Speed Reading — Titanic Postcard - Level 3 — 200 wpm

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Try the same text at a reading speed of 300 words per minute.


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A postcard written by a worker on the Titanic in 1912 could fetch $15,000 at an auction in the USA. The card was written by Jack Phillips, the ship's senior wireless operator. He wrote the card to his sister while the Titanic was at port in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He wrote: "Very busy working late. Hope to leave on Monday and arrive in Southampton Wednesday afternoon. Hope you are OK." His message ends with the words, "Love, Jack." The postcard features photos of the Titanic on one side. On the address side of the card there is a postmark from a post office in Belfast. The card is one of many objects from the wreck of the Titanic in a multi-million-dollar auction.

The Titanic was a British passenger liner completed in 1912. Its builders said the ship's design made it unsinkable. It embarked on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April the 10th, 1912 and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean five days later. The ship hit an iceberg. The impact made a huge hole in the ship's hull. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 died. Mr Phillips abandoned ship as water flooded the Titanic. He escaped and ended up on an overturned lifeboat. He waited to be rescued but died of exposure to severe cold. He was 25 years old. The story of the Titanic was made into a 1997 Oscar-winning movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

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