Men rescued after writing ‘HELP’ in the sand

Men rescued after writing ‘HELP’ in the sand (13th April, 2016)

The Reading / Listening - Level 4

Three men have been rescued from a remote desert island, north of Papua New Guinea. They became marooned on the uninhabited South Pacific island after their boat capsized. The men swam for nearly three kilometres to reach land. They wrote the word 'HELP' in the sand in palm leaves. Their prayers were answered after three days when a U.S. Coast Guard plane saw their message on the beach.

The Coast Guard said: "Our combined efforts, coupled with the willingness of many different resources to come together and help, led to the successful rescue of these three men in a very remote part of the Pacific." None of the men was injured. The U.S. Coast Guard has done many rescues recently. They have worked on seven search-and-rescue missions in the past two weeks, saving the lives of 15 people.

Try the same news story at these levels:

Level 5 or Level 6

Sources

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/09/men-rescued-help-palm-leaves-island-pacific
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/04/08/three-castaways-rescued-remote-island-pacific-ship-wreck-help/82783676/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/09/three-men-rescued-from-remote-island-after-writing-help-on-the-sand/

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The Activities

MATCHING

PARAGRAPH ONE:

1.	Three men have	a.	land
2.	a remote desert	b.	capsized
3.	their boat	c.	island
4.	The men swam for	d.	saw their message
5.	reach	e.	been rescued
6.	palm	f.	were answered
7.	Their prayers	g.	leaves
8.	a U.S. Coast Guard plane	h.	nearly three kilometres

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

PARAGRAPH TWO:

1.	Our combined	a.	rescue missions
2.	come	b.	part of the Pacific
3.	led to the successful rescue	c.	lives of 15 people
4.	in a very remote	d.	efforts
5.	None of the men	e.	together
6.	The U.S. Coast Guard has done many	f.	was injured
7.	search-and-	g.	rescues recently
8.	saving the	h.	of these three men

LISTEN AND FILL IN THE GAPS

Three men have been rescued (1) ___________________ desert island, north of Papua New Guinea. They became (2) ___________________ uninhabited South Pacific island (3) ___________________ capsized. The men swam for nearly three kilometres (4) ___________________. They wrote the word 'HELP' (5) ___________________ palm leaves. Their prayers were answered after three days when a U.S. Coast Guard plane saw their (6) ___________________ beach.

The Coast Guard said: "Our combined efforts, (7) ___________________ willingness of many different resources (8) ___________________ and help, led to the successful rescue of these three men in (9) ___________________ of the Pacific." None of the (10) ___________________. The U.S. Coast Guard has done many (11) ___________________. They have worked on seven search-and-rescue missions in the past two weeks, (12) ___________________ of 15 people.

DESERT ISLANDS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about desert islands 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.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

WRITE QUESTIONS & ASK YOUR PARTNER(S)

Student A: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Student B: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

FREE WRITING

Write about desert islands for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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