2.2
EXPLORERS
20
READING
1
Work with a partner to discuss the following.
1
Make a list of six words you associate with deserts.
Compare your list with another pair.
2
What might attract people to life in a desert?
3
THE EMPTY QUARTER
2
Thesiger fell in love with the desert. He enjoyed the
‘sense of space, the silence, and the crisp clearness of
the sand’. It was a place where he found peace and
friendship. He also learned to love the Bedu, and they
learned to respect him. He shot lions to protect his
companions, and he became a competent amateur
doctor. He chose the ‘Empty Quarter’ for
his journeys because it was ‘one of the very few places
where I could satisfy an urge to go where others had
not been’.
2
a
Read the article about the explorer Wilfred
Thesiger. What attracted him to life in a desert?
2
b
Underline the parts of the article which tell you:
1
that Thesiger was well-known in the 20th century.
2
that his books were popular.
3
that it was difficult to travel in the ‘Empty Quarter’.
4
who the Bedu were.
5
what kind of relationship Thesiger had with the Bedu.
3
Read an extract from a travel story below. Are these
statements true or false?
1
The camels began to rest at sunset.
2
The writer was happy because he thought the
difficult journey was over.
3
The most difficult journey was the one for the next day.
4
When the travellers stopped the first time, they were
near the Uruq al Shaiba.
5
The Uruq al Shaiba are bigger and higher than the
greatest mountains.
1
In the afternoon we had to rest the camels, so we
stopped for a few hours and rested on a gentle
slope that led down to another salt-flat. Nothing
was growing on it and no salt-bushes bordered
the plain below us. Our guide announced that we
would move on again when the sun went down.
I was feeling cheerful and while we were eating I
said to him, ‘Anyway, at least the worst is behind
us now that we’ve crossed the Uruq al Shaiba.’ He
looked thoughtful for a moment and then slowly
replied, ‘If our journey goes well tonight, we will get
there tomorrow.’ I asked him what he was talking
about and he replied, ‘The Uruq al Shaiba. Did you
think that dune we crossed today was the Uruq al
Shaiba? That was nothing.’ At first I thought he was
joking until I noticed that he was very serious. I had
thought that the worst of the journey was behind us,
but it still lay ahead.
2
At midnight our guide finally found a good place
to rest and told us to get some sleep. The Uruq
al Shaiba were not far away now, and in my
dreams they rose above us higher than the greatest
mountains.
4
Find words in the texts that mean the following.
1
said good things about something (article, para 1)
2
extremely large (article, para 1)
3
looking very aggressive or violent (article, para 1)
4
have a good opinion of (article, para 2)
5
a strong wish (article, para 2)
6
formed the edge of (extract, para 1)
7
a hill of sand (extract, para 1)
5
Reacting to the topic
In groups, discuss the following.
1
Are you interested in travel writing?
2
Have you ever read a travel book about a) your own
country and b) a country you would like to visit?
3
Is it more interesting to read about ‘exotic’ places
and people or ordinary places and people?
explore
Wilfred Thesiger
Explorer of the ‘Empty Quarter’
1
Wilfred Thesiger was one of the greatest explorers and
travel writers of the 20th century. He died in 2003.
His books, which describe his journeys in Africa, Asia
and the Middle East, have won many literary prizes.
His best known book is
Arabian Sands
, which is about
two journeys through Arabia. People have praised his
description in the book of the ‘Empty Quarter’, a vast,
waterless desert stretching between Saudi Arabia,
Yemen and Oman. He spent five years travelling in the
‘Empty Quarter’, often accompanied by the Bedu, the
fierce tribespeople living in the area.
