The coldest place on earth, oxf tim vicary

THE COLDEST PLACE ON EARTH At the South Pole today there is a building called the Amundsen– Scott Station Inside the building it is warm and people live and work there both in summer and in winter Planes y easily to and from the station, and the rest of the world is only a few hours away But walk ve hundred metres away from the station, and Antarctica is once again the coldest, emptiest place on earth In 1911 there were no planes and no buildings at the South Pole There was nothing Only snow and ice and wind There was no British ag, and no Norwegian ag But across the ice, men were moving slowly south Scott’s men had ponies, and Amundsen’s men had dogs and skis The temperatures were –30° Centigrade and worse The men were tired, hungry, cold … Who was going to be the rst man at the South Pole? Inside the Amundsen–Scott Station today, there are some words written on the wall — words that Captain Scott wrote in his diary in 1912: ‘Great God! This is an awful place.’ OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY True Stories   The Coldest Place on Earth Stage (400 headwords) Series Editor: Jennifer Bassett Founder Editor: Tricia Hedge Activities Editors: Jennifer Bassett and Alison Baxter TIM VICARY   The Coldest Place on Earth OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With o ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam and OXFORD ENGLISH are registered trade marks of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries OXFORD This edition © Oxford University Press 2008 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published in Oxford Bookworms 1992 10 No unauthorized photocopying All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the ELT Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Any websites referred to in this publication are in the public domain and their addresses are provided by Oxford University Press for information only Oxford University Press disclaims any responsibility for the content ISBN 978 19 478903 A complete recording of this Bookworms edition of The Coldest Place on Earth is available on audio CD ISBN 978 19 478838 Typeset by Oxuniprint The publisher would like to thank the following for their permission to reproduce photographs: Alamy Images: page 32 Bridgeman Art Library Ltd: page 20 Corbis: pages 15, 17, 36 Getty Images: pages 3, 7, 10, 14, 18, 19, 23, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35 Mary Evans Picture Library: pages 12, 38 Science Photo Library: page Word count (main text): 5500 words For more information on the Oxford Bookworms Library, visit www.oup.com/bookworms e-Book ISBN 978 19 478723 e-Book rst published 2012 CONTENTS STORY INTRODUCTION Two Ships The Race The Ponies Food Depots A Long Cold Winter A Bad Start Motor Sledges and Mountains Across the Plateau The End of the Race GLOSSARY ACTIVITIES: Before Reading ACTIVITIES: While Reading ACTIVITIES: After Reading ABOUT THE AUTHOR ABOUT THE BOOKWORMS LIBRARY Chapter Two Ships T he race began in the summer of 1910 On June 1st, in London, a black ship, the Terra Nova, went down the river Thames to the sea Thousands of people stood by the river to watch it They were all excited and happy On the Terra Nova, Captain Robert Falcon Scott smiled quietly It was a very important day for him He was a strong man, not very tall, in the blue clothes of a captain He was forty-one years old, but he had a young face, like a boy His eyes were dark and quiet One man on the ship, Titus Oates, smiled at Scott ‘What an exciting day, Captain!’ he said ‘Look at those people! I feel like an important man!’ Scott laughed ‘You are important, Titus,’ he said ‘And you’re going to be famous, too We all are Do you see this ag?’ He looked at the big British ag at the back of the ship, and smiled at Oates ‘That ag is coming with us,’ he said ‘In the Antarctic, I’m going to carry it under my clothes We’re going to be the rst men at the South Pole, and that ag is going to be rst, too!’ * * * * * Five days later, on June 6th, a man opened the door of his wooden house in Norway He was a tall man, with a long face He waited outside the house for a minute Everything was very quiet He could see no houses, only mountains, trees, and water It was nearly dark The sky was black over the mountains The man smiled, and walked quickly away from the house, down to the sea In the water, a big wooden ship waited for him The man got onto the ship, and talked and laughed quietly with his friends The ship’s name was Fram, and the man was Roald Amundsen The Fram was the most beautiful ship on earth, Amundsen thought His friends were the best skiers on earth, too One of them, Olav Bjaaland, smiled at him 16 but they travelled slowly, about ten kilometres a day Here is a conversation between Amundsen and a reporter Write it out in the correct order, and put in the speakers’ names The reporter speaks rst (number 7) _‘Di cult? No, but you must have a lot of ags How many ags did Scott have at his depots?’ _ ‘No There was a depot a few kilometres away, but they didn’t nd it Is it di cult to nd depots, sir?’ _ ‘All right What you want to ask?’ _ ‘Dead? No, I didn’t know What happened?’ _ ‘Poor men Were they far from a depot?’ _ ‘Sixty! So it was easy to nd!’ _ ‘Mr Amundsen! Can I ask you some questions, please?’ _ ‘One? That’s no good You need lots of ags.’ _ ‘His friends found him in his tent, with Wilson and Bowers They died of cold and hunger.’ 10 _ ‘Well, at our second depot we had sixty ags.’ 11 _ ‘One, sir A big ag on top of the depot.’ 12 _ ‘Well, rst, you know that Captain Scott is dead?’ 13 _ ‘Yes, sir Thank you very much, sir.’ 14 _ ‘Very easy We were careful, you see.’ 15 _ ‘How many ags did you have at your depots, sir?’ Here are two pages from Amundsen’s and Scott’s diaries Use these words to ll in the gaps Antarctica, depots, equipment, ag, great, happy, mountains, reach, tent, took, warm, well AMUNDSEN’S DIARY: DECEMBER 14TH, 1911 Today was _ and sunny, and the dogs ran _ We are the rst men to _ the South Pole, and we are all very _ and excited When we stopped, we put up a _ and the Norwegian _ Then Bjaaland _ some photos. _ is a beautiful place; it is like the high _ of Norway We have a lot of food, our _ is good, and there are ten _ between here and Framheim This is a _ day for us, and for Norway! awful, bad, feet, found, journey, letter, Norwegian, skis, snowstorm, temperature, travel, unhappy, weeks SCOTT’S DIARY: JANUARY 17TH, 1912 This was a _ day for us The Norwegians got here rst — ve _ before us We _ their tent, with its _ ag, and a _ for me from Amundsen We are tired and _, cold and hungry The _ is −30°, and there is a _ Great God! This is an _ place! Tomorrow we must begin the _ back Bowers has no _, Evans is ill, and Oates has bad _ We can only _ slowly, and it is a long, long way home ‘I’m going outside I may be some time.’ These last words by Titus Oates are very famous But what did he really mean? Look at these three meanings, and choose the best one ‘I’m going outside, but I’m coming back in an hour or two Please wait for me.’ ‘Go back to Cape Evans You can go faster without me I can’t walk now, and I don’t want you to die, too.’ ‘I’m dying, and I want to die out in the snow, not here in this tent.’ Who are these sentences about — the Norwegians (N) or the British (B)? They were all good at skiing They walked, and pulled the sledges themselves They didn’t use dogs, and their motor sledges broke They put a lot of ags by their depots They were always hungry and tired They skied, and their dogs pulled the sledges They put one ag at their depots They tried to use ponies in the Antarctic Scott and his men lost the race and died, but Amundsen and his men won, and lived Why? Complete the sentences The Norwegians won because _ The British lost because ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tim Vicary is an experienced teacher and writer, and has written several stories for the Oxford Bookworms Library Many of these are in the Thriller & Adventure series, such as White Death (at Stage 1), or in the True Stories series, like The Coldest Place on Earth, which is illustrated by photographs taken on the actual expeditions to the South Pole Another of his titles in the True Stories series is Mutiny on the Bounty (also at Stage 1), which is about Captain Bligh and his voyage to the south seas Tim Vicary has two children, and keeps dogs, cats, and horses He lives and works in York, in the north of England, and has also published two long novels, The Blood upon the Rose and Cat and Mouse OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY Classics • Crime & Mystery • Fact les • Fantasy & Horror Human Interest • Playscripts • Thriller & Adventure True Stories • World Stories The OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY provides enjoyable reading in English, with a wide range of classic and modern ction, nonction, and plays It includes original and adapted texts in seven carefully graded language stages, which take learners from beginner to advanced level An overview is given on the next pages All Stage titles are available as audio recordings, as well as over eighty other titles from Starter to Stage All Starters and many titles at Stages to are specially recommended for younger learners Every Bookworm is illustrated, and Starters and Fact les have full-colour illustrations The OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY also o ers extensive support Each book contains an introduction to the story, notes about the author, a glossary, and activities Additional resources include tests and worksheets, and answers for these and for the activities in the books There is advice on running a class library, using audio recordings, and the many ways of using Oxford Bookworms in reading programmes Resource materials are available