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Views #1306 | Intermediate (B2)

Surving the Wild

Mark talks about going into the wilderness and living alone and without modern comforts.

Sorie: OK, so Mark, you were telling us that you were in the wilderness for three days with no food. Can you tell us how you felt, what your emotions were?

Mark: The first day was really interesting. We set off in the morning to find our spot, and we'd been out into the space the previous day to kind of locate a suitable spot, and to make sure we were in a space where there was no other people cause there was eleven people doing the quest, so we didn't want them … we wanted to make sure we didn't bump into these people when we were on this quest so anyway, I chose my spot and we had the previous day taken our supply of water to last three days. That was the only thing we had, and I walked out from the communal camp, and I left the forest, and it was kind of like big open space, quite mountainous and I saw my spot where I'd chosen and I thought, no I don't want to be there anymore. I don't want to stay there for three days, and I kind of felt myself pulled to a different place.

Sorie: And what was this place like?

Mark: It was kind of on a slope, but I started walking up this slope, quite a steep bank, towards these set of trees, and when I got there, I found like a flat, flattish space, and I thought "Hmm, maybe I can put my tent here" and I decided I wanted to stay but it wasn't quite flat enough and it was pretty small in the flat space on the side of this mountainous slope so … I don't know what I got. I got some stick or some stones … NO, I had a little trawl cause I and taken a trawl which you take so you can use the toilet, kind of ecologically. So I used my trawl and made it flatter and then I put my tent up on that little flat spot and it was east facing, but it was like across the valley so it was going to take quite awhile for the sun to rise in the morning. That was my only worry.

Sorie: What about the nights?

Mark: It was freezing.

Sorie: Freezing at night and you were cold. Did you make a fire?

Mark: I couldn't make fire because there was a fire ban cause it was mid-summer, which we were very lucky in the vision quest because there was an evacuation order on the very last day and had it happened before we would have evacuated prematurely from the quest.

Sorie: Very scary.

Mark: So no fire, no fire unfortunately.

Answer these questions about the interview.
Audio Lessons about Phrases and Vocabulary

set off

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We set off in the morning to find our spot.

When you set off, you begin your trip. Notice the following:

  1. We set off for the mountain very early.
  2. We didn't set off until noon.

communal

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I walked out from the communal camp.

Communal means shared by everyone in a group. Notice the following:

  1. There is a communal kitchen in the dorm.
  2. The lobby is a communal area.

bump into

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We wanted to make sure we didn't bump into them.

When you bump into someone one, you encounter them by chance. Notice the following:

  1. I bumped into my teacher at the mall.
  2. You'll never guess who I bumped into today.

 

freezing

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It was freezing.

When something is very cold, we say it is freezing. Notice the following:

  1. This room is freezing.
  2. Your hands are freezing!

evacuation

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There was an evacuation order.

When there is an evacuation, everyone must leave an area. Notice the following:

  1. Because of the fire, there was an evacuation.
  2. After the game, everyone evacuated the stadium.

Vocabulary Quiz

set off • bump into • communal
freezing • evacuation
  1. This room is . Turn on the heat .
  2. The TV is in the area.
  3. There was an emergency of the building .
  4. It is easy to friends at the local cafe.
  5. We for the island at dawn.

Related Lessons

1305 Vision Quest
#1305 Vision Quest
Mark's special journey.
Speakers
Video 1306
Do you like to be alone in the wild?
Speakers
Video 1305
What is the meaning of life?

Other Lessons

1310 Homegrown Foreigner
#1310 Homegrown Foreigner
Feeling strange at home.
1309 Going Home
#1309 Going Home
Having two home countries.
1308 Money Worries
#1308 Money Worries
Saving for the future.
1307 Retirement
#1307 Retirement
Options for retirement.

 

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About the Teacher / Creator

Hello, and welcome to elllo. My name is Todd Beuckens. I've been an ESL teacher for 25 years. I created elllo to provide teachers and students free audio lessons and learning materials not usually found in commercial textbooks.
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