Article

This is an original article as printed in the Guardian Weekly which is suitable for advanced comprehension classes written by Dale Fuchs in Madrid.

Racing around the world on bio-fuel

It looks more like the Batmobile than an ocean-going speedboat. The winged silhouette of Earthrace inched up the Thames into London last month in preparation for an environmentally friendly assault on the world circumnavigation record.

Skipper Pete Bethune from New Zealand said he planned to use nothing but bio-fuels to power his carbon fibre vessel westwards from Valencia, through the Panama canal, on towards Singapore and back again through Suez - a journey of 42,000km.

The circumnavigation record stands at 74 days, 23 hours and 53 minutes by Cable and Wireless Adventurer, a British boat that ran on conventional fuel in 1998.

Earthrace will sail from Valencia in March and is aiming to back around 65 days later, having negotiated the perils of gun-toting pirates in the Carribean, floating logs off Borneo and towering 12m high seas in the Pacific - some of the problems faced on the craft's first failed record attempt last spring.

Three heavy storms and problems with the law ended that bid. A Guatemalan shark fisherman was killed and another injured when Earthrace hit their boat while ailing at night, which saw Bethune held briefly in prison.

None of that was enough to put him off a second attempt and a trained crew will be complemented by paying members of the public in a mission that is equal parts record attempt and evangelical mission to trumpet the value of bio-fuels in the fight against global warming.

Sitting in the cramped cockpit of his 24m vessel, Bethune, a former oil industry worker, jokes he has "swung over to the dark side" by embracing plant power.

"We need to make people aware that bio-fuels need to be part of our transport energy mix and people should support them," he said.

The boat has a chiselled prow designed to pierce waves rather than ride over them and is weighed down by 2.5 tonnes of fuel. By slicing through the biggest swells the boat maintains its speed. The designers told Bethune it would work "like a hot knife through butter".

"It's nothing like that," he said. "In big seas it is brutal and violent. The surge of energy works its way through the boat as it goes through the wave."

Glossary

assault

(noun) the act of trying to achieve something that is difficult or dangerous

ocean-going

(adjective) designed to cross the ocean or sea

world circumnavigation

(noun) the act of completely travelling round the world

evangelical

(adjective) wanting very much to persuade other people to accept your opinions

Questions

The questions below are divided into three groups - before, during and after reading the above article.

Before reading

The article is partly about "bio-fuel". Choose the best answers below.

1. Biofuel is a type of fuel made from ...
   1. oil, coal or other types of fossil material.
   2. volcanic gas or hot water from under the Earth.
   3. recently living things or the wast of living things.
2. A common type of bio-fuel is made from crops such as ...
   1. sugar cane and corn.
   2. onions and potatoes.
   3. lemons and oranges.
3. Biofuel is a popular form of car fuel in ...
   1. the US.
   2. Brazil.
   3. Japan.

Look at the headline, photo and caption. Answer the questions below.

1. What form of transport is Earthrace? Which words in the headline or caption helped you choose your answer?
2. What do you think Pete Bethune is planning to do?

Vocabulary from the article. Before reading the rest of the article, look at the nouns below. Note two words that you think will not appear in the article, then answer the questions which follow - craft, crew, fence, pirate, prow, storm, vessel, wave, valley. Which word or words refer to ...

1. the boat or parts of the boat?
2. the sea?
3. people working on the boat?
4. dangers that threaten the boat?

While reading

Read paragraphs one to five. Use the words below to complete the questions, then find the answers. How many, What, Where, Why

1. ___ does Earthrace look like?
2. ___ is Bethune going to start his journey?
3. ___ kilometres is the trip?
4. ___ is the current circumnavigation record?
5. ___ were the problems that Earthrace faced on the previous attempt?
6. ___ was Bethune sent to prison in Guatemala?

Read the rest of the article. Decide if the following sentences are true [T] or false [F]. Correct the false sentences.

1. The crew will pay to be on the boat.
2. There are two main reasons for the Earthrace journey.
3. Bethune used to work in the bio-fuel industry.
4. Bethune is a strong supporter of bio-fuels.
5. The boat is designed to ride over the waves.
6. In stormy seas the movement of the boat can be rough and violent.

Look back at paragraph two. Using an atlas plot the route that Earthrace will take in March. Underline useful phrases to indicate the direction. Find the full route on the Earthrace web site.

After reading

Synonyms Synonyms are words with the same or a very similar meaning. Find synonyms for these words in the first five paragraphs. Put them into the grid shown. Find the word that runs down through all the words.

1. attempt
2. dangers
3. armed (two words)
4. for a short time
5. hurt
6. boat
7. unsuccessful
8. gaol

Activity - write an application

Read this real announcement from the Earthrace web site. Imagine that you wish to join the crew.

Plan and write an e-mail to apply to join the crew. Use key vocabulary from the article. Include the following:

• an introduction explaining why you are e-mailing
• the reason why you are interested in joining the crew
• brief information about your background
• how you will raise the money (it will cost you at least $20,000)
• questions regarding the trip

Swap e-mails with others in the group. Who has written the most convincing application?