The English Lesson 11 theme is TABLE MOUNTAIN

Part One: Learn English Skills

Read the following text and answer the questions that follow:

Table Mountain is Cape Town's best known attraction. The city is built around this beautiful, 1080 metre high mountain.

The city centre is located at the foot of Table Mountain. The mountain was named "Table" Mountain because it is very flat on top and has steep sides. In fact, it looks very much like a giant table.

Sometimes the mountain is covered by a low cloud, which falls over the edge of the mountain and dissipates. This spectacular sight is known as the "table cloth".

Table Mountain is part of a range of mountains and hills that stretch from the city centre southwards to Cape Point, a distance of about 50km. This entire area is protected as a national nature reserve. It has hundreds of wonderful walking trails, which show many unique plants, animals and landscapes.

It is possible to walk up Table Mountain, but many visitors prefer to reach the top by cable car. The ride provides an excellent view of Cape Town and the surrounding area.

The mountain is inhabited by small animals called "dassies" (rock rabbits), which look a lot like rabbits with short ears. Actually, dassies are said to be closely related to elephants - a fact that is hard to believe. The average dassie weighs only about 5kg, one hundred times less than a baby elephant!

Table Mountain is surrounded by beautiful hills, forests and the Atlantic Ocean. This wonderful landscape is the main reason that Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Your Turn

Why is the mountain called Table Mountain?
What is a "dassie"?
Find a word in the text that means the same as "whole".
Which word in the text means "the area at the bottom of a mountain"?
Genius Question: Why are animals safe from humans on Table Mountain?

Part Two: Learn English Structure

READY and FINISHED

We use the word READY to say that we are "prepared to begin" or in the "condition to start" something. It implies that we will start to do something soon.

For example: After I had put on my shoes, I was READY to walk up Table Mountain.

We use the word FINISHED to say that an action is complete or has come to an end.

For example: We FINISHED our lunch and then went for a short walk on the mountain.

Your Turn

Complete the following sentences with READY or FINISHED.

The tour could not start until everyone was _______.
After everyone had ______ taking photographs, we met at the restaurant for lunch.
I ate until all my food was _______.
After lunch we were ______ to go down the mountain in the cable car.

Part Three: Funnies

A party of economists was climbing up a mountain. After several hours they became hopelessly lost. One of them studied the map for some time, turning it up and down, sighting on distant landmarks, consulting his compass, and finally the sun.

Finally he said, 'OK see that big mountain over there?' 'Yes', answered the others eagerly. 'Well, according to the map, we're standing on top of it.

Part Four: Famous Words

There is probably no more spectacular place in the world than Cape Town and Table Mountain at the tip of Africa. - Sir Edmund Hillary

I should be content to look at a mountain for what it is and not as a comment on my life. - David Ignatow

There are many paths to the top of a mountain, but the view is always the same. - Chinese Proverb

Part Five: Tongue Twister

Do you find pronunciation in English difficult? Well, try to say this little poem a few times, and you should at least have the "S" sound mastered!

She sells sea shells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

Answers

Answers to Part One

The mountain was named Table Mountain because it is very flat on top and has steep sides, like a table.
Dassies are small animals which live on Table Mountain. They look a lot like rabbits with short ears, but are in fact related to elephants.
entire
the foot of the mountain
The Table Mountain area is protected as a national nature reserve.