The Reading / Listening - Lost at Sea - Level 5

We spend hours dreaming of getting away from it all. Two men from the Solomon Islands inadvertently did just that. They spent 29 days away from the rat race after getting lost at sea. They set off from an island on September the 3rd in a small motorboat to travel 200km to another island. It was a trip they had taken several times before. Soon after they set out, a storm played havoc with their navigation system. They lost their ability to find their location at sea. The storm blew them off course. They ended up 400km away, off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

The two men were upbeat about their unplanned adventure. Rather than be distressed, they said they enjoyed the potentially life-threatening escapade. One man said: "We didn't know where we were but did not expect to be in another country." They survived by eating oranges they had bought for their journey and coconuts floating in the sea. A fisherman spotted their boat and authorities rescued them. The man said: "I look forward to going back home, but I guess it was a nice break from everything." However, due to COVID-19, they will not be able to travel for a little while yet.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Lost at Sea - Level 4 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. dreaming of getting
  2. away from the rat
  3. a trip they had taken several
  4. a trip they had taken several
  5. played
  6. They lost their ability
  7. The storm blew them off
  8. off the coast of
  1. havoc
  2. times before
  3. Papua New Guinea
  4. away from it all
  5. course
  6. times before
  7. race
  8. to find their location

Paragraph 2

  1. upbeat about their unplanned
  2. the potentially life-
  3. We didn't know where
  4. expect to be in
  5. They survived
  6. coconuts floating
  7. it was a nice break
  8. will not be able to travel for
  1. in the sea
  2. another country
  3. a little while yet
  4. we were
  5. adventure
  6. from everything
  7. threatening escapade
  8. by eating oranges

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

We spend hours dreaming of (1) ___________________ it all. Two men from the Solomon Islands inadvertently (2) ___________________. They spent 29 days away from the rat race after getting lost at sea. They (3) ___________________ an island on September the 3rd in a small motorboat to travel 200km to another island. It was a trip they had (4) ___________________ before. Soon after they set out, a storm (5) ___________________ their navigation system. They lost their ability to find their location at sea. The storm blew them off course. They ended up 400km away, (6) ___________________ of Papua New Guinea.

The two men (7) ___________________ their unplanned adventure. Rather than be distressed, they said they enjoyed the potentially (8) ___________________. One man said: "We didn't know where we were but did not expect to be in another country." (9) ___________________ eating oranges they had bought for their journey and coconuts (10) ___________________ sea. A fisherman spotted their boat and authorities rescued them. The man said: "I look forward to going back home, but (11) ___________________ was a nice break from everything." However, due to COVID-19, they will not be able to travel for a (12) ___________________.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

Wespendhoursdreamingofgettingawayfromitall.TwomenfromtheSo
lomonIslandsinadvertentlydidjustthat.Theyspent29daysawayfromt
heratraceaftergettinglostatsea.TheysetofffromanislandonSeptemb
erthe3rdinasmallmotorboattotravel200kmtoanotherisland.Itwasatr
iptheyhadtakenseveraltimesbefore.Soonaftertheysetout,astormpla
yedhavocwiththeirnavigationsystem.Theylosttheirabilitytofindtheir
locationatsea.Thestormblewthemoffcourse.Theyendedup400kmaw
ay,offthecoastofPapuaNewGuinea.Thetwomenwereupbeataboutth
eirunplannedadventure.Ratherthanbedistressed,theysaidtheyenjo
yedthepotentiallylife-threateningescapade.Onemansaid:"Wedid
n'tknowwherewewerebutdidnotexpecttobeinanothercountry."They
survivedbyeatingorangestheyhadboughtfortheirjourneyandcoconu
tsfloatinginthesea.Afishermanspottedtheirboatandauthoritiesrescu
edthem.Themansaid:"Ilookforwardtogoingbackhome,butIguessitw
asanicebreakfromeverything."However,duetoCOVID-19,theywillno
tbeabletotravelforalittlewhileyet.

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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