rubber. Prices went down in Brazil. People who lived in the forest made less and less money. They became poorer.  \nChico Mendes went to school only until he was about nine. Then a young man taught him how to read and work with numbers. Chico could see that people in the forest were being cheated. They were not paid well.  \nChico gathered some rubber tappers into groups. The groups of people were called unions. They spoke out against the land owners. The land owners became angry. There was little peace.  \nA life goal for Mr. Mendes was to save the forests. He knew that many kinds of plants lived there. The forest was home for his family and friends. They were getting money and food from the forests.  \nThe forests' plants help to make the world’s air fresh. A medicine called quinine grows there. It has saved millions of people from death by malaria.  \nBut ranchers and loggers began to come into the forests. They saw that they could make money there. They cut trees down and brought cattle. Logs and beef were good for making money. Mendes and other union people became angry. Mendes spoke to the American Congress and the World Bank about all this. Various people overseas learned about the Amazon forests.  \nFinally, back in Brazil, a rancher shot Chico Mendes atthe front door of his home. Mendes died at the age of 44, just before Christmas of 1988. There had been no peace in the forests. One writer says that nearly 1,000 people were killed in 25 years. They had wanted to help the rubber tappers.  \nMr. Mendes taught people why forests are important. Some said that he was a “martyr.” A martyr is someone who dies for what he thinks is right.  \nThe Amazon Forest, is one of the biggest forests in the world. The Brazilian government and some businesspeople have had to set some areas aside to preserve large parts of it. In a small way, Chico Mendes and his un","cbCaifox9XTTcjo9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifox9XTTcjo9","pdf",553790,1,17,"English","en",105,"# Literacy International: Three Great Men in Latin America\n## What makes a “great” person\n## Chico Mendes: protecting the Amazon\n## Bartolome de las Casas: challenging colonizers","[{\"question\":\"Why does the text say some great work is recognized only after a person dies?\",\"answer\":\"It contrasts public “news” about famous people with quiet, difficult service. Mendes’ death and later lessons about forest protection show how impact can be revealed later.\"},{\"question\":\"How did Chico Mendes try to change conditions in Brazil’s forests?\",\"answer\":\"He learned to read and understand numbers, saw people were cheated, helped organize rubber tapper unions, and spoke to international leaders about threats to the Amazon.\"},{\"question\":\"What actions did Bartolome de las Casas take against the colonizers’ treatment of Indigenous people?\",\"answer\":\"He traveled to Latin America repeatedly, observed abuses, begged the king to stop violence, and argued before Charles V for fair places and protections for Indigenous people to live and work while keeping their customs.\"}]",1784294256,26,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":27},"literacy-international-three-great-men-in-latin-america","",{"@graph":35,"@context":84},[36,52,67],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,46,49],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":47,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":48},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":50,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literacy-international-three-great-men-in-latin-america/90554/",4,{"url":50,"name":13,"@type":53,"author":54,"headline":13,"publisher":56,"fileFormat":59,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":60,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":59,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":55},"Person",{"url":40,"name":57,"@type":58},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-22","2026-07-17",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"Why does the text say some great work is recognized only after a person dies?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"It contrasts public “news” about famous people with quiet, difficult service. Mendes’ death and later lessons about forest protection show how impact can be revealed later.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"How did Chico Mendes try to change conditions in Brazil’s forests?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"He learned to read and understand numbers, saw people were cheated, helped organize rubber tapper unions, and spoke to international leaders about threats to the Amazon.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"What actions did Bartolome de las Casas take against the colonizers’ treatment of Indigenous people?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"He traveled to Latin America repeatedly, observed abuses, begged the king to stop violence, and argued before Charles V for fair places and protections for Indigenous people to live and work while keeping their customs.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":50,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":57,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":50},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,96,99,103,108,113,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},80,"literature",{"id":51,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":104,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]