Section 2 - Reading Comprehension:

" In Crete, a relatively new tool - the mechanical harvester - is used to harvest olives. Huge nets or pieces of synthetic fabric are placed under the trees to collect the olives as they drop. Women and children do this, while men operate the harvesters. The mechanical harvesters consist of a portable generator and a T-shaped rod with elastic sticks attached to it. The rod is 2 to 3 meters long and it is connected to the generator with a 15-meter-long cable. The head of the rod rotates fast, and the elastic sticks hit the olives and throw them on the nets. When almost all the olives have been harvested from a tree, they are put into sacks and the nets placed under the next tree.

Twenty years ago, no mechanical harvesters existed in Crete, and the traditional way of harvesting olives was with long wooden sticks that the farmers used to hit the olives. Another form of olive harvesting is with small plastic “combs” that comb the olives off the branches. This is used only when the trees are very young and short. "