About the Author
Jack London was born in San Francisco
in 1876. Life was hard when Jack was
growingupandhestartedworkingwhen
hewas10.Hedidlotsofdifferentjobs.In
hisfreetimehewenttothelibraryandhe
spentmanyhoursthere,reading.In1894
hewentbacktoschool,andpublishedhis
first short story Typhoon• off the Coast
of Japan. Then in 1896 he went to the
UniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley,buthehadtoleavebecause
ofmoneyproblems.
In July 1897 he left for the Klondike Gold Rush• in Alaska.
However, he became ill and came home and started working
as a full-time writer. He wrote short stories and soon he was
well-known•.In1903hewrotehismostfamousstory:The Call
of the Wild.HisnextnovelwasThe Sea-Wolf (1904)whichis
perhapshisbestliterarynovel.Withtheearnings•heboughta
largefarminCalifornia,wherehediedin1916,agedonly40
yearsold.
Londonwasaprolific•writerinhisshortlife.Between1905and
1916hepublished18novelsandsixcollectionsofstories,as
wellasaplay,variousworksofnon-fictionandabiography.Heis
renowned•forhisdescriptionsofnatureandtheanimalworld.
About the Book
White Fang came out first as a serialized• story in The Outing
Magazine, between May and October, 1906. Then it was
publishedasasinglebook.Itwasanimmediatesuccess.London
wroteWhite Fangasacompanion•toThe Call of the Wild.In
The Call of the Wild,adomesticated•dogfromCaliforniaends
up•withwildwolvesinAlaska.InWhite Fang,adogwhichis
three-quarters wolf and one quarter dog is brought up wild in
Alaska,andendsupdomesticatedinCalifornia.
Inthestory,WhiteFangisforcedtoadapt•toaseriesofdifferent
situationsinordertosurvive.Thebookalsotraces•WhiteFang’s
relationshipwiththeworldofhumansandhow,aftersuffering
greatcruelty,hegraduallylearnstoloveandtrust•someone.The
storywaswrittenduringJackLondon’scourtshipandmarriageto
CharmianKittredge.JustasWhiteFangistamedbyScott’slove,
London,too,istamedbyhisloveforCharmian.
LikeThe Call of the Wild, thisstoryexploresthethemeofthe
survivalofthefittest–thisideawasputforwardbyDarwinin
hisOrigin of Specieswherelivingcreaturesareforcedtoadapt
totheirsurroundingsordie.Londonalsoexaminestheideaof
‘nature versus nurture•’: do animals and people act according
tothecharacteristicswithwhichtheywereborn(nature),ordo
theychangedependingonhowtheyaretreatedbythosearound
them(nurture)?
y
Glossar
• earnings:moneyyougetforwork
• Klondike Gold Rush: when gold was
discovered in the Klondike area
betweenAlaskaandCanadain1896
peoplewenttheretofindgold
6
• prolific:whowrotemanybooks
• renowned:known
• typhoon:tropicalcyclone
• well-known:famous
• adapt:change
• companion:(here)togowith
• domesticated:tameandgoodwith
people
• endsup:findshimself
• nurture:howyouarelookedafter
whenyouaregrowingup
• serialized:inparts
• traces:follows
• trust:believeinsomeone
7
WhiteFang
THeLoNGTRAIL
14
White Fang sensed something terrible. He was whining• softly
outsidethecabin.
‘Ithinkheknows,’saidMatt.
‘WhatcanIdowithawolfinCalifornia?’askedScott.
ThenWhiteFangsawhislove-masterpackinghisthingsinto
a bag. His god was going away again, and, like last time, he
wasn’t taking White Fang with him. That night he howled the
longwolf-howl,pointinghisnosetothestarsandtellingthemof
hissadness.
ThenextdayScottcalledWhiteFangintothecabin.
‘Youpoorthing,’hesaid,rubbinghisears.‘I’mstartingthe
longtrail,whereyoucannotfollow.Nowgivemealastgoodbye
growl•.’
But White Fang didn’t growl. He put his head between his
master’s arm and body. Then, at that moment from the Yukon
River,theboat’swhistlesounded.
‘Youneedtogonow,’saidMatt.
Thetwomenlockedthedoorsandwentoutside.Frominside
theycouldhearWhiteFangwhiningandcrying.
‘Takegoodcareofhim,Matt,’saidScott.
White Fang was howling like dogs do when their master is
dead.
Down by the river, everything was busy. The two men stood
shakinghands,butMatt’shandsuddenlydroppedashelooked
pasthisemployer.Scottturnedaround.Sittingonthedeck•a
fewmetersawaywasWhiteFang.
Theship’swhistlehooted•againtoannouncethedeparture.
Peoplerandownontothebank.MattwenttogetWhiteFang,he
wantedtousehisscarfasalead•.
‘Goodbye,Matt,’saidScott.‘Andaboutthewolf,don’twrite
abouthim.I’llwritetoyou!!’
‘Youdon’tmean…?’startedMatt.‘TheclimateinCalifornia
willbedifficultforawolf.’
Theshipmovedoutintotheriver.Scottwavedalastgoodbye.
ThenheturnedandbentoverWhiteFang.
