Alaska Learn English through story level 1
chapter one
welcome to alaska
where is alaska
how big is it
who lives there
eskimos first lived in alaska more than
7 000 years ago
today about 16 percent of all alaskans
are eskimos
these people are really three groups the
inupiaq the yupik and the elutic
these groups are not very different but
they speak different languages
alaska was a part of russia for a long
time then in 1867 the united states
bought it from russia for 7.2 million
dollars
many people thought this was too much
money but in the late 1840s the
americans found gold in alaska
then in 1901 they found some oil there
later in the 1950s they found lots of
oil
alaska is a very big place it’s the
biggest state
more than twice as big as texas the next
biggest state
but not many people live there
over 8 million people live in new york
city but only 730 000 live in all of
alaska
and about half of them live in the city
of anchorage
alaska has many mountains and glaciers
a glacier is like a river of ice the
matanuska glacier is one of the most
beautiful
the winters are freezing with a lot of
snowstorms
in winter it is also very dark because
there is no sun in the far northern part
of the state and in other areas it comes
out for only 2 to 7 hours every day
chapter 2
visit kodiak island
there is a lot of outdoor fun on kodiak
island
kodiak island is in the southern part of
alaska
it is the second largest island in the
united states but it has less than 160
kilometers of roads
there are lots of high mountains green
forests rivers and lakes
about 30 000 visitors come to kodiak
every year
they come to climb mountains catch fish
watch whales jump in the sea and go
camping
bear watching is also very popular the
island gets its name from the big kodiak
bear
there are over 3500 of these wonderful
animals living in the forests but you
must be very quiet if you want to see
one
about 13 000 people live on kodiak
island all year
and half of them live in kodiak city
the others live in small villages by the
sea
the elutic people were the first to live
on the island
they came seven thousand five hundred
years ago and they stayed
today about seventeen percent of all the
people on kodiak island are lootings
they speak english and aleutic
in 2010 only 50 people spoke the elutic
language
but now schools are teaching the
language because they don’t want it to
die
the most important businesses here are
fishing and tourism
there are seven hotels
17 places to eat and many shops in
kodiak city
the shops sell things made on the island
chapter 3 enjoy outside sports
do you love doing sports outside
then alaska is the place for you
many tourists come to alaska to enjoy
walking outside in the clean cold air
and they come to do extreme sports
sports that are exciting but also
dangerous some people come to alaska to
climb mount mckinley in denali national
park
this mountain is
6194 meters high the highest in north
america
it isn’t easy to climb to the top of
mount mckinley it takes about three
weeks
it’s really cold when you get to the top
so most people stay there for only a
short time
you need very warm clothes
and you must be careful
between 1932 and 2012 120 climbers died
on the mountain
in june 2012 four japanese climbers died
in an avalanche
whitewater rafting is also a popular
sport
the nana river also in denali national
park is very fast in some places
mount alieska is a good place to go
paragliding
don’t worry if you don’t know how to
paraglide a teacher goes on the
paraglider with you so you can enjoy the
beautiful mountain and forest below you
skiing is popular in alaska
there is a lot of snow and there are
many good places to ski
eagle crest only 20 kilometers from the
state capital juno is an excellent
mountain for skiing
there are many other interesting things
to do in alaska
some of these are less exciting than
paragliding or white water rafting but
they are great fun
look for gold in the rivers in the kanai
peninsula
fly over the glaciers in a plane or
helicopter
visit the sea life center in seward you
can see wonderful sea animals only a
meter from where you’re standing
some people enjoy traveling across
alaska as well
in 2010 andrew skurka traveled 7
600 kilometers across alaska and the
yukon in 176 days that’s 43 kilometers a
day
most of the time he walked
he used six pairs of boots
but he also went on rivers on a raft and
he skied too
he slept in a tent
when andrew skied in denali park he was
very worried about avalanches and snow
storms
he didn’t see any avalanches but one
night there was a really bad storm and
his tent blew away
andrew has traveled 48 000 kilometers in
