Rob Waring, Series Editor

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Words
This story is set in Africa,
in the country of Ethiopia.
It happens in the Afar [a:fa:r]
region near a volcano called
Erta Ale [airta mb].

A Volcano. Read the paragraph. Then, label the picture with

the underlined words.

A volcano is a mountain with a large hole at the top. This hole

is called a crater. In an eruption, a volcano produces very hot,
melted rock. When it is under the ground, this hot, melted rock
is called magma. Once it com es out of the volcano, the hot rock
is called lava. Som etim es a large amount of lava form s in the
crater. This is called a lava lake.
Volcano Explorers. Read the paragraph. Then, match each
word with the correct definition.

This story is about two explorers from Nice [ni:s] in France,

Franck Tessier [franjk tesjei]
and Irene Margaritis [airim mairgariitis].
These explorers are geologists who are trekking to the Erta Ale
volcano. They ride camels to get to the volcano because it is difficult
to reach it. Volcanoes can be dangerous. The geologists want
to study the volcano’s lava, rocks, and soil. They want to learn
more about volcanoes and how they work. This information may
help people and save lives.

1. explorers _ a. make a long, difficult journey

2 . geologists. b. scientists who study Earth
3 . trek c. not safe
4. camels d. large animals that often carry
5 . dangerous people or things
e. people who travel to new places
to learn new things
 illions of years ago, man’s earliest ancestors1
lived in Africa, in the Afar region of Ethiopia.
Here in this area is the Erta Ale volcano. Hot lava
has erupted from this volcano for about one
hundred years. The temperature of the lava
here is more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.2

Now, a team of explorers is going to explore Erta

Ale for themselves. They want to learn more about
the volcano. However, it’s not an easy trek, and
the team has to use camels to get to the area.
The camels are able to carry the team and the
heavy things they need for their research.

1man’s earliest ancestors: some of the first people on Earth

22,000 degrees Fahrenheit: 1093° (degrees) Celsius
 The explorers and their camels finally reach the
crater of the Erta Ale volcano. Franck Tessier and
Irene Margaritis are professors3 at the University of
Nice in France. They’re geologists, or scientists who
study the earth. They have travelled halfway around
the world just to see the Erta Ale volcano. They are
hoping that they’ll find something very interesting.
They want to find data that will tell them about the
history of the Earth.

^professor: teacher at a university or college

 The geologists look down into the volcano. Deep •
in the crater, they can see the lava lake of Erta Ale.
Professor Margaritis is very happy to finally be here. {
“It is quite exciting.41want to see it now,” she says.
Very soon, they will go into the crater and look at
the lava more closely. But why is the Erta Ale
volcano so special for geologists? j

’ exciting: causing a very happy feeling

1. Why is Professor Margaritis happy?

2. What does she mean by ‘it’ in “I want

to see it now”?
 The Erta Ale volcano is in the Afar area of
Ethiopia. The Afar triangle5is in an area where
three continental plates6meet. These plates move
further and further apart every year. Because
of this, it’s an area that’s always changing.

Erta Ale has the oldest lava lake in the world.

The lake is also one of the lowest points on Earth
At Erta Ale, geologists can study how the world
began millions of years ago. That’s why this
volcano is so special.

triangle: an area with three sides

'continental plates: geologist’s term for the large pieces
of rock deep under the ground
 Continental Plates

Afar Triangle
 A lava lake is a mixture of hot and cooler lava.
Very hot lava comes out of the earth. This lava
forms the base of Erta Ale’s lava lake. As this lava
cools down,7it becomes hard and black. However,
a lava lake is a place of change and movement.
Soon, hot magma breaks through this covering
as the volcano erupts again and again. Erta Ale
is an active volcano and it’s fair to say that it
could have a big eruption at almost any time!

7cools down: becomes cold

 The geologists stand at the top of this active
volcano and wait at the side of the crater. It’s very
interesting for them, but it’s not easy to be here.
There’s a very strong smell of sulphur8in the air. And
even early in the morning, it’s already very, very hot.

It soon gets even hotter as the group goes slowly

and carefully down into the crater. Professor Tessier
wants to collect samples9 of the red-hot lava near
the lava lake. The team spends many hours down
by the lake.

Ssulphur: a yellow material that smells very bad

sample: a small amount
 It’s a very long day for the geologists. In fact, it’s
two o’clock in the morning the next day when they
return from the crater. They have all worked very
hard. Professor Margaritis only has one thing to say
about the trek; “very hot,” she says with a smile.

