Travelling to extreme locations
Geoff: I’d like to take a vacation to somewhere really extreme.
Melanie: Yeah, my friend’s in Chile at the moment, and she has just written to me telling me how vast the desert is and uh, she went, um, down south to this beautiful, um, glacial region.
Geoff: I’ve heard that Chile has some beautiful landscapes. And I remember seeing some photographs of glaciers in the south, in the Patagonian region, and these glaciers really look spectacular, and some of them stretch on for miles.
Melanie: I know. It’s- it sounds really beautiful. And meanwhile, here’s us, sitting in the garden in our urban environment.
Vocabulary:
really extreme – reaching a high or the highest degree; very intense or far from the norm, “Skydiving over an active volcano is a really extreme sport that only a few dare to try.”
at the moment – right now; at the present time, “I cannot answer the phone at the moment because I am in the middle of an important meeting.”
just written – having completed a piece of writing very recently, “She has just written a letter to her grandmother to thank her for the birthday present.”
vast – of very great extent or quantity; immense, “The Sahara Desert is a vast expanse of sand that covers much of North Africa.”
glacial region – an area covered by or containing glaciers and ice sheets, “Scientists travel to the glacial region of Antarctica to study the effects of climate change.”
landscapes – all the visible features of an area of countryside or land, “The artist loved to paint the rugged landscapes of the Scottish Highlands.”
glaciers – slowly moving masses or rivers of ice formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow on mountains or near the poles, “Due to rising global temperatures, many ancient glaciers are melting at an alarming rate.”
Patagonian region – a geographical area located at the southern end of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile, “Hikers from all over the world visit the Patagonian region to see its famous granite peaks.”
spectacular – beautiful in a dramatic and eye-catching way, “The fireworks display over the harbor was absolutely spectacular.”
stretch on for miles – to extend over a very long physical distance, “The golden sand beaches of the coast stretch on for miles without interruption.”
meanwhile – in the intervening period of time or at the same time, “My brother was cooking dinner; meanwhile, I was setting the table.”
urban environment – a human settlement with a high population density and built infrastructure, such as a city or town, “Living in an urban environment means having easy access to public transit and museums.”