The Reading / Listening - Lost at Sea - Level 4

We all want to get away from it all. Two men from the Solomon Islands accidentally did that. They spent 29 days lost at sea. They left a small island in a boat to travel 200km to another island. They had done the trip before. A storm hit and blew them 400km off course. The storm messed up their navigation system, so they lost their ability to find their location. They ended up near Papua New Guinea.

The two men joked about their adventure. One said: "We didn't know where we were but did not expect to be in another country." They ate oranges they bought for their journey and coconuts they found in the sea. A fisherman saw their boat and they were rescued. The man said: "I look forward to going back home, but I guess it was a nice break from everything." However, COVID-19 means they will not be able to travel for a while.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Lost at Sea - Level 5 or  Lost at Sea - Level 6

Sources
  • https://nypost.com/2021/10/08/men-rescued-after-29-days-lost-at-sea-it-was-a-nice-break/
  • https://thehill.com/changing-america/resilience/smart-cities/575911-two-men-rescued-after-29-days-lost-at-sea-survived
  • https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/08/it-was-a-nice-break-from-everything-two-men-rescued-after-29-days-lost-at-sea


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. We all want to get away
  2. They spent 29 days
  3. They left a small island
  4. They had done
  5. A storm hit and blew them
  6. messed up
  7. they lost their ability
  8. They ended up
  1. the trip before
  2. their navigation system
  3. lost at sea
  4. near Papua New Guinea
  5. in a boat
  6. 400km off course
  7. from it all
  8. to find their location

Paragraph 2

  1. The two men joked about
  2. We didn't know where
  3. coconuts they found
  4. A fisherman saw their boat and
  5. I look forward
  6. it was a nice break
  7. they will not be
  8. for a
  1. to going back
  2. able to travel
  3. they were rescued
  4. their adventure
  5. while
  6. in the sea
  7. from everything
  8. we were

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

We all want to (1) ___________________ it all. Two men from the Solomon Islands (2) ___________________. They spent 29 days lost at sea. They left (3) ___________________ in a boat to travel 200km to another island. They had done the trip before. A storm                                 (4) ___________________ them 400km off course. The storm messed up their navigation system, so they (5) ___________________ to find their location. They (6) ___________________ Papua New Guinea.

The two men joked (7) ___________________. One said: "We didn't know where we were but did not (8) ___________________ in another country." They ate oranges they bought for their                                         (9) ___________________ they found in the sea. A fisherman saw their boat and (10) ___________________. The man said: "I look forward to going back home, (11) ___________________ it was a nice break from everything." However, COVID-19 means they will not be                              (12) ___________________ for a while.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

Weallwanttogetawayfromitall.TwomenfromtheSolomonIslandsacci
dentallydidthat.Theyspent29dayslostatsea.Theyleftasmallislandina
boattotravel200kmtoanotherisland.Theyhaddonethetripbefore.Ast
ormhitandblewthem400kmoffcourse.Thestormmesseduptheirnavig
ationsystem,sotheylosttheirabilitytofindtheirlocation.Theyendedup
nearPapuaNewGuinea.Thetwomenjokedabouttheiradventure.Ones
aid:"Wedidn'tknowwherewewerebutdidnotexpecttobeinanothercou
ntry."Theyateorangestheyboughtfortheirjourneyandcoconutstheyf
oundinthesea.Afishermansawtheirboatandtheywererescued.Them
ansaid:"Ilookforwardtogoingbackhome,butIguessitwasanicebreakf
romeverything."However,COVID-19meanstheywillnotbeabletotrav
elforawhile.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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