Everyone is pleased with the lava samples the

team brings back from the crater. “I think this is
fresh10lava,” Tessier says about his samples. He
then explains to the team that the pieces didn’t
come directly from the lava lake. However, the
team decides the samples are fresh enough and
they put them in a bag. The geologists will analyse
these samples later.

fresh: new
 After a difficult trek, the professors finally have
their lava samples. They will now leave Erta Ale
and go back to study the lava. What do they want
to learn? As professors, Margaritis and Tessier want
to learn information that they can teach to others.
However, as geologists, they also want to know what
the lava of Erta Ale may teach them. The lava may
help them to understand more about Erta Ale, about
volcanoes in general, and about how the world
began millions of years ago.

Summarise
Summarise the story of the volcano trek.
Tell it to a partner or write it in a notebook.
Include the following information:
•Who went on the trek?
What did they want to see?

Where did they go?

Why did they want to go there?

 After You Read
1, Hot lava has erupted from Erta Ale fo r ___________ years.
A. millions
B. about 100
C. more than 2,000
D. 1,000,000

2. Camels can walk up the volcano because they like hot places.
A. True
B. False
C. Doesn’t say

3, On page 7, what data does the team want to collect?

A. Data about the history of the Earth
B. Data about the temperature of the volcano
C. Data about how long the volcano has been erupting
D. Data on all of the above

4, Professor Margaritis i s ___________ happy about being at the

lava lake.
A. not at all
B. quiet
C. not
D. very

5. What is writer’s purpose on page 10?

A. To explain about the Afar area.
B. To explain why Erta Ale remains the same.
C. To teach that Erta Ale is high up.
D. To explain that the continental plates are moving together.

6. A good heading for page 12 is:

A. Lava Lakes Made from Cool Lava.
B. Erta Ale Is a Safe Volcano.
C. How a Lava Lake Forms.
D. A Long, Hot Trek to the Crater.

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7. According to page 12, what happens at the Erta Ale volcano?
A. Hot magma erupts again and again.
B. Cold magma makes a lava lake.
C. Magma cools down.
D. Lava remains soft and red.

8. On page 14, ‘collect’ in paragraph two means?

A.see
B.bring
C.get
D.touch

9. Which is a good heading for page 16?

A. 3.00 a.m. Return from Crater
B. Professors Worked Hard.
C. Geologists Go Down Into Crater.
D. Hot Trek Makes Explorers Sad.

10. The teams thinks the samples are:

A. too hot to put in the bag
B. directly from the lava lake
C. fresh enough
0. not going to be useful

11. The explorers are excited t o ___________ from an d___________

about the lava.
A.know, study
B.taught, studied
C.learn,teach
D.teach,teach
 cientists tell us that the earth currently has about seventy active

S volcanoes. Right now, there are probably about twenty volcanic

eruptions happening in the world. Some of these eruptions are large
and some are very small, but all of them can be deadly.

A Map of Current Active Volcano Sites

 The number of people on Earth is Geologists are now trying to find
increasing. As a result, people often new ways to know when a volcano is
find themselves living in dangerous going to erupt. They know that most
areas near volcanoes. Over three volcanic activity happens near the
million people live near Mount Rainer sides of continental plates. These
in the U.S. Another one million people plates are always coming together
live near Mount Etna in Sicily in Italy. It or moving away from one another.
is quite possible that either of these When a lot of magma pushes up
areas may experience a volcanic under moving plates, we often see
eruption in the future. a volcanic eruption. Geologists also
For centuries, scientists have tried know that before the eruption
different ways of protecting people happens, something called ‘lahar’
from volcanoes. They have tried: starts moving under the ground. Lahar
is made from hot water, magma and
• Stopping the eruption
pieces of stone. Geologists are now
(This was impossible.)
using a machine that is placed under
• Forcing the lava to move the ground. This machine keeps
away from where people live a record of the movement of the
(This was difficult to do.) lahar. When there are a lot of quick
• Asking people not to live near movements, scientists know that
volcanoes (This has not worked.) an eruption is likely to happen.

• Making plans for people to leave

o
the area of an eruption quickly
(This sometimes works.)

None of these ideas are

Word Count: 301
particularly effective.
T im e :_____
i

Vocabulary List
camel (3, 4, 7)
continental plate (10)
cool down (12)
crater (2, 7, 8, 14, 16)
dangerous (3)
eruption (2,12)
exciting (8)
explorer (3, 4, 7)
fresh (16)
geologist (3, 7, 8, 10, 14, 16, 19)
lava (2, 4, 8, 12,14, 16, 19)
lava lake (2, 8 ,1 0 ,1 2 ,1 4 )
magma (2,12)
man’s earliest ancestors (4)
professor (7, 8, 9, 14, 16, 19)
sample (1 4 ,1 6 ,1 9 )
sulphur (14)
trek (3, 4, 19)
triangle (10)

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