2.1 He assured Mount Everest had two climbing routes

Icono IDevice Reading activity
The group of people who are going trekking in some days are having a good time talking to Devaj and some others who have joined them. They are speaking about the tourists who come to the Himalayas on holiday and how wonderful landscapes are. Of course, the language they use is English, so Paco does not have any difficulty in understanding everything said. A man from Finland says he has heard there are only two routes to climb Mount Everest and he asks if that's true. Devaj explains:

By NASA. Public Domain

Mount Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the northeast ridge from Tibet, as well as many other less frequently climbed routes. Of the two main routes, the southeast ridge is technically easier and is the more frequently-used route. It was the route used by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and the first recognized of fifteen routes to the top by 1996. This was, however, a route decision dictated more by politics than by design as the Chinese border was closed to the western world in the 1950s after the People's Republic of China took over Tibet.

Most attempts are made during May before the summer monsoon season. As the monsoon season approaches, a change in the jet stream at this time pushes it northward, thereby reducing the average wind speeds high on the mountain. While attempts are sometimes made after the monsoons in September and October, when the jet stream is again temporarily pushed northward, the additional snow deposited by the monsoons and the less stable weather patterns (tail end of the monsoon) makes climbing extremely difficult.1

1 Taken from Wikipedia.org


Listen to and read the passage carefully and answer the following questions.

1. According to the text, how many routes to climb Mount Everest are known?

2. According to the text, why is it difficult to climb Mount Everest in autumn?



As you should have guessed in the previous section, there are lots of changes in the sentences when reporting what someone else said in the past. Watch the following video to begin learning those changes.

 

Icono de iDevice Solved exercise
Imagine Paco phones Andrés and he is so excited about the journey that he wants to retell him Devaj's explanation about Mount Everest's climbing routes.
Try to write Paco's retelling of Devaj's words to Andrés. Begin by "Andrés, it was really interesting..." (Pay attention to the changes in verbs, pronouns, etc.)

Icono IDevice Further knowledge

Let's study those changes more deeply. In order to do so, study, first, the information provided on this Web site. Secondly, click here to learn more about reported speech. Pay attention to verbs that do not change in reported speech, such as could, should or would and don't forget to take notes!

Finally, watch this video to complete your notes


Thirdly, click below to watch a presentation on the subject

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Icono de iDevice Self-assessment activity
Transform the following statements into the reported speech.

1. "I have never been to this fantastic place," Paco said.

- Paco assured (that) .

2. "My sister helped me study English three months ago," he said.

- He told them (that) study English three .

3. "I am travelling around the world now", he said.

- Paco said (that) .

4. "We will leave at 8 a.m. tomorrow", Devaj announced.

- Devaj announced at 8 a.m. day.

5. "When trekking, you can't take any pets with you", he said.

He said (that) when .

  

Icono IDevice Important

Remember two important matters when dealing with reported speech:

1. If the reported verb is in the Present Simple, Present Perfect or Future, no changes in the words reported take place.

Direct or Quoted speech  Indirect or Reported Speech 
I have heard there are only two routes to climb Mount Everest  He says he has heard there are only two routes to climb Mount Everest 

2. There are sentences that are always true, so it is not necessary to change the verb tenses.

Direct or Quoted speech  Indirect or Reported Speech 
Mount Everest has two main climbing routes  He assured Mount Everest has two main climbing routes

Would you like to go on practising with reported speech? Come on, let's move on to next section to keep practising!
« Anterior | Siguiente »