Castaway Tells Tale of 16 Month Pacific Survival

Castaway tells tale of 16-month Pacific survival
Level 3
Advanced
1 Key words
Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. adrift atoll castaway stranded remote ragged exposure sceptical dehydration life-threatening
1. A ______________________ place is far away from other cities, towns or people. 2. An ______________________ is an island in the form of a ring, made of coral. 3. ______________________ clothes are torn and dirty. 4. If a boat is ______________________, it is floating on the water without being tied to anything or controlled by anyone. 5. A ______________________ is someone whose ship has sunk and who is left on an island or beach where there are no other people. 6. A ______________________ disease or condition is one that is likely to cause someone to die. 7. ______________________ is the harmful effect of extreme weather on your body. 8. ______________________ is a dangerous lack of water in the body resulting from not drinking enough. 9. A ______________________ person has doubts about something that other people think is true or right. 10. If you are ______________________, you are left somewhere with no chance of going anywhere else.
2 Find the information

Find this information in the text as quickly as possible. 1. How far is it from Mexico to the Marshall Islands? 2. When did the man leave Mexico? 3. How many phone lines are there on Ebon atoll? 4. What were the two main problems the man adrift on the boat would have faced? 5. How long did the Chinese sailor survive adrift in 1942? 6. What diet did the three Mexican fishermen survive on?
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2014

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NEWS LESSONS / Castaway tells tale of 16-month Pacific survival / Advanced
O FR BE C O DO O M W P W N IA EB LO B SI A L TE DE E D
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Advanced
castaway. Hes staying at the local council house and a family is feeding him, said Fjeldstad, who added that the man had a basic health check and was found to have low blood pressure, but did not appear to have any lifethreatening conditions and was able to walk with the aid of men on the island. Weve been giving him a lot of water and hes gaining strength. 6 Fraser Christian, who teaches maritime survival courses at his Coastal Survival School in Dorset, said the mans story, if true, would be remarkable but far from unique. It was entirely possible to catch turtles or small fish by hand, he said, since they are inquisitive and they will approach a small boat to shelter underneath it. Christian advises clients who find themselves forced to eat turtles to start with their eyes lots of fluid then move on to the blood. 7 The major problems the man would have faced were exposure and dehydration. The basic rule is: no water, no food. You need water to digest protein. If you have no fresh water and it doesnt rain for a few days, so you cant collect rainwater, you have basically had it. Individual physiology also plays a part, he said, with some people better suited to survival than others. The mental thing is key and thats often down to peoples situation in life and how used they are to dealing mentally with hardship. 8 Stories of survival in the vast Pacific Ocean are not uncommon. In 2006, three Mexicans made international headlines when they were discovered drifting, also in a small fibreglass boat near the Marshall Islands. They claimed to have survived for nine months at sea on a diet of rainwater, raw fish and seabirds, with their hope kept alive by reading the Bible. But Cliff Downing, who teaches sea survival to sailors, said he was sceptical about the latest tale. It just doesnt sound right to me. There are 1,001 hazards that would make his survival for so long very unlikely. One would want to know a lot more. More castaways Poon Lim, a Chinese sailor from a British ship sunk by a German submarine in 1942, survived 133 days on a wooden raft floating in the South Atlantic before being rescued by Brazilian fishermen. In 1971, experienced Scottish sailor Dougal Robertson and his family were sailing to the
Castaway tells tale of 16-month Pacific survival to rival Life of Pi

