Scribd
Upload
98 views

Explorers: Which Pole Did They Race To? When Did They Go? Who Reached The Pole First?

Roald Amundsen and Captain Scott raced to be the first to reach the South Pole in 1910-1911. Amundsen reached the Pole on December 14th 1911 using sled dogs and skis, while Scott arrived on January 17th 1912 after his motor sledges and ponies failed. On their return journey, Scott and his four companions faced terrible conditions and all died just 11 miles from their next food depot. Despite ultimately failing, Scott and his men became heroes for their remarkable courage and spirit in the face of such difficult circumstances.

Uploaded by

Eva
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
98 views

Explorers: Which Pole Did They Race To? When Did They Go? Who Reached The Pole First?

Roald Amundsen and Captain Scott raced to be the first to reach the South Pole in 1910-1911. Amundsen reached the Pole on December 14th 1911 using sled dogs and skis, while Scott arrived on January 17th 1912 after his motor sledges and ponies failed. On their return journey, Scott and his four companions faced terrible conditions and all died just 11 miles from their next food depot. Despite ultimately failing, Scott and his men became heroes for their remarkable courage and spirit in the face of such difficult circumstances.

Uploaded by

Eva
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

EXPLORERS

(Opportunities Intermediate Unit 1)

Look at the title and photos and guess the answers to these questions.
Which Pole did they race to? When did they go? Who reached the pole first?

Roald Amundsen THE RACE TO THE POLE

On 1 June, 1910, Captain Scott left London to begin


his Antarctic expedition. On his way, he received a
telegram from the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen:
‘I’m going South.’ So the race to the South Pole was
on!

During the polar summer of 1910-11, both teams


organised food depots in preparation for their
expeditions the following year. Then came the total
darkness of the polar winter. Scott and Amundsen
waited impatiently for the first signs of spring.
Amundsen was the first to leave, on 15 October, 1911.
He has teams of dogs pulling the sledges and all his
men were on skis. Because of this, he made rapid
progress. Scott left on 1 November and soon had problems. First, his two motor sledges
broke down, and then the ponies began to have serious difficulties with the snow and the
cold. After a while, Scott and his men had to push the sledges themselves.

Amundsen reached the Pole on 14 December and put a Norwegian flag there. Then he prepared
for the return journey. Scot finally arrived at the Pole with four companions on 17
January. They were devastated when they saw the
Norwegian flag. Scott wrote bitterly in his diary: Captain Scott

Well, we have now lost the goal of our ambition and


must face 800 miles of hard pushing – and goodbye to
most of our dreams.

The return journey was one of the worst in the


history of exploration. The men were soon exhausted
and were running out of food. The weather conditions
were terrible. Scott started to realise their
desperate situation:

‘Amongst ourselves we are very cheerful, but what


each man feels in his heart I can only guess.
Putting on our shoes in the morning is getting
slower and slower.’

Despite this, on their way back they found time to look for rocks and fossils. They carried
20 kilos of rocks all the way with them. Later, these rocks proved that at one time in the
distant past Antarctica was covered by plants.

However, disaster soon struck. Edgar Evans had terrible frostbite and died after a bad
fall. The next to go was Captain Oates, who was having great difficulty walking. Scott
recorded his death:

‘Oates reaches the Pole, but with little to celebrate. He said, ‘I am just going outside
and I may be some time.’ We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we
tried to stop him, we knew that it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman. We
all hope to meet the end with a similar spirit, and certainly the end is not far.’

Scott and two companions carried on and got within eleven miles of one of their food
depots. But then a terrible storm started and they could not leave their tent. Scott spent
some of his last hours writing. He wrote a letter full of sadness to his wife Kathleen:
‘To my widow, I could tell you lots and lots about this journey. What stories you would
have for the boy… But what a price to play.’

Scott’s final diary entry told the story of their end:

‘The depot is only 11 miles away, but I do not think we can hope for any better things now.
We are getting weaker and weaker and the end can’t be far. It seems a pity, but I do not
think I can write more.’

The news of Scott’s death shocked the world. He had failed to win the race to the Pole, but
the remarkable courage shown by Captain Scott and his men made them into heroes.
Are these statements true or false?
1. Scott and Amundsen started their journeys in the polar spring. _______
2. Scott’s use of motor sledges and ponies was a success. _______
3. Amundsen travelled more quickly than Scott. _______
4. When they got to the Pole, Scott’s expedition had a celebration. _______
5. Captain Oates went for a walk and got lost in a snow storm. _______
6. Scott’s last letter was to his wife. _______

Match:
1. expedition a. shocked and sad
2. depots b. angrily and unhappily
3. spirit c. a journey organised for a special purpose
4. devastated d. difficult and dangerous
5. bitterly e. a place where things are stored
6. ambition f. in a good mood
7. desperate g. something you want to achieve
8. cheerful h. courage and strength
9. frostbite i. extraordinary
10. remarkable j. frozen fingers and toes

Answer the questions:


Why did Amundsen succeed and Scott fail?
What did Scott’s expedition achieve?
Why did Scott and his men become heroes?
How did you feel when you read the story?
Is it important to you to win?
Do you think history remembers only the winners?

Complete the sentences. Make nouns from the adjectives in brackets.


1. They weren’t prepared for the __________________________ (dark) of the polar winter.
2. They didn’t achieve their __________________________ (ambitious).
3. The journey was a __________________________ (disastrous).
4. They suffered from __________________________ (exhausted).
5. They knew __________________________ (dead) was near.
6. They are remembered for their __________________________ (brave) in the face of great
__________________________ (difficult).
Put the verbs into the present simple, present continuous or present perfect.
I 1)___________________________(work) as a botanist since my graduation. I
2)___________________________(teach) students at the university but I also
3)___________________________(spend) a lot of, time travelling. I 4)___________________________(have)
some professional success – I just 5)___________________________(discover) an unknown orchid in
Indonesia. At present I 6)___________________________(study) a rare Asian plant which Chinese medicine
7)___________________________(use) to cure rheumatism. I 8)___________________________(collect)
leaves and flowers to examine their properties. I 9)___________________________(examine) more than ten
plants so far. I 10)___________________________(believe) my job is very interesting and useful.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy