Eng.

201
New Language Leader
Grade 11
First Semester
Unit2 – Travel
Lesson 2.3 The Empty Quarter
(pages 20-21)
ENG201 – unit 2. L.2.3 The Empty
Quarter

Objectives
By the end of the lesson you will be able to

• extract specific information from a reading text.

• use the present perfect and past simple tenses correctly.
 Do you know any famous explorer?

Wilfred Theisger Merieme Chadid

A British military officer, explorer, A Moroccan-French astronomer
and writer(1910-2003), crossing of was born in 1969, explorer and
the Empty Quarter of the Arabian astrophysicist, the first Moroccan
Peninsula. to reach the heart of Antarctica.

ENG201 – unit 2. L.2.3 The Empty Quarter

 Pre reading task

Is there any desert in your country?

No
Mention some famous deserts?
Sahara Desert Rub’ al Khali(the empty Quarter) White Desert, Farafra
Saudi Arabia Egypt
Africa
Write some words related to a desert.
oasis hot endless mirage harsh
sandy dry quicksand spacious
ENG201 – unit 2. L.2.3 The Empty
 3min
Read the article about the explorer Wilfred Thesiger then answer the questions.
Wilfred Thesiger is a British military officer, explorer and writer
who was born in 1910 and died in 2003, also known by his Arabic
name Mubark bin London. He was one of the greatest explorers and
travel writers of the 20th century. Thesiger fell in love with the 1. Who is Wilfred Thesiger?
desert, he spent five years travelling in the ‘Empty Quarter’, to
write his book the “Across the Empty Quarter”. The people have
2. What was his Arabic
praised his description of the desert in the book, a vast, waterless name?
desert stretching between Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman. 3. Why did he write about
He was often accompanied by the Bedouin, the fierce tribespeople the Empty Quarter?
living in the area, as a result he learnt to love them. That also helped 4. Who was he accompanied
them to understand and respect the differences in their cultures.
Thesiger enjoyed the ‘sense of space’, the silence and the crisp
by through his journey?
clearness of the sand. As Wilfred always wanted to be different and 5. Why was Wilfred’s journey
unique among the explorers, he chose the ‘Empty Quarter’ for his
journeys because he was sure that it was one of the very few places different and unique?
where others had not been to.

ENG201 – unit 2. L.2.3 The Empty Quarter

Find words from the text that match the definitions in the table below.

Definition Word
.huge or enormous
vast
one who travels to unknown regions to
explorer
.find out about it
.rare or unlike anything else
unique
.the tribespeople who live in the desert
Bedouin

ENG201 – unit 2. L.2.3 The Empty Quarter

 When do we use past simple and present perfect?
Past simple
is used
1. When the time period has finished.
I went to the cinema yesterday.
2. When giving older information.
Mona moved to her house last year.
3. When the time is specific.
He saw that movie on Thursday.
4. With for and since when the actions have
already finished.
They lived in Bahrain for five years.
(they don’t live in Bahrain anymore)
ENG201 – unit 2. L.2.3 The Empty Quarter
Present perfect
is used
1.When the time period has NOT finished.
I have seen two movies this week.
2. When giving recent news.
Mona has moved to a new house
recently.
3. When the time is not specific.
He has seen that movie already.
4. With for and since when the actions have
not finished yet.
They have lived in Bahrain for five years.
(they still live in Bahrain)
 2min
Change the verbs between the brackets to the right tense past
simple or present perfect.
swam
1.When I was a child. I ------------(swim) a lot.
have studied
2. So far this week. We ----------------------(study) a lot.
has been
3. Ali-----------------(be) very sick recently.
had
4. I ----------- (have) a terrible headache yesterday.
has rained
5. It -----------------(rain) a lot lately.
got
6. They-------(get) married ten years ago.
have been
7. I -------------------(be) to Dubai many times.
took
8. My family ---------(take) a vacation last year.

ENG201 – unit 2. L.2.3 The Empty Quarter

 2min
Write six sentences using the two tenses correctly, three sentences
for each tense.
Suggested answer

1. He has bought a new car recently.

2. My brother won the match yesterday.
3. My sister has been to London twice this year.
4. I celebrated my birthday with my family last week.
5. The students have read three English books in class.
6. We went to France in 2016.

ENG201 – unit 2. L.2.3 The Empty Quarter

 End of the lesson
Thank you for your perseverance
and hard work

ENG201 – unit 2. L.2.3 The Empty Quarter