My journey with swans

Part 6.- You are going to read an article about a woman who flew with migrating swans. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (37-42). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

 

My journey with swans

Conversationist and adventure Sacha Dench joined Bewick’s swans on their 11,000 kilometre migration from Russia to England.

I caught sight of the south coast of England on Nov 29, from the skies above northern France. It was the first moment during my three-month paramotor journey, following Bewick’s swans as they migrated from Russia’’s Artic tundra to Britain, that I’d thought about coming home. Our final destination, Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire, was a few days away.

 

Adventure has always been part of my life since I grew up in the remote Australian bush. I spent a lot of time diving under water. I moved to Britain at 15 and later took a biology degree in London. I was there that I took up free-diving as a sport. Free-diving, combined with my conservation interests, took me around the world. I worked for the Environment Agency, spending time in South America looking at indigenous development projects. 37.-_____ It was also in South America that I was introduced to paragliding, and after two years I tried a paramotor, basically a paraglider with a motor and propeller attached.

 

The link between these interests and the plight of the Bewick’s swans came last year. I now work at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, and attended a presentation by the top Bewick’s researchers. The swans decline had become rapid, they said, and something needed to be done urgently. 38.-_____ The migration route of these birds from the Artic across ten countries to Britain sounded amazing. How could we use it to find out what was causing the swan’s decline and engage the people along they way who were possibly part of the problem?

 

Some months later the idea came to me. 39.-______ Whenever I’d land in Britain the questioning would be intense – Where have you come from? Why would you do that? – all the kinds of questions we wanted people to be asking about the Bewick’s swans. I realised that in a paramotor I could fly all the places the birds went, at the same speed and attitude, and thus learn a lot more about them.

40.-_____ We got permission from the Russians to fly through large parts of their country. I practised water landings in case the paramotor’s engine failed when I crossed the English Channel and spent time in a cold chamber testing all the kit. I launched on September 1, supported by a team of 14 people to film me and the birds, and made sure everything ran smoothly. The first time I flew with the swans was magical. They soared in a big ‘V’ formation 50m above me, letting me get the first accurate recording of their speed – 45-50km/hour.

By the time I crossed the Channel, the size of the flock soaring over me was much smaller than it had been in Russia. To date only 150 of the 18,000 swans have made it to Slimbridge. Most of the rest of them will spend winter in the Netherlands; and some will not make it home at all. 41.-_____ Alongside changing weather patterns, predation and the disappearance of wetland’s are major issues.

 

Many people simply found it hard to believe that we cared so much. 42.-______ Perhaps next year they’ll take interest in a few more of these special birds completing their journeys.

A) Preparation began in earnest.

B) It taught me the value of telling the stories of conservation, finding ways of involving people.

C) There were lows, of course, such as when I dislocated my knee trying to take off.

D) I hope my human effort will have inspired them.

E) My trip has certainly brought the challenges the birds face into sharp focus.

F) Paramotoring is still unusual enough that it fascinates people.

G) Their action plan didn’t sound like it would work quickly enough.