James Cook (1728-1779)

The British explorer James Cook was born in the village of Marton, Yorkshire, on 27 October, 1728.
His family soon ____________ (move) to another village, called Great Ayton, where Cook
_____________(spend) most of his childhood. As a teenager James Cook ______________
(develop) a fascination for the sea and _______________ (travel) to Whitby where
he _____________ (find) employment on a coal ship. While he _______________ (serve) in the
Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), Cook _____________ (have) the command of
a ship. Once the war _______________ (end), Cook _______________ (take) command of the vessel
Grenville and _______________ (go) to Newfoundland to survey the coasts there. While
he ________________ (map) the coasts of Newfoundland, he _______________ (observe) a solar
eclipse off the North American coast. Cook _______________ (send) the details to the Royal Society,
England's leading scientific organisation, and ________________ (win) their attention. After
Cook _________________ (publish) his observations of the solar eclipse, the Royal Society
________________ (ask) him to lead a scientific expedition to Tahiti and ________________ (put)
him in command of the HMS Endeavour. From Tahiti Cook then ________________ (go on) to
explore the South Pacific. He also _________________ (reach) New Zealand, which only the
Dutchman Abel Tasman ________________ (visit) before Cook. After Cook ______________
(map) New Zealand's complete coastline, he _______________ (sail) to Australia's east coast.
Cook ______________ (name) the area New South Wales as it ______________ (remind) him of the
south coast of Wales in Great Britain.

In 1772, one year after Cook ______________ (return) from his first voyage to the Pacific, the Royal
Society _____________ (hire) him for another expedition to find the mythical “Terra Australis”. On
his journey, Cook ______________ (discover) several islands and almost __________ (go) as far as
the continent of Antarctica. He ______________ (make) maps of the South Pacific
and ___________(prove) that Terra Australis _____________(exist / not).

His third and last voyage for the Royal Society ______________ (take) him to the west coast of North
America where he _______________ (try) to find a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific.
He ________________ (not / can / pass) the Bering Strait, however; the ice ______________(force)
him to return to Hawaii, which he__________________ (discover) earlier. While he and his
crew _______________ (rest) in Hawaii, some Hawaiians _____________ (steal) one of his boats.
When cook and his men ________________ (try) to get the boat back from the natives, a violent
fight ________________ (break out) in which the natives _________________ (stab) James Cook to
death.