Roald Amundsen: He Trained in the Cold… Then Reached the South Pole First
Level A1 (Beginner) · Watch the video and do the online quiz at https://brightlivesenglish.com/lessons/roald-amundsen-south-pole/
A Match the words to their meanings
- dog (noun)
- snow (noun)
- cold (adjective)
- ice (noun)
- tent (noun)
- ski (verb)
- explorer (noun)
- south (noun)
- soft white ice that falls from the sky
- a person who travels to places that people don't know well
- not hot; very low in temperature
- an animal; some dogs can pull a sledge
- frozen water
- the direction to your right when you look at the sunrise
- a small house made of cloth
- to move over snow on two long, thin boards
B Complete the sentences from the story
explorer · dogs · ski · snow · tent · ice · cold · south
- They went , to the Pole.
- They had 52 .
- They left a small at the South Pole.
- They went over and mountains.
- There was everywhere.
- He loved to .
- He wanted to be an .
- It was very, very .
C Did you understand?
- Amundsen went to the South Pole alone.True / False
- How many dogs did they have?
- 5
- 14
- 52
- 99
- What did they leave at the South Pole?
- A dog
- A small tent
- A ship
- A sledge
- They were the first at the South Pole.True / False
D Put the words in order
- snow / the / in / had / to / ski / They
E Grammar: had to + verb
We use it for to say that something was necessary in the past. They had to ski in the snow. · They had to be strong.
Example from the story: They had to ski in the snow.
- They had ski in the snow. (to / for / at)
- It was cold, so they had to fur clothes. (wear / wearing / wore)
- Yesterday I to walk to school. (had / have / has)
F Your turn
Retell Roald Amundsen's story in 5–6 sentences. Use at least three words from exercise A.
Transcript
People say a boy in Norway slept with his window open in winter.
This is the story of Roald Amundsen.
Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.
Dog. A dog is an animal.
Dogs can pull sledges.
They had 52 dogs.
Snow. Snow falls from the sky.
There was snow everywhere.
Cold. Cold is the opposite of hot.
It was very, very cold.
Ice. Ice is frozen water.
They went over ice and mountains.
Tent. A tent is a small house made of cloth.
They left a small tent at the South Pole.
Now, one pattern: had to, plus a verb.
They had to ski in the snow.
Ready? Let's begin.
Roald Amundsen was born in Norway in 1872.
He loved to ski.
He wanted to be strong in the cold.
In 1911, he went to the South Pole with four other men.
They had 52 dogs.
A team from Britain wanted to be first.
Who would be first?
There was snow everywhere.
It was very, very cold.
They had to ski in the snow.
They went over ice and mountains.
On 14 December 1911, they stopped.
They were at the South Pole!
They were the first.
They left a small tent at the South Pole.
The whole trip took 99 days.
Let's review. They had 52 dogs.
There was snow everywhere.
It was very, very cold.
They went over ice and mountains.
They left a small tent at the South Pole.
And remember: they had to ski in the snow.
Roald Amundsen's story teaches us: good plans help dreams come true.
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Answer key
A. 1d 2a 3c 4e 5g 6h 7b 8f
B. 1 south · 2 dogs · 3 tent · 4 ice · 5 snow · 6 ski · 7 explorer · 8 cold
C. 1 False · 2 c · 3 b · 4 True
D. 1 They had to ski in the snow.
E. 1 to · 2 wear · 3 had