UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT Are the following sentences true (T) or false (F)? Correct the false ONES.

a. Muff Potter’s knife was near the doctor’s body.

b. Tom felt better because he took Aunt Polly‘s medicines.

c. Tom, Huck and Joe Harper wanted to go to Jackson’s Island.

d. They swam down the Mississippi River to Jackson’s island.

e. On the island they went fishing and swimming.

f. The people of St Petersburg looked for the three boys, but did not find them.

g. No one was in church on the day of the funeral.

h. Aunt Polly did not want to kiss Huck.

LANGUAGE PRACTICE

Use the verbs in the box to complete the sentences. Put them into the Past Simple. Be careful, some of these verbs have irregular Past Simple forms.

Can cry drown fall keep kiss meet see sing sleep

a. Tom ................ .. the terrible secret.

b. He ................ .. not forget the night at the graveyard.

c. The boys ................ .. at midnight.

d. Bill Turner ................ .. into the river and ................ ..

e. Huck ................ .. under a big tree.

f. Everyone in church ................ .. a lot.

g. When Aunt Polly ................ ..Tom, she ....... .. him.

h. Everybody was happy and ................ .. .

BEFORE YOU READ

0 Look at the map below and choose the correct answer.

1. The Mississippi River is 2. The Mississippi River is the longest river in

A 23,000 miles long. A the USA.

B 2,300 miles long. B the world.

C 230 miles long. C North and South America.

Life on the Mississippi River

An American Indian village on the Mississippi River.

Many of Mark Twain’s novels and short stories take place on the Mississippi River. When Mark Twain was a boy he lived on the river and had many adventures there.

This great river is born in Lake Itasca, in Minnesota, and goes down to the Gulf of Mexico. It is around 2,300 miles long. The Mississippi has many branches 2 in 25 states of the United States: the Tennessee River, the Ohio River, the Wabash River, the Illinois River, the Missouri River, the Yellowstone River, the Platte River, the Arkansas River and the Red River. The name Mississippi comes from Indian words “Misi” and “Sipi" — big water.

Many American Indian tribes lived on the Mississippi River: the Fox, Winnebago, Ojibwa, Sac, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Natchez and Yazoo. They traveled on the big river in their canoes. For centuries until the middle of the nineteenth century Hernando de Soto, a Spanish explorer of the 15005, was the first white man to see and explore the Mississippi. The French were the first white people to live on the river. They founded the city of New Orleans in the early 18th century. Today New Orleans is an important city on the Gulf of Mexico.

American explorers traveled on the Mississippi River and its branches to explore new lands. In 1803 the American President, Thomas Jefferson, bought Louisiana from France for $15 million. He asked Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore this immense territory. The Lewis and Clark Expedition began in May I804 and ended in September 1806.

Sacajawea guiding the Lewis and Clark Expedition ( 1904) by Alfred Russel.

They traveled about 8,000 miles from Missouri to the Pacific Ocean. It was very successful. Lewis and Clark brought back many maps and a lot of information about the north-western part of America.

After the Lewis and Clark Expedition many people went to live on the land near the river. Towns and cities were born on the Mississippi River and its branches. Towns and cities such as New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Memphis, St Louis, Minneapolis and St Paul, were busy places and some became important commercial and financial centers.

In the early 18005 the steamboat became very popular. Every day hundreds of steamboats traveled on the great river, carrying people and cargo.

Today millions of Americans live on the river. Steamboats still travel on the Mississippi, and there are also special steamboats for tourists.

A steamboat on the Mississippi River.

BEFORE YOU READ