Unit1 our earth
Audio Track 4-1-2/Audio Track 4-1-3
Blake: What are you working on, Mary?
Mary: I鈥檓 finishing my paper. It鈥檚 due tomorrow, Blake.
Blake: What鈥檚 the topic?
Mary: It鈥檚 about Greenland.
Blake: Greenland. Hmmm 鈥?nbsp;that鈥檚 part of Canada, right?
Mary: I think you need to study your world geography, Blake.
Blake: Well, isn鈥檛 it near Canada?
Mary: Yes, it鈥檚 off the coast of northeast Canada, but it鈥檚 part of Denmark.
Blake: Oh, I didn鈥檛 know that. Well, what鈥檚 your paper about exactly?
Mary: In my p
aper, I answer the question 鈥淚s Greenland really green?鈥?nbsp;In other words,
is Greenland covered by a lot of plants and trees?
Blake: Is it?
Mary: What do you think?
Blake: Let鈥檚 see 鈥?nbsp;Greenland is in the Arctic Circle 鈥?/p>
way up north. It鈥檚 cold, 鈥?nbsp;so
鈥淚s Greenland really green?鈥?nbsp;I鈥檇 answer 鈥減robably not.鈥?/p>
Mary: You鈥檇 be correct. It鈥檚 too cold there. In the north, a lot of the ground is frozen.
The summers are short, so only the surface thaws.
Blake: That sounds tough.
Mary: It鈥檚 hard for the construction industry. It鈥檚 not easy to build in Greenland.
Blake: It sounds so harsh. Why would anyone want to go there?
Mary: There are big mountain ranges on the coasts. They鈥檙e great for hiking and
outdoor sports. And there are lots of animals there. You can sometimes see whales
swimming in the harbors.
Blake: That sounds cool! OK, so if it鈥檚 not really a 鈥済reen鈥?nbsp;place, why was it named
鈥淕reenland鈥?
Mary: The first settlers wanted to attract other people. They gave it an attractive name.
Audio Track 4-1-4/Audio Track 4-1-5
Jay: Come in here, Elise. You should see this show!
Elise: What is it?
Jay: It鈥檚 called 鈥淭he Titanic of the Sky.鈥?nbsp;It鈥檚 about the Hindenburg, a great
engineering feat.
Elise: The Hindenburg 鈥?/p>
Jay: You know, that giant zeppelin that crashed in 1934. Thirty-five people died.
Elise: Oh yeah, I remember now. It was flying from Germany to the United States. It
crashed as it was landing.
Jay: Right. It鈥檚 so funny looking, don鈥檛 you think? It doesn鈥檛 look anything like the
airplanes we have today.
Elise: Th
at鈥檚 true. Why would people ride in a zeppelin anyway? It seems so
dangerous.
Jay: Well, some people called the Hindenburg 鈥渕an鈥檚 greatest achievement in flight.鈥?nbsp;
They thought it was safe, I guess.
Elise: Who rode in it anyway?
Jay: Mostly wealthy people. It accommodated between 30 and 40 passengers and
crew. One person said it was like a 鈥渇lying hotel.鈥?/p>
Elise: It sounds pretty great.