Thor Heyerdahl
ANNOUNCER: Section 3. You will hear two anthropology students called Victor and Olivia discussing their joint presentation about a Norwegian explorer called Thor Heyerdahl. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.
VICTOR: Right, well, for our presentation, shall I start with the early life of Thor Heyerdahl?
OLIVIA: Sure. Why don't you begin by describing the type of boy he was? Especially his passion for collecting things.
VICTOR: That's right. He even had his own little museum. And it was unusual because he developed his own interests rather than joining in his parents' hobbies. For example, he refused to go hunting with his father.
OLIVIA: Yes. Instead, he preferred learning about nature by listening to his mother reading to him. Quite early he decided he wanted to become an explorer.
VICTOR: I think that idea actually came from his interest in climbing when he was young.
OLIVIA: After university he married a classmate. Together they decided to live on a remote island to see how harsh weather affects people's lifestyle.
VICTOR: Before leaving, they prepared by learning survival skills, such as how to build a shelter. They planned to live in a wild and isolated locatio
.
OLIVIA: An important part of your talk should be the radical theory Heyerdahl formed after examining mysterious ancient carvings he found on the island.
VICTOR: OK, I'll finish my section with that.
ANNOUNCER: Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.
OLIVIA: After that I'll talk about Heyerdahl's adult life and his theory about Polynesian migratio
. Until then, academics believed people reached Polynesia from Asia in the west.
VICTOR: Yes, because they thought travelling from the east was impossible due to the huge Pacific Ocea
.
OLIVIA: But Heyerdahl studied cloud movements, ocean currents, and wind patterns to see if such travel could actually happen.
VICTOR: Some scholars also argued that eastern cultures had no tradition of building large ships. But Heyerdahl knew they used canoes for coastal journeys.
OLIVIA: And he later demonstrated the possibility by making a long raft voyage.
VICTOR: Yes, that journey was very dangerous. Some people thought he did it to show he could have exciting adventures.
OLIVIA: I think he simply wanted to test his theory about migration.
VICTOR: During World War II, he had to stop his work for several years.
OLIVIA: When he resumed his research and planned the Kon-Tiki voyage, he was determined to use only ancient techniques and local materials to build the raft.
VICTOR: The journey from South America to the Pacific Islands took 97 days.
OLIVIA: Later he travelled to Easter Island to study the famous stone carvings and even attempted to make one himself.
VICTOR: Although many of his theories were later disproved, he left a strong impact on fields such as archaeology and anthropology.
OLIVIA: Yes, especially the idea of practical archaeology, where researchers recreate historical experiences to understand the past.
VICTOR: For our presentation I'll add a PowerPoint slide acknowledging our sources. I mainly used the book The Life and Work of Thor Heyerdahl by William Oliver.
OLIVIA: I agree, the topic is quite complex, but the book explains it well.
ANNOUNCER: That is the end of Section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.