4. A unique experience

Actividad de lectura

newspaper
Elaboración propia con fodey

 

 

You are going to read one of the experiences. Look at the pictures. Can you guess what happened?

scuba shark earthquake
Imagen de Fonthipward en Pixabay bajo licencia CC Imagen de goranmx en pixabay bajo licencia CC Imagen de P199 en wikicommons bajo licencia CC

Actividad desplegable

 

Now read the story and put the paragraphs in the correct order.

I survived an underwater earthquake

 

Back on the boat, we listened to the news on the radio and discovered the earthquake measured 7.0 on the Richter scale. Surprisingly, no one was injured- the epicentre of the earthquake was out in the middle of the ocean where there weren’t any inhabited islands. I haven’t been scuba diving since then. I will go again some day, but not right now

 The sound and vibrations lasted only two or three minutes, though it felt like hours. Then we looked for the others. I wanted to swim to the surface but we  had to find them. After about 10 minutes, when my air supply was getting low, we saw them about 10m ahead. We slowly swam to the surface. When we got there we took off our masks and shouted, "What was that?"

After nearly 45 minutes, I heard a rumble like an engine, and I felt big vibrations in the water. I looked up but couldn't see anything. The dive instructor's eyes were wide open: he didn't know what was going on either. I swam next to him and we kept close to the reef. I couldn't see my friend or the other divers. The situation felt dangerous.

It was a lovely day and after breakfast we got on the boat with ten other divers. This was my 20th dive. I put on the diving gear and jumped off the boat, and slowly started to sink to about 20m. I saw thousands of brightly-coloured fish, vivid coral and even a few sharks (though they weren’t interested in me). It was so calm, so peaceful.

I have had many exciting moments in my life but the most unbelievable experience was last November , when I went scuba diving with a friend near the Philippines.

Then clouds of white sand covered us, and I wondered if it was an underwater bomb. Cracks began forming on the seabed and the sand sank down. That's when I realised it was an earthquake. The noise was the sound of the Earth breaking open! The instructor and I held hands. I have never been so frightened in my life. My heart was beating fast but I didn't panic. What good would it do me anyway? 

Enable JavaScript

Caso práctico

Are these statements true or false? Correct the false ones.

1. The writer had lots of experience

2. The diver heard something before she saw anything.

3. The instructor understood the situation immediately.

4. The writer didn't go to the surface immediately because she wanted to find her friends

5. Many people died in the earthquake.

6. The incident hasn't affected the writer.

Polysemy

Many words have more than one meaning. Look at these words from the text and decide the correct meaning from this context.

1) gear

a) machinery  b) part of a car that makes the engine go fast or slow (1st, 2nd, 3rd gear)   c) special equipment for a particular  activity

2) sink

a) basin for washing clothes or hands   b) fall or descend gradually   c) make something submerge

3) going on

a) happening                      b) continuing           c) risking

4) took off

a) became popular              b) left the ground     c) removed

Caso práctico

You are going to listen to a man talking about a special way he celebrated his birthday. Listen and answer the questions.

 tandem

 Imagen de DVDSHIB en Flickr
bajo licencia CC

1. How old was the man?

2. What is tandem parachuting?

3. Who came to see him?

4. What height did they jump from?

5 How did he feel when he jumped out of the plane?

6. What particular building could he see?

7. Did he enjoy the experience?