2.4 The Race to the Pole

It was October 1911 and in Antarctic Captain Robert Scott and eleven companions were setting off to the South Pole. Nobody had ever reached the Pole before. In front of them lay 1400 kilometres of snow and ice.

However, Scott had a rival - the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen. Amundsen had originally planned an expedition to the North Pole, but he changed his plans and sailed south to the Antarctic.

The two expeditions were very different. Scott had chosen horses to pull his group's sledges. He also had a few motor sledges. Food and fuel for the expedition had already been placed along the first part of the route. Amundsen, however, set off with only four companions and 52 dogs to pull their sledges. They didn't take a lot of food with them. When the men and the dogs needed food, they killed one of the dogs and ate it.

Scott's expedition started badly. The motor sledges broke down and the horses couldn't survive in the cold weather. Scott sent most of the team back to the base. Then he and four companions walked the rest of the journey pulling their own sledge.

Amundsen reached the Pole first and when Scott's group finally arrived, they found a Norwegian flag there. Bitterly disappointed, they started the journey back to the base, but they never reached it. Just 18 kilometres from the base they were trapped in their tent by a terrible snowstorm and died there.

As for Amundsen, he returned home as a hero. Then in 1928 he learnt that his friend, Nobile, an Italian explorer had disappeared in the Arctic. Amundsen set off by plane to look for him. Nobile was later found alive, but Amundsen was never seen again. (1366)

Задание 1 Ответьте на вопросы:

2. How far did Scott travel?

3. Why didn't Amundsen's team put food and fuel on the route?

4. Why did Scott change his plans?

5. How did the second group know that they had been beaten?

6. How did Scott and Amundsen die?

Задание 2 Отметьте, какое утверждение относится к какому исследователю:

1. He travelled much faster, because he decided to use dogs. - Amundsen

2. Not many of the dogs came back, because the men ate them.

3. His men pulled their own sledge, because he sent the rest of the party back to base. – Scott

4. When he learned that his friend disappeared, he tried to find him.

5. He had been to the Antarctic twice before 1911.

6. When he and his companions reached the Pole they travelled 1400 kilometres. He was the first to reach the Pole.

2.5 Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was the greatest writer in the English language. He was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older than himself. A few years later he moved to London, where he worked as an actor and a playwright.

Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets (a kind of poem). His most famous plays are the four great tragedies - Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear. He also wrote several historical plays. Eight of these plays were about English kings, including Richard II, Henry V and Richard III. Others dealt with Roman history and included Julius Caesar and Anthony and Cleopatra. But not all of Shakespeare's plays were serious. He also wrote comedies, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night.

Shakespeare died in Stradford on 23 April 1616, but his plays are still very popular today. They have been translated into several different languages and many of them have been made into films, both in English and other languages.

Shakespeare's plays are about the greatest issues of life - love, hatred, jealousy, ambition, death and so on. So, his plays are just as relevant today as they were in 16^th century. To show this, modern directors sometimes stage his plays in a modern way, and one of Shakespeare's plays has even been turned into a modern musical. His romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet, was the basis for the musical West Side Story. (1215)

Задание 1 Поставьте пункты плана в правильном порядке:

1.Popularity of Shakespeare’s plays.

2.Shakespeare’s early life.

3.Shakespeare’s most famous plays.

4.Acute topics of Shakespeare’s plays. – 4

Задание 2 К какому абзацу можно добавить следующие утверждения:

1.Young generation likes the modern version of Romeo and Juliet.-4

2.Shakespeare was born on the 23d of April.

3.The Russian actor Smoktunovsky played Hamlet, the prince of Denmark.

4.Shakespeare died at the age of 52.

5.Tourists visit the house where Shakespeare was born.