Alice: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English: we’ll be

 

talking about a story in the news and learning some vocabulary along the way.

 

I’m Alice and joining me today is Neil. Welcome, Neil.

 

Neil: Hi there Alice.

 

Alice: Now, Neil are you good with maps?

 

Neil: Good with maps? You mean – am I good at reading maps?

 

Alice: Yes. Can you find your way to a place you want to go to just by looking at

 

a map.

 

Neil: Well, actually I need a map. Because I used to think I had a great sense of

 

direction but now I have to admit I have a terrible sense of direction. I almost

 

always walk in the wrong direction automatically, so I need a map.

 

Alice: You need a map. Well I like to think I’m a fairly good navigator – that’s

 

someone who finds or plots the way. But what if the map is wrong? I once

 

walked around a town for a whole hour using a map I’d downloaded from the

 

internet, and then I realised the map I was using was completely wrong.

 

Neil: Oh dear, it does happen.

 

Alice: Yes it does. And in 6 Minute English today, we’ll be hearing about an island that

 

has appeared on maps for several years, but which people now realise has never

 

existed at all!

 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012

 

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Neil: Aha, this is the famous Sandy Island near Australia.

 

Alice: Yes, it’s all very suspicious! And, Neil, as we’re talking about islands, my

 

question for you today is about a legendary island which is supposed to have

 

sunk into the ocean thousands of years ago. Was it called:

 

a) Pacifica

 

b) Atlantis, or

 

c) Oceana

 

Neil: Well, I will have a think about that and tell you at the end of the programme.

 

Alice: OK, as usual we’ll find out what the answer is at the end. Now let’s hear more

 

about Sandy Island – the island that never was! Maria Seton from the University

 

of Sydney in Australia was on an expedition in the sea between Australia and

 

New Caledonia.

 

Scientist Maria Seton:

 

We were actually out in the Eastern Coral Sea conducting a scientific research expedition and

 

when we were approaching the area of this supposed island, we saw that our scientific maps

 

showed there was an island there, and yet the navigation charts on board the vessel showed

 

that we had a water depth of 1,400 metres. So that’s where we started getting suspicious.

 

Alice: Maria Seton and her research team were looking at their scientific maps which

 

showed an island. But they became suspicious – they questioned what they

 

saw. Why?

 

Neil: Because when they got to the area where the island was supposed to be, the

 

navigation charts on board the vessel – the ship – showed that all that was there

 

was 1,400 metres of water.

 

Alice: So, the island wasn’t there. Could it have sunk? Here’s BBC Correspondent

 

Duncan Kennedy in Australia:

 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012

 

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BBC Correspondent, Duncan Kennedy

 

It hasn’t sunk – no it was never there. The Australian Naval Maps department – the

 

department that makes naval maps – said it could simply be human error repeated down

 

through the years.

 

Neil: Did you hear what did the department that makes naval maps in Australia said

 

about Sandy Island appearing on its maps?

 

Alice: They said it could be human error repeated through the years. That means one

 

person made a mistake and put the island on the map and then other people

 

just copied their map over and over again.

 

Neil: Interesting. But how could all maps make the same mistake? The island

 

appeared on standard maps, nautical maps – that’s maps of the ocean - and

 

even Google Earth, which is largely made up of photos from space?

 

Alice: Well, people who make maps use a variety of sources they say – lots of different

 

reference materials – so maybe it wasn’t worth taking thousands of photos of

 

the sea, but easier to copy someone else’s map. Here’s what the BBC’s Duncan

 

Kennedy says about the mistake:

 

BBC Correspondent Duncan Kennedy:

 

Sandy Island appears on standard maps, nautical maps and it even appears on Google

 

Earth and a spokesman for Google Earth Maps Australia said they use a variety of sources to

 

compile their maps but that things change. They’re advising people to tell them if they spot

 

similar mistakes could they let them know.

 

Alice: The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy, who says map makers like Google Earth have

 

advised people to tell them if they spot similar mistakes on any of their maps.

 

Neil: Yes, things change! Even islands disappear sometimes – which brings me to the

 

answer to your question at the beginning of 6 Minute English Alice. I think I

 

know the name of that legendary island you were talking about.

 

Alice: Ah yes, I asked you if it was called: a. Pacifica, b. Atlantis or c. Oceana. 

 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012

 

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Neil: And I thought it was a trick question but I’m going to go with what I first

 

thought, which is Atlantis.

 

Alice: And you’re right. Atlantis was the name given to a legendary island which was

 

supposed to have been somewhere between Africa and Europe before it sunk. It

 

was talked about by Plato in the fourth century BC.

 

And, Neil, I hope you’ll share some of the words we’ve heard in today’s

 

programme:

 

Neil: Yes, of course. Here they are:

 

Reading maps, navigator, expedition, suspicious, human error, nautical, variety

 

of sources

 

Alice: Thanks so much, Neil. And please join us again soon for more 6 Minute English

 

from bbclearningenglish.com.

 

Neil: And don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter. We really do exist

 

there. Honestly.

 

Alice: Bye for now.

 

Neil: Bye.