Amazing Adventurers Reading Comprehension 1
Amazing Adventurers Reading Comprehension 1
Amazing Adventurers Reading Comprehension 1
Amazing adventurers
Have you ever dreamt of climbing Mount Everest or visiting Antarctica? If so, you’re not alone. Every
year, thousands of people try to climb the world’s highest mountains or walk across continents. In
the past, explorers had compasses and maps, but today’s adventurers have satellite phones and
GPS. They also use their travels to let the world know about climate change and help people in the
countries they visit. Let’s take a look at some of the 21st century’s greatest adventurers.
Amazon adventurer
Ed Stafford from the UK is the first person to walk the length of the Amazon River. He started by a
small stream in the Andes mountains of Peru and arrived at the river’s mouth in Brazil, two years
and four months later. Snakes, crocodiles and jaguars live in the Amazon rainforest, so it’s a
dangerous place. Luckily, Ed avoided the big animals, but he was bitten by ants and mosquitoes
every day. On his trip, Ed had to find food each morning. Sometimes the fruit, nuts and fish he ate
were hard to find and Ed often felt weak and hungry.
Technology was essential for Ed. He used a radio to ask local people for food and permission to
enter their land. Many of them came to meet him and guide him through the dense rainforest. As he
walked, Ed wrote a blog about his daily experiences.
Ed used his walk to let the world know about climate change and raise money for environmental
charities in Brazil and Peru.
A mountain climber
Four thousand climbers, aged between 13 and 80, have been to the top of Everest. Climbing high
mountains requires a lot of preparation and is very dangerous, but some of the world’s best climbers
are now looking for new challenges.
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria fell in love with climbing as a teenager. When she left school,
she worked as a nurse and climbed in her free time. Starting with Everest, she has been climbing all
the world’s fourteen peaks over 8,000 metres. To increase the challenge, Gerlinde climbs without
using oxygen tanks. Low oxygen levels can make climbers ill, so Gerlinde has to climb slowly.
Gerlinde is passionate about Nepal and raises money for a charity for poor children and orphans
there.
Erik Weihenmayer from the United States is another unstoppable adventurer. He’s climbed
mountains, ridden a bike through the deserts of Morocco and kayaked through the Grand Canyon.
Reading Comprehension 1
Amazingly, Erik has been blind since the age of 13. Apart from his travels, he helps people with
disabilities to live active lives and takes groups of young blind people on climbing expeditions.
Where Next?
Despite new technologies, adventurers still have to live with terrible weather, lack of food and wild
animals. Preparation and training are essential, but if you have a sense of adventure, there are
continents to cross and hundreds of mountains to climb.
Vocabulary