American stories

LISTENING SKILL PRACTICES
Name: ……………………….
Class: ……………………….
Date: ………………………
PART 1: LISTEN TO THE SONG AND WRITE DOWN THE MISSING WORDS.
(1) Buffalo Gals
(2) Cindy
(3) Little Bo Peep
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(4) Little Liza Jane
(5) Swanee River
(6) Weeping Willow
PART 2:
(1) Daily Schedule
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3
(2) DVD Movie Rentals
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5
TEXT COMPLETION QUIZ
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(3) Eye Glasses for You
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PART 3: LISTEN TO THE STORY AND FILL IN THE MISSING WORDS:
TO BUILD A FIRE
Written by Jack London
Announcer: Now, the weekly Special English program, AMERICAN STORIES.
(MUSIC)
Our story today is called "To Build a Fire." It was written by Jack London. Here is Harry Monroe
with the story.
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(MUSIC)
Storyteller: The man walked down the trail on a cold, gray day. Pure white snow and ice covered
the Earth for as far as he could see. This was his (1) ___________ winter in Alaska. He was
wearing heavy clothes and fur boots. But he still felt cold and uncomfortable.
The man was on his way to a (2) ____________ near Henderson Creek. His friends were already
there. He expected to reach Henderson Creek by six o'clock that evening. It would be dark by
then. His friends would have a fire and hot food (3) _____________ for him.
A dog walked behind the man. It was a big gray animal, half dog and half wolf. The dog did not
like the extreme cold. It knew the weather was too cold to (4) ______________.
The man continued to walk down the trail. He came to a frozen stream called Indian Creek. He
began to walk on the snow-covered ice. It was a trail that would (5) _____________ him straight
to Henderson Creek and his friends.
As he walked, he looked carefully at the ice in front of him. Once, he stopped suddenly, and then
walked (6) _____________ a part of the frozen stream. He saw that an underground spring
flowed under the ice at that spot. It made the ice thin. If he stepped there, he might break through
the ice into a (7) ___________ of water. To get his boots wet in such cold weather might kill him.
His feet would turn to ice quickly. He could freeze to death.
At about twelve o'clock, the man decided to stop to eat his lunch. He took (8) ___________ the
glove on his right hand. He opened his jacket and shirt, and pulled out his bread and meat. This
took less than twenty seconds. Yet, his fingers began to freeze.
He hit his hand (9) ______________ his leg several times until he felt a sharp pain. Then he
quickly put his glove on his hand. He made a fire, beginning with small pieces of wood and
adding (10) ______________ ones. He sat on a snow-covered log and ate his lunch. He enjoyed
the warm fire for a few minutes. Then he stood up and started walking on the frozen stream again.
A half hour later, it happened. At a place where the snow seemed very solid, the ice (11)
_____________ . The man's feet sank into the water. It was not deep, but his legs got wet to the
knees. The man was angry. The accident would delay his arrival at the camp. He would have to
build a fire now to (12) ______________ his clothes and boots.
He walked over to some small trees. They were covered with snow. In their branches were pieces
of dry grass and wood left by flood waters (13) ____________ in the year. He put several large
pieces of wood on the snow, under one of the trees. On top of the wood, he put some grass and dry
branches. He pulled off his gloves, took out his matches, and (14) _____________ the fire. He fed
the young flame with more wood. As the fire grew stronger, he gave it larger pieces of wood.
He worked slowly and carefully. At sixty degrees (15) ___________ zero, a man with wet feet
must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire. While he was walking, his blood had kept all parts
of his body warm. Now that he had stopped, cold was forcing his blood to withdraw (16)
______________ into his body. His wet feet had frozen. He could not feel his fingers. His nose
was frozen, too. The skin all over his body felt cold.
Now, however, his fire was beginning to burn more strongly. He was safe. He sat under the tree
and (17) ______________ of the old men in Fairbanks. The old men had told him that no man
should travel alone in the Yukon when the temperature is sixty degrees below zero. Yet here he
was. He had had an accident. He was alone. And he had saved himself. He had built a fire.
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Those old men were (18) _______________, he thought. A real man could travel alone. If a man
stayed calm, he would be all right. The man's boots were covered with ice. The strings on his
boots were as hard as steel. He would have to cut them with his knife.
He leaned back against the tree to take out his knife. Suddenly, (19) _____________ warning, a
heavy mass of snow dropped down. His movement had shaken the young tree only a tiny bit. But
it was enough to cause the (20) _______________ of the tree to drop their heavy load. The man
was shocked. He sat and looked at the place where the fire had been.
The old men had been right, he thought. If he had another man with him, he would not be in any
danger now. The other man could build the fire. Well, it was up to him to build the fire again. This
time, he must not (21) _______________.
The man collected more wood. He reached into his pocket for the matches. But his fingers were
frozen. He could not hold them. He began to hit his hands with all his force against his legs.
After a while, (22) ______________ came back to his fingers. The man reached again into his
pocket for the matches. But the tremendous cold quickly drove the life out of his fingers. All the
matches fell onto the snow. He tried to pick one up, but failed.
The man pulled on his glove and again (23) ______________ his hand against his leg. Then he
took the gloves off both hands and picked up all the matches. He gathered them together. Holding
them with both hands, he scratched the matches along his leg. They immediately caught fire.
He held the blazing matches to a (24) _____________ of wood. After a while, he became aware
that he could smell his hands burning. Then he began to feel the pain. He opened his hands, and
the blazing matches fell on to the snow. The flame went out in a puff of gray smoke.
The man looked up. The dog was still watching him. The man got an (25) _____________. He
would kill the dog and bury his hands inside its warm body. When the feeling came back to his
fingers, he could build another fire. He called to the dog. The dog (26) _______________danger
in the man's voice. It backed away.
The man called again. This time the dog came closer. The man reached for his knife. But he had
forgotten that he could not bend his fingers. He could not kill the dog, because he could not (25)
______________ his knife.
The fear of death came over the man. He jumped up and began to run. The running began to make
him feel better. Maybe running would make his feet warm. If he ran far enough, he would (26)
___________ his friends at Henderson Creek. They would take care of him.
It felt strange to run and not feel his feet when they hit the ground. He fell several times. He
decided to (27) _____________ a while. As he lay in the snow, he noticed that he was not
shaking. He could not feel his nose or fingers or feet. Yet, he was feeling quite warm and
comfortable. He realized he was going to die.
Well, he decided, he might as well take it like a man. There were (28) _____________ ways to
die.
The man closed his eyes and floated into the most comfortable sleep he had ever known.
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