Блог учителя англійської мови Скорнякової М.Є.

INDIVIDUAL READING: The Lost World


The Lost World
Reviewed by Alexandra Bobrova, 8c

During these holidays I read an interesting book under the title The Lost World. The book was written by my favorite author Arthur Conan Doyle. Also I read the books about Sherlock Holmes, but I want to tell about The Lost World. The action takes place one century ago when people tried to explore more places where they hadn’t been before. The scene is laid in England and in South America. The plot is the following: the expedition to South America and finding prehistoric animals. The main characters of the book are Mr. Malone, a journalist, two constant rivals Professor Challenger and Professor Summerlee and Lord John Roxton who sponsored the expedition.

The events started when Mr. Malone came to his girlfriend to ask her to marry him. But she refused because Malone wasn`t a hero. Then Malone was sent to make a report to the Daily Gazette about the famous zoologist Professor Challenger. Professor affirmed that he had seen prehistoric animals in South America. Of course everybody said he was a liar. Challenger hated all reporters and drove them out of his house. But he liked Malone and allowed him to interview. The professor told the reporter about his adventures in South America and showed him the wing of pterodactyl and a sketchbook. The sketchbook belonged to Maple White who was an artist and pioneer of Lost World. After his story, Challenger invited Malone to Zoological Institute to the lecture. There Professor tried to tell scientists about the lost world, but nobody believed. To prove his words Challenger offered some people to go to South America with him. Those people were Professor Summerlee, Lord John Roxton and Malone.

After they had reached America, they were seeking for plateau where the Lost word was. It wasn`t easy to get onto it but they did it. In all their adventures most of all I liked the episode with pterodactyls. These dinosaurs lived on the rocks. Mothers were sitting on their yellowish eggs and fathers were guarding them. Pterodactyls looked dreadful. They were tall, grey, all covered with thick scales, they had beaks with teeth and shining red eyes. Professors liked to stay with terrible creatures all day. Once Challenger showed his head over rock and one of pterodactyls saw him. It gave a cry and flew up in the air, all other dinosaurs flew up with him. At first the pterodactyls flew round in a circle. Then the circle became smaller and pterodactyls flew close to the faces of our heroes. The creatures attacked. Lord John began to shoot them. People ran into the woods. There they were safe there because pterodactyls couldn`t fly among the trees. Then the story tells us about the meeting with a meat eating dinosaur, the trip to lake Gladys and the attack of ape-men. The ape-men were the greatest problem for Indians. The ugly creatures caught natives for fun and then put them to death. In this way the ape-men decided to capture the professors and the lord. But our heroes fled and helped the natives to win a war with apes. In gratitude the natives showed the Englishmen the exit from plateau.

In England our heroes became famous. But Gladys despite it didn`t marry Malone. And he went on the next trip with the lord.