his life and he doesn’t want to stop
when he isn’t working he writes books
about his travels
chapter 4
the iditarod
in the past alaskans needed to use dogs
and sleds to travel
now they don’t but in 1973 a dog sled
race began the iditarod
the iditarod is a really hard race
the dog sled teams have to travel about
1
600 kilometers from anchorage to gnome
and the weather can be very bad with
freezing temperatures of minus 20
degrees celsius and dangerous snowstorms
each team has one person called a musher
and 12 to 20 dogs
the mushers have to think about many
things
when is the best time to travel at night
or in the day
what clothes are best to wear what food
is best for the dogs
when is the best time to put the boots
on the dogs
if the dogs don’t wear boots the ice can
cut their feet
it usually takes 10 to 15 days to finish
the iditarod
the team that gets to gnome first wins
john baker did the iditarod in the
fastest time in 2011 8 days and 19 hours
carl huntington did the slowest time in
20 days and 15 hours
the iditarod is very popular it’s an
important part of alaskan life
before the race starts there’s a big
party in anchorage
then thousands of people watch the race
many more people follow it for days on
tv the internet or in newspapers
in the first iditarod there were 34
teams
now every year in march about 55 teams
do the race
why is it so popular
maybe because the winner gets a lot of
money about fifty thousand dollars
chapter five
green tourism in alaska
tourists can be very good for countries
but tourists can also bring problems
tourists spend a lot of money
they stay at hotels eat in restaurants
and buy things in shops
this is good for alaska and its people
but a lot of people in one place can
make a lot of noise
and that can be difficult for alaska’s
animals
and tourists leave trash in the forests
and rivers and in the sea animals and
fish can eat this trash and get sick
the people at the alaskan tourist office
want the state to stay clean
they want the animals to be safe and to
live their normal lives
this is why they want people to do green
tourism
green tourism doesn’t hurt the forests
the rivers the sea or the animals that
live in them
green tourists don’t travel in big
groups
they go around in small groups so they
don’t disturb the animals
and the tourist office asks people to
take their trash with them when they
leave
many tourists in alaska take boat trips
to see life in the sea
whales are their favorite animal
the tourists go out on small boats and
travel slowly and quietly
this way they do not disturb the whales
and the fish
chapter 6 the city of anchorage
anchorage began as a city of tents in
from 1915 to 1923 people went to live in
alaska to help build the railroad
at that time about 2 000 people lived in
anchorage
they all lived in tents but only one
tent had a bath in it
by 1940 anchorage had about 4 000 people
and in 2012 anchorage was the biggest
city in alaska with 300 000 people
anchorage is small quiet and pretty
normally it’s a safe place too
but it wasn’t on march 27 1964.
that was a bad day in anchorage
the ground under everyone’s feet started
to move
it didn’t stop moving for four minutes
houses fell and 115 people died
it was an earthquake
a big earthquake the second biggest
earthquake in the world
today anchorage is an interesting city
during the day you can visit the
anchorage museum
you can learn about the eskimo people
and life in the town many years ago
there are also many places to look at
different kinds of art
the h2 oasis water park is a fun place
to take children
and kincaid park is a good place to go
see animals
at night you can go to a play at the
theater a concert or out to dinner
anchorage has some fantastic restaurants
fish is the favorite of most people here
and many people say it is the best in
the world
chapter 7
what do you think
you are going with your family to visit
alaska
think about what you know about alaska
and plan your trip
answer these questions to help you plan
your alaska vacation
would you like to stay in a tent a hotel
or a house with an alaskan family
why
what clothes do you need to take for the
weather in alaska
on kodiak island would you like to go
bear watching paragliding or mountain
climbing
which do you think is the most dangerous
would you like to walk across alaska
like anders kirka
do you think you can do it
what do you need to take with you
what kinds of green tourism do you want
to try
would you like to visit anchorage
what would you like to do there
what would you like to buy to take home
with you from alaska
some alaskan fish
a jacket that the eskimos wear some art
from kodiak island
have a good trip
you