Listening exercise
BBC: British man attempts to walk around the world
Former Hull man Karl Bushby has spent 14 days walking on shifting plates of ice
in temperatures of -30C, to conquer the Bering Strait
as part of his expedition to walk around the world

Video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/humber/realmedia/news/2006/04/070406_bushby1?size=16x9&bgc=6699CC&nbram=1&bbram=1
Source page:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/humber/content/articles/2006/04/07/bushby_russia_feature.shtml

Vocabulary:
to decide to do s.t.
various reasons
going back a lot of years
partially
dyslexic
throughout
experiences
scarred him somewhat
to prove to oneself
as much as anything else
what he says he can do
to cross
Alaska
to face problems
with authorities
ironically
treacherous
journey
Bering Straits
rightly enough		border guard
Dimitri
infringement
visas
plus
handgun
defense against
polar bears
to be registered
to get in a certain amount of trouble
scraps of food
donations
having only seen him
Canada
kit
stolen
complete
resupply
Channel Tunnel
the next occasion

Listening comprehension questions:
1. What, in Karl's father's view, might have motivated Karl to undertake this ambitious and dangerous project?
2. What is dyslexia?
3. Give two reasons why Karl was detained in Russia.
4. Where is the support for Karl's long journey coming from?
5. When did Karl's father last see Karl, and why did he go to see Karl?
6. a. What do you notice about Karl's father's pronunciation of the vowel [ʌ] in the words "something", "much", "plus", "trouble", and "enough"? b. What part of England is this kind of pronunciation typical of?
7. a. Under what circumstances does Karl's father hope to see Karl next? b. How long is this expected to take? (the answer is in the video linked to below)
8. Is there anything in Karl's story that you can identify with? What? And why?

Another video on this topic:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/humber/realmedia/news/2006/04/070406_bushby2?size=16x9&bgc=6699CC&nbram=1&bbram=1

 

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