Jos Ivan, found washed up in boat on Marshall Islands, lived on diet of hand-caught birds and turtles in propeller-less boat Esther Addley 31 January, 2014 1 When two islanders spotted a small fibreglass boat washed up on a remote Pacific atoll, they decided to take a closer look. What they found inside was a tale of adventure and unlikely survival to rival the blockbuster book and film Life of Pi: an emaciated man with long hair and a beard, who claimed to have been drifting for 16 months after setting out from Mexico, more than 12,500km away. 2 The man, dressed only in a ragged pair of underpants, told his rescuers that he had been adrift in the 7.3-metre fibreglass boat, whose engines were missing their propellers, since he left Mexico for El Salvador in September 2012. A companion had died at sea several months earlier, he said. 3 His condition isnt good, but hes getting better, said Ola Fjeldstad, a Norwegian anthropology student doing research on the isolated Ebon Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands archipelago. The man had said his name was Jos Ivan and he had indicated that he survived by catching turtles and birds with his bare hands, but, because he spoke only Spanish, further details were sketchy. There was no fishing equipment on the boat, but a turtle was inside when it washed up. The boat is really scratched up and looks like it has been in the water for a long time, Fjeldstad told reporters. 4 According to the researcher, the islanders who found the man took him to the main island in the atoll which is so remote it has only one phone line and no internet to meet the mayor, Ione de Brum, who contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Majuro, the Marshall Islands capital. Officials at the ministry said that they were awaiting more details and expected the man to be taken to the capital. 5 The government airlines only plane that can land at Ebon is currently undergoing maintenance and is not expected to return to service for several days. Officials are considering sending a boat to pick up the
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before being rescued by the US coastguard. The men stayed alive by eating tuna. A Panamanian fisherman sued Princess Cruises in 2012 after one of their ships ignored cries for help from him and two companions who were stranded in their broken boat. He survived 28 days adrift, but his friends both died of thirst.
Guardian News and Media 2014 First published in The Guardian, 31/01/14
Galpagos Islands from Panama when their boat was sunk by killer whales. They survived 38 days on a lifeboat before being rescued by a passing fishing trawler. In 2006, three Mexican fishermen were discovered drifting in a small boat near the Marshall Islands, nine months after setting out on a shark-fishing expedition. They apparently survived on a diet of rainwater, raw fish and seabirds. In 2011, two fishermen, aged 26 and 53, from the Republic of Kiribati, drifted for 33 days
3 Comprehension check
Choose the best answer according to the text. 1. What is the greatest threat to a sailor adrift on the ocean? a. an attack by killer whales b. exposure c. no fresh water 2. Why are some people sceptical about the castaways story? a. because there are so many potential hazards which make it extremely unlikely that someone could survive for as long as 16 months b. because no one is mentally strong enough to deal with such hardship c. because it is impossible to catch turtles with your bare hands 3. Why did the Panamanian fisherman sue Princess Cruises? a. because their ship collided with his fishing boat b. because the crew on one of their ships ignored his cries for help c. because they were left stranded on a broken boat 4. Why should people who are forced to eat turtles start with the eyes? a. because they are the easiest part of the turtle to eat b. because they are full of blood c. because they contain a lot of fluid

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4 Find the word

Find the following words and phrases in the text. 1. a two-word adjectival phrase meaning carried and left somewhere by the sea (para 1) 2. an adjective meaning extremely thin because of serious illness or lack of food (para 1) 3. a noun meaning a large group of small islands (para 3) 4. an adjective meaning not detailed or complete (para 3) 5. an adjective meaning involving ships or the business of moving people and goods in ships (para 6) 6. an adjective meaning keen to learn about something (para 6) 7. a three-word verb phrase meaning be in serious trouble or be likely to fail (para 7) 8. a noun meaning a situation in which life is very difficult (para 7)
5 Verb + noun collocations

Match the verbs in the left-hand column with the nouns in the right-hand column. 1. deal with 2. gain 3. do 4. undergo 5. collect 6. make a. maintenance b. rainwater c. strength d. headlines e. research f. hardship
6 Word-building
Complete the sentences using the correct form of the word in brackets at the end of each sentence. 1. Stories of _________________ in the Pacific are not uncommon. [SURVIVE] 2. _________________ is a major problem for people adrift on the ocean. [EXPOSE] 3. The mans story is _________________ but not unique. [REMARK] 4. Turtles and small fish are _________________. [INQUIRE] 5. Some people are _________________ about the mans story. [SCEPTIC] 6. The three Mexican fishermen _________________ survived on a diet of rainwater, raw fish and seabirds. [APPARENT]
7 Discussion
Do you believe this mans story? Why? Why not?

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Level 3 KEY
Advanced
1 Key words
1. remote 2. atoll 3. ragged 4. adrift 5. castaway 6. life-threatening 7. exposure 8. dehydration 9. sceptical 10. stranded
5 Verb + noun collocations

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. f c e a b d
6 Word-building
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. survival exposure remarkable inquisitive sceptical apparently
2 Find the information

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. more than 12,500km in September 2012 one exposure and dehydration 133 days rainwater, raw fish and seabirds
3 Comprehension check
1. 2. 3. 4. c a b c
4 Find the word

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. washed up emaciated archipelago sketchy maritime inquisitive have had it hardship

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Castaway Tells Tale of 16 Month Pacific Survival

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Castaway tells tale of 16-month Pacific survival

2 Find the information

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2014

NEWS LESSONS / Castaway tells tale of 16-month Pacific survival / Advanced