‘Nowgrowl,willyou,growl!’hesaid,ashepattedthedog’s
head.
y
Glossar
• deck:toppartofalargeboat,where
youstand
• growl:lowvibratingnoiseadogor
wolfmakeswhenitisangry
52
• whining:longnoiseadogorwolf
makeswhenitisunhappy
• lead:longropeyouusetotakeadog
forawalk
• ship’swhistlehooted:thesteamwent
throughapipeintheshipandmade
aloudnoise
53
WhiteFang
THesouTHLAND
15
WhiteFanglandedinSanFrancisco.Herethewhitemenreally
seemed like powerful gods. There were towering buildings,
automobilesandelectrictrams•.Itwasamazingandfrightening.
Hefeltevenmoredependentonhislove-master.
TheygotatrainandWhiteFangfoundhimselfoutsidethecity
inwonderful,sunnycountryside.Acarriage•waswaitinganda
manandwomanwalkedtowardsthem.WhiteFanggrowledwhen
Scott’smotherembracedhim,butScottcalmedhimandthey
droveoffinthecarriagetoalargehouse.
Assoonastheyarrived,WhiteFangwasattackedbyasheepdog• called Collie, and a deerhound• called Dick. White Fang
attackedDickandnearlykilledhimbuthedidn’tattackCollie
becauseshewasfemale,andthatwastherule.
AllWhiteFangwantedwastobeleftalone.Dicksoonagreedto
this,andtheynolongertookanyinterestineachother.However,
Collie remembered wolves stealing sheep, and she couldn’t
accepthim.Sheregularlyattackedhim,butheneveroncehurt
herbecauseshewasfemale.
NextWhiteFanglearnedabouthismaster’sfamily.Helearned
whowasmostimportanttoScott.Hewassoonabletotolerate•,
thenevenlike,hismaster’schildren.However,heneversawthe
othermembersofthefamilyasanythingbutpossessionsofhis
master.
y
Glossar
• carriage:kindof‘car’
pulledbyhorses
• deerhound:largedog
usedforhuntingdeer
54
• electrictrams:typeofpublic
buswhichrunsonrails
• sheep-dog:dogusedformoving
sheep
• tolerate:accept
55
AfterReading
After Reading
2 Readthetextbelow,andtick(✓)true(T)orfalse(F).
Test
The gray wolf is a medium-sized carnivore which is found in
manypartsoftheworld.Russian,EuropeanandNorthAmerican
wolves tend to be more similar to each other than the Indian,
Middle Eastern and African ones. Adult northern wolves are
100-160 cm long, 80 cm high, and weigh about 36 kg. They
have great endurance, travelling up to 25 km a day, living in
temperaturesof-40°C,andbeingabletosurvivefortwoweeks
withnofood.Theyhavethickgrayfur,whichhelpsthemkeep
warm in snowy mountainous areas where they often live. They
livetogetherinfamilygroupsknownaspacks,andmatedpairs
staytogetherforlife.Eachpackhasalargeterritory,andthey
will fight other packs which come into it. Their main food is
deer, but they also eat other small mammals such has hares,
foxes,mice,birdsandtheireggs.Theycommunicateoverlong
distancesbyhowling,usuallytogroupthepacktogetherorwhen
theyareinanareatheydon’tknowwell.Afemalecanproduce
fourorfivecubseachyear.Whenthereareyoungcubsthepack
doesnotmovearound.
T
F
a)Wolveseverywhereintheworldarethesame. £ £
1 Readthetextandchoosethecorrectwordforeachspace.Write
1,2,or3inthespace.
Nationalparksintheyukon
ThreeofCanada’sNationalParksareintheYukon.TheKluane
NationalPark(a)............anareaof21,980km2.Itisanareaof
highmountains,hugeice-fieldsandfertilevalleys.MountLogan
isCanada’s(b)............mountainat5,950m.Theparkishome
to118speciesofbreedingbirds.TheVuntutNationalParkwas
(c)............in1995.ItisintheextremenortheastoftheYukon.
Vuntut(d)............‘amongthelakes’inGwitchin,thelanguage
of the Native Americans who live in the region. The Ivvavik
NationalParkisalsomountainous,withtheBritishMountains
covering (e) ............ of its territory. It is the place where the
caribougotohavetheirbabies.Aswellascaribou,thesethree
NationalParksare(f)............toarangeofinterestinganimals,
suchasgrizzlybears,lynxes,moose,foxesandwolves.Onthe
coast there are polar bears, and there are enormous breeding
groundsforhalfamillionmigratorybirds.TheYukonisnotvery
(g)............:theaveragesummertemperatureisonly14°C,and
thewinteraverageis-29°C!Butitisa(h)............placetovisit,
withbeautifulwildcountryside.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
74
1includes
1highest
1made
1understands
1all
1home
1cold
1frightening
2covers
2lowest
2built
2means
2two-thirds
2house
2frozen
2fascinating
3owns
3shortest
3opened
3speaks
3none
3nest
3warm
3funny
b)Wolvescansurviveindifficultconditions.
£ £
c)Theirfurhelpsthemtosurviveinthecold.
£ £
d)Themalesmatewithadifferentfemaleeveryyear.
£ £
e)Packsaremadeupmostlyofthesamefamily
ofwolves.
f) Wolvesonlyeatoneortwokindsofanimals.
£ £
£ £
g)Thewolvesstayinoneplacewhenthecubs
areborn.
£ £
3 Lookatthepictureonpage28askapartnerquestionsaboutwhat
youcanseeinit.
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