Reading 1

1 Burke and Wills:
Across Australia
Australia is a huge country, and the outback (the
Australian word for the interior of the country) is inside; away from
the coast
desert. In some years, it rains only eight centimeters in
the outback, but in other years, rainstorms tum the tum into = change
5 desert into sandy swamps. (something);
become
Until the eighteenth century, only aborigines lived
in Australia. These are the first people who lived in
Australia. When Europeans went there to live, they
built towns on the coast. However, in the 1850s, people
1 o began thinking more about the interior.
In 1860, Robert O'Hara Burke, a police officer from
Ireland, was chosen to lead an expedition across the past participle
of choose
continent from south to north. He took with him
William John Wills and eleven other men, camels,
15 horses, and enough supplies for a year and a half. food and other
necessary things
They left Melbourne for the Gulf of Carpentaria on
August 20, winter in the southern hemisphere. half of the Earth or
any other sphere
The expedition had problems from the beginning.
Burke had no experience in the outback. The men fought
20 and would not follow orders. Twice they left some of commands;
directions
their supplies so that they could move faster and later
sent one of the men, William Wright, back for them.
Finally, a small group led by Burke moved on ahead at last
of the others to a river named Cooper's Creek and set up
25 their base camp. They were halfway across the continent,
but it was summer now, with very hot weather and
sandstorms.
They waited a month for Wright, and then Burke
decided that four from his small group, with three
30 months' supplies, should travel the 1,250 kilometers to
the north coast as quickly as possible. They told the
others to wait for them at Cooper's Creek.
The journey across the desert was very difficult, but
at the end of January, they reached the Flinders River
3
Lesson l: Burke and Wills: Acre
35 near the Gulf of Carpentaria. They started their return
journey, but now it was the rainy season and traveling
was slow and even more difficult than on their trip
north. They did not have enough food, and the men
became hungry and sick. Then one of them died. Some
40 of the camels died or were killed for food.
Finally, on April 21, they arrived back at Cooper's
Creek, only to find that no one was there. The rest of the
expedition had left the day before because they thought
Burke must be dead.
45 The men continued south, but without enough food,
both Burke and Wills died. Aborigines helped the last
man who was still alive, and a search party found him a group of people
who look for
in September 1861. He was half crazy from hunger and someone who is lost
loneliness.
so There were many reasons that the expedition did not
go as planned. It had an inexperienced leader, the men
made bad decisions, some did not follow orders, and
they did not get along. But it was the first expedition to be friendly;
not fight
cross Australia, and Burke and Wills are still known as
ss heroes of exploration.
4
Unit 1: Explorers
Vocabulary
In this book, difficult words are repeated several times in the exercises. These
words are also repeated and reviewed in other lessons. It is not necessary to
list new English words with their meanings in your own language. You will
learn them just by practicing. In each lesson, when you read the text the first
time, underline the words you don't know. Then you can give yourself a
test when you finish the lesson. Look at the words you underlined and see if
you understand them. If you don't know them yet, this is the time to
memorize them.
In the Vocabulary exercises in this book, write the correct word in each blank. Use a
word only once. Use capital letters where they are necessary.
exploration built hemisphere halfway
finally orders expedition loneliness
aborigines gets along base heroes
l. The captain of a ship gives -------, and the sailors must
follow them.
2. In baseball, a player hits the ball and runs to first _______
3. The first Australians are called _______
4. Most of the Earth has been explored. Now we are in the age of space
-------, searching for more information about the stars, the
moon, and other planets besides Earth.
5. Kumiko well with everyone. She is always nice and
never fights with people.
6. We our new home from the wood and stone on
our land.
7. _______ is a common feeling when you are far from your
friends and family.
8. Asia is in the northern _______
9. The writer Jane Austen said," doings never
prosper." I think she meant that it's important to complete things.
10. People who win in the Olympic Games are _______ m
their countries.
5
Lesson 1: Burke and Wills: Across Australia
b Vocabulary
Do this exercise the same way you did Exercise a.
chosen expedition party explored
build interior got along finally
searching supplies swamps turned into
1. Burke and Wills led an into the interior of Australia.
2. The explorer Christopher Columbus was for a new
way to go to India.
3. Burke and Wills _______ the interior of Australia.
4. Birds like to live in _______ because there is a lot of water
and food.
5. We use one kind of paint for the _______ of a house and
another kind for the exterior.
6. After three days of driving, I arrived at the coast.
7. A search was sent to find the Burke and
Wills expedition.
8. The president of the United States is _______ by the people
who vote.
9. The secretary ordered paper, pens, and other _______ for
the office.
10. Carlos started to study hard, and he eventually _______ a
good student.
6
Unit 1: Explorers

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1 Burke and Wills:

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