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again; they probably froze to death. Lorne Knight was by now so afflicted with scurvy
that he could scarcely move. He was nursed by Ada until April, when he also died.
Ada was now utterly alone in the ice-bound wilderness.

She soon learned to kill seals, foxes and ducks. She then made stews out of the meat.
She managed to keep a fire going. But as another summer slipped by, she grew
weaker and weaker. She prepared for her own lingering death. But just when she had
given up hope of ever being rescued, she sighted a vessel. On 23 August 1923, the
Donaldson arrived at Wrangel Island.

The crew was expecting to find the five in good health; instead, they stumbled upon
only a half-starved Ada Blackjack.

When her story reached the outside world, the newspapers labelled her the ‘Female
Robinson Crusoe’. Her survival, they said, was a miracle. But she was, by now, a
celebrity, heralded in books and journals.

Ada never made it to the North Pole, but she did return to the Arctic and eventually
make it her home. ‘Brave?’ this unassuming young woman would say whenever
people would praise her courage. ‘I don’t know about that. But I would never give up
hope while I’m still alive.’

On the basis of your reading of the passage given above, answer the
following questions.

1. How old was Ada Blackjack when she joined Wrangel Island Expedition?

a. 28 years b. 23 years c. 26 years d. 22 years

2. What was Ada employed as?

a. a hairdresser b. a journalist c. a researcher d. a seamstress

3. What was Ada afraid of?

a. polar bears and penguins b. polar bears and guns

c. polar bears and whales d. polar bears and hunters

4. Ada decided to join the Wrangel Island expedition because

a. she was fond of adventure

b. she was skilled in surviving in the wild

c. she needed the money

d. her parents wanted her to join it

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