----- Nội dung dịch tự động từ ảnh -----
Look at the sentences below about the Iditarod Trail in Alaska.
Read the text on the opposite page to decide if each sentence is correct or incorrect.
If it is correct, mark A on your answer sheet.
If it is not correct, mark B on your answer sheet.
11
The population of Alaska remained the same throughout the 1880s.
12 For a short time, more people lived in Iditarod than in any other city in Alaska.
13 After 1910, it became possible to deliver letters in winter as well as summer.
14 When travelling on the Iditarod Trail, drivers had to take food for the dogs with them
15 In the 1920s, aeroplanes were used more often than boats and dogs.
16 Doctors in Nome had a good supply of medicine to cure diphtheria.
17 The pilot Carl Eielson refused to fly his plane because of the cold weather.
18 Leonhard Seppala's dog was able to lead him safely to his destination.
19 Balto fell into some icy water but managed to save himself.
20
20
The Iditarod race takes a different route every year.
THE HISTORY OF THE IDITAROD - THE LAST GREAT RACE ON EARTH
In the 1880s, gold was discovered in what
is now the most northern state of the USA.
Alaska. Many people came to the area
hoping to get rich. New towns were built
and grew quickly. One such town was
called Iditarod, which means far, distant
place'. This town grew so quickly during
1909 that it briefly became the largest city
in Alaska. In the summer months, essential
supplies could be delivered to these towns
by boat, but in the winter the rivers and the
ocean froze and there was no way to get to
them. So, in 1910, a winter track was built
which would be used by teams of dogs
ALASKA
Iditarody
34
pulling sleds. They would take mail, food and clothes to the gold miners.
The track became known as the Iditarod Trail. It took a team of dogs about three weeks to
travel across Alaska. They stopped at 'roadhouses' where the drivers could get a warm bed
for the night and something to eat for both themselves and their dogs. The trail was used
every winter until the 1920s when aeroplanes replaced steam boats and dog teams as the
main form of transport.
However, the dogs had one last taste of fame in 1925, when a disease called diphtheria hit
the city of Nome. The disease could be cured, but, unfortunately, the closest medicine that
could be found was in Anchorage, right on the other side of Alaska. Aeroplanes were still
quite new, so no-one knew if they could fly in such cold weather. Also, Carl Eielson, the only
pilot considered skilled enough to manage the flight, was away on a trip at the time. It was
therefore agreed that the medicine would be transported using teams of dogs instead.
The trip covered over 1,000 kilometres, most of it along the Iditarod Trail. It took twenty
teams just six days to complete the journey. Leonhard Seppala, a Norwegian who had come
to Alaska looking for gold, travelled the first 400 of those kilometres. He had to trust his dog
Togo's ability to find his way in the blinding snow and Togo turned out to be a reliable guide.
The last part of the journey was done by Gunnar Kaasen who had driven dog teams in
Alaska for 21 years. His lead dog was Balto. At one point Balto refused to go any further,
and saved the team from falling into icy water. The diphtheria was stopped and Balto
became a hero.
Nowadays a dog sled race is held every year from Anchorage to Nome, following the route
of that famous journey in 1925. It is called the Iditarod and has become known as 'The Last
Great Race on Earth'.