Walking The Amazon

Walking The Amazon
Read the text below
When British explorer Ed Stafford announced that he wanted to become the first person to walk
the 4000-mile length of the Amazon from source to sea, most people said that he could not do it. they
said that there was no way any human could survive such a long and dangerous journey. this made
Stafford even more determined to prove them wrong.
In April 2008, Stafford set off with another trekker, who returned home after three months.
Stafford continued and was joined by a Peruvian forester ‘Cho’ who stayed with him until the end.
Stafford had estimated that it would take him a year to complete the journey. However, by the time he
reached the Atlantic Ocean on the other side of the continent, he had been walking continuously for 860
days. Throughout the expedition, he had to carry 40kg on his back, which required a lot of strength. A lot
of this weight was batteries for his satellite video phone and laptop, which he used to write a blog of his
experiences.
Along the way, Stafford faced many dangers and challenges. He and Cho often had to cross
swamps and rivers with only small inflatable rafts. They came across giant poisonous snakes, electric
eels, jaguars, crocodiles, monkeys and many dangerous insects. They were continuously attacked by
mosquitoes and Stafford was stung twice by scorpions during the journey. A fly buried itself into his
head and he also suffered a tropical skin disease. Sometimes they were forced to survive by eating
whatever they could hunt or find. Their diet sometimes consisted of plants, piranha fish, wild cats and
even tortoises.
Some of the dangers they faced were from humans. The map they used were often unreliable
on several occasions they arrived at areas to get supplies and found that logging companies had
completely cleared them away. There were problems with native people too. Several isolated
communities living in the jungle saw Stafford and Cho as a threat and chased them with knives and guns.
On one occasion, they avoided an attack by agreeing to pay the community chief to be their guide.
Many people find it difficult to understand why Stafford wants to put his life in danger. He
explained to no one had achieved anything like it before. There was a good enough reason for doing it.
Moreover, he hoped his expedition would make people more aware of the destruction of rainforest.
Sometimes wanting to be a record breaker and the need for adventure can push people to incredible
achievements. If that can also help a good cause, it makes it even more remarkable.
He shared his entire journey here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q8MqPSd3w8
You can read/watch the full journey at www.walkingtheamazon.com and

https://www.edstafford.org
Exercise 1.
Read the passage again and answer the questions.
1. When Stafford said that he was going to walk the Amazon, people thought that
a. He was strong enough to achieve it
b. He would die of he tried do it
c. He was brave enough to try
d. If he was determined, he would succeed.
Answer: b
2. What is not true about Stafford journey?
a. It took him longer than he expected.

b. A Peruvian was with him for most of his journey
c. The batteries he had to carry weighed 40kg
d. The person he started off with didn’t complete the challenge
Answer: a
3. What was the cause of Stafford’s skin disease?
a. A scorpion
b. A fly
c. His diet
d. It is not clearly mentioned
Answer: b
4. How did a community chief helped Stafford and Cho?
a. He showed them where to go

b. He agreed to stop the attacks if they left
c. He explained to isolated communities that they weren’t a threat
d. He paid the native people so that they wouldn’t harm them
Answer: d
5. What was the man reason that made Stafford go on this expedition?
a. He wanted to be the first to walk the Amazon.

b. He wanted to save the rainforest from destruction
c. People believed he couldn’t do it
d. He needed to prove something to himself
Answer: d
Exercise 2
Find words in the text to complete the table below.
Geographical Features Water Creatures Land Animals Bugs

plants electric eels poisonous snake fly
swamp crocodiles jaguar insects
river piranha fish monkeys
rainforest tortoises scorpians
wild cats
Exercise 3 - Vocabulary
Complete the table with nouns that refer to people. Use the words in the box with a suitable suffix.
Travel Visit Reception Inspect Art Hike Hunt Science Collect Trek Survive Cycle
Explore Instruct Report Hairstyle Compete Biology
-er -or -ist

Traveller Visitor Receptionist
Hiker Inspector Artist
Hunter Collector Sciencetist
Trekker Survivor Cyclist
Explorer Instructor Hairstylist
Reporter Competetor Biologist

Walking The Amazon

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Walking The Amazon

Read the text below

He shared his entire journey here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q8MqPSd3w8

You can read/watch the full journey at www.walkingtheamazon.com and

Read the passage again and answer the questions.

2. What is not true about Stafford journey?

a. It took him longer than he expected.

3. What was the cause of Stafford’s skin disease?

4. How did a community chief helped Stafford and Cho?

a. He showed them where to go

a. He wanted to be the first to walk the Amazon.

Find words in the text to complete the table below.

Geographical Features Water Creatures Land Animals Bugs

-er -or -ist

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