高三英語unit2      Captain Cook

Dialogue

Captain cook is preparing for his first graeat expedition to the Pacific.He is talking to a seaman.

S:What stores do you want me to order ,Sir?

Cc:I insist on taking proper food for this expedition.The men often fall ill and suffer fever. So I have decided to take live animals.

Live animals? I didn't know we will going to take live animals with us,sir.

That's right. We will take 10 pigs ,10 sheep and 60 chickens.The chickens can eat the food that we would otherwise throw away.They will provide us with eggs and meat.

What about the vegetables, sir?They usually go bad as soon as we are at at sea.

I have decided to take a lot of cabbage in vinegar.

I've never heard of that, sir.Will the men enjoy eating it ,sir?

I shall insist that they do from now on.Eating cabbage will keep them healthy.

Have you decided which boat to take ,sir?

We will take the Endeavour.It is a good ,strong ship. Though not very fast.There will be a lot of room below for stores.

Is there anything else that you want me to get?

Yes, I suggest takeing a lot of vinegar.

Why Vinegar.sir? If I may ask?

We will use it for cleaning the inside of the ship.If we do this, we shall have less thickness.Please get me 300 liters.I think that will be enough.

                    Captain Cook

James cook was born in the North of England on October 27th, 1728.The local landowner took an interest in the young boy and paid for his schooling.He learnt to read and write and was particularly good at mathematics.At the age of 18, he joined a ship which was used to carry cool down the east coast of England.Cook learnt fast and quickly became a skilled seaman.

In 1756. the Seven Years War between Britain and Frances broke out, and Cook joined the navy.He did very well and sailed with the navy to Canada, where the war with the French was also being fought.In 1759. The French army was defending the city of Quebec, which stood high on a rock above the St.Lawrence River.Cook went up and down the river in order to chart all the dangerous rocks.Finally, he was able to mark a path for the warships to follow.He led the ships down the river to a place where the British army could land safely and take the enemy by surprise.After a short battle, the French were defeated and the city of Quebec was seized.

After the war,Cook married and set up home in London.For several years, he sailed to the east of America, where he charted its coasts.In1768 his big chance for a major explanation came.The navy was planning an expedition to the south Pacific Ocean with the purpose of watching a very unusual event.,that is the planet Venus passing between the earth and the sun in 1769.They also hoped to find a new continent which they thought existed in the Indian or Pacific Ocean.Cook was to be in charge of this expedition as captain of the ship in Endeavour.

The Endeavor was not a warship, but an old merchant ship, just like the one on which Cook had learned his seamenship.It was just over 32 meters in length.It was not a fast sailing ship but was strongly built.It also had plenty of space below for storing things and so was extremely suitable for an exhibition.

Cook knew that sailors often suffered fever while at sea and got sick because of the lack of fresh meat, fruit and vegetables.He was a strict and good captain,one who,unusually ,took good care of the sailors on his ship.He therefore loaded the ship with litres of vinegar for the purpose of cleaning the inside of the ship.As well as the normal supplies of salted meat, cheese.,plain biscuits and beer,he took live sheep, pigs and chickens.He also included stores of onions, cabbage in vinegar, and flour for baking bread.

In July 1768, the Endeavour set out for the Pacific.The ship carried a total of 94 people, including scientists.Although 38 of the people died of diseases during the exhibition,Cook’s diet of proper food kept the rest of them healthy.

In April 1769,Cook’s expedition arrived at the beautiful island of Tahiti in the Pacific Ocean.There they spend three happy months and were also able to watch the planet Venus crossing in front of the sun.In July, they set sail again and headed south and west in search of a new land.They finally reached  New Zealand for a period of six months Cook charted the coastS of the two islands, separated by the narrow channel of water that he called Cook Strait.

Cook then sailed west to australia.Other sailors had already charted parts of the west and north coast of Australia and the island of Tasmania in the south,but Cook was the first to map the east coast.They landed in a beautiful bay that Cook named Botany Bay because of the beautiful plants that they found there.Later this was to become the place of the first foreigner settlements in Australia.They found Australia to be an astonishing land where the soil was red,bears climbed trees,birds ran but didn't fly and large animals jumped about on two legs carrying their young in a stomach pocket.

Next they sailed up the east coast between the mainland and the Great Barrier Reef.There the expedition nearly ended in disaster.The ship struck a coral bed,which tore a large hole in the side of the ship.But Cook ordered the crew to throw over the side of the ship guns,iron  balls,pots and chains and even stores to raise the boat in the water.Then they benched the ship on the shore where they were able to repair the damage.Only Cook’s quick thinking saved the exhibition.

The expedition passed close by the island of Java and then returned by the point of Africa. arriving back in England in July 1771.The whole country celebrated Cooks return.He had sailed round New Zealand and up the east coast of Australia,. charting over 8000 miles of coastline that had been unknown before.