on the website The Oxford Bookworms Collection is a series for advanced learners It consists of volumes of short stories by well-known authors, both classic and modern Texts are not abridged or adapted in any way, but carefully selected to be accessible to the advanced student You can nd details and a full list of titles in the Oxford Bookworms Library Catalogue and Oxford English Language Teaching Catalogues, and on the website THE OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY GRADING AND SAMPLE EXTRACTS STARTER • 250 HEADWORDS present simple — present continuous — imperative — can/cannot, must — going to (future) — simple gerunds … Her phone is ringing — but where is it? Sally gets out of bed and looks in her bag No phone She looks under the bed No phone Then she looks behind the door There is her phone Sally picks up her phone and answers it Sally’s Phone STAGE • 400 HEADWORDS … past simple — coordination with and, but, or — subordination with before, after, when, because, so… I knew him in Persia He was a famous builder and I worked with him there For a time I was his friend, but not for long When he came to Paris, I came after him — I wanted to watch him He was a very clever, very dangerous man The Phantom of the Opera STAGE • 700 HEADWORDS … present perfect — will (future) — (don’t) have to, must not, could — comparison of adjectives — simple if clauses — past continuous — tag questions — ask/tell + in nitive … While I was writing these words in my diary, I decided what to I must try to escape I shall try to get down the wall outside The window is high above the ground, but I have to try I shall take some of the gold with me — if I escape, perhaps it will be helpful later Dracula STAGE • 1000 HEADWORDS … should, may — present perfect continuous — used to — past perfect — causative — relative clauses — indirect statements … Of course, it was most important that no one should see Colin, Mary, or Dickon entering the secret garden So Colin gave orders to the gardeners that they must all keep away from that part of the garden in future The Secret Garden STAGE • 1400 HEADWORDS … past perfect continuous — passive (simple forms) — would conditional clauses — indirect questions — relatives with where/when — gerunds after prepositions/phrases … I was glad Now Hyde could not show his face to the world again If he did, every honest man in London would be proud to report him to the police Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde STAGE • 1800 HEADWORDS … future continuous — future perfect — passive (modals, continuous forms) — would have conditional clauses — modals + perfect in nitive … If he had spoken Estella’s name, I would have hit him I was so angry with him, and so depressed about my future, that I could not eat the breakfast Instead I went straight to the old house Great Expectations STAGE • 2500 HEADWORDS   … passive (in nitives, gerunds) — advanced modal meanings — clauses of concession, condition When I stepped up to the piano, I was dent It was as if I knew that the prodigy side of me really did exist And when I started to play, I was so caught up in how lovely I looked that I didn’t worry how I would sound The Joy Luck Club BOOKWORMS • TRUE STORIES • STAGE Mutiny on the Bounty TIM VICARY It is night in the south seas near Tahiti, and the ship HMS Bounty has begun the long voyage home to England But the sailors on the ship are angry men, and they have swords and guns They pull the captain out of bed and take him up on deck He tries to run, but a sailor holds a knife to his neck ‘Do that again, Captain Bligh, and you’re a dead man!’ he says The mutiny on the Bounty happened in April, 1789 This is the true story of Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian, and the ship that never came home to England BOOKWORMS • TRUE STORIES • STAGE Ned Kelly: A True Story CHRISTINE LINDOP When he was a boy, he was poor and hungry When he was a young man, he was still poor and still hungry He learnt how to steal horses, he learnt how to ght, he learnt how to live — outside the law Australia in the 1870s was a hard, wild place Rich people had land, poor people didn’t So the rich got richer, and the poor stayed poor Some say Ned Kelly was a bad man Some say he was a good man but the law was bad This is the true story of Australia’s most famous outlaw ... pulled the Norwegians’ sledges They ran quickly over the snow and pulled the big sledges from the ship onto the ice The men ran beside them on skis They put a big wooden house on the ice The house... best No one found Oates’s body But he is there, somewhere, under the snow and the wind, in the coldest, emptiest place on earth GLOSSARY alone if you are alone, you are the only person there awful... boy They’re very strong ponies, you know The best ponies on earth.’ Later that night, Oates wrote a letter to his mother There are nineteen ponies on the Terra Nova now, he wrote All the ponies