Reading Comprehension 3

Text A

The following passage tells of a ten-year-old boy who survived swimming alone in a
dangerous swamp in Florida, USA.

Stories about human encounters with wild animals have long fascinated people. One
such story centres on a little boy named Taylor in Florida. Taylor, however, was not like normal
boys of his age; he was a silent child who had difficulty speaking, but though he had problems
in communicating with people, he had an astounding, almost photographic memory. Above all,
Taylor loved doing things in a set routine, especially in the swampland pool. He would enter
the water by a little bridge, swim down to where a stream entered the pool. get out and then
walk back to the bridge. He would repeat this pattern over and over again.

But one afternoon he broke the pattern. After half a dozen citizens circuit back and
forth to the bridge, he kept on going. He swam on into the stream that entered the pool, into
the depths of the swampland beyond. It was when he failed to reappear by the little bridge that
his mother guessed what he had done. She screamed out in alarm and plunged into the pool,
making for the swampland and beyond.

Soon water closed in menacingly; everything grew darker and the water became
frighteningly deep, while the trees dipped their branches low into it, threatening to entangle
her. Besides, the trees were home to the so-called violin spider; its bite inflicts painful wounds,
which are sometimes even life threatening. She swam on for more than an hour calling her
son’s name until finally her strength began to ebb away and she was forced to turn back. She
was beginning to lose hope that someone else would find her son; surely his strength would
be failing too. Besides, it was such treacherous country. Even trained soldiers had
disappeared in it, either falling victim to the alligators that infest the water or the equally
dangerous black bears that roam the forest nearby.

Soon helicopters were hunting for Taylor, but by nightfall their search had produced no
result. The weather suddenly changed, and on the second day of Taylor’s disappearance
fierce thunderstorms broke out. The search party was terrified that the little boy would panic. If
he left the water and went stumbling into the forest he could be attacked by some man-eating
animal or drown in the depths of the sucking mud of the swamps.

Four days passed with no news of Taylor. Then on the fifth day the phone rang; the
boy had been found. He had been picked up at an isolated spot in the swampy waters by a
fisherman. His mother waited anxiously at a nearby hospital. Taylor arrived on a stretcher. She
tried to get him to tell her what had happened but he was even more withdrawn than usual. He
said nothing and eventually theories were put forward by the medical team. They concluded
that a boy like him, with his marked inability to communicate, reacts differently from other
children in the face of possible danger. Normally, most children would panic, and the scent of
fear that they give off would have attracted predators. The doctors concluded that the little boy
did not panic; he was possibly too focused on and absorbed in swimming, and so did not send
out those dangerous signals of fear.

The doctors, realising that normal questioning would not succeed with such a silent
child, assembled 25 photographs. Each one showing a different scene but all of them having
some connection with the circumstances of his disappearance and final rescue. Six times the
boy sorted them silently. Then he picked out just five and put them side by side. The five he
selected were an alligator, a pool, a fish, a helicopter and a can of cola. The choice of
helicopter is easily explained in terms of the air search that went on, while the can of cola was
offered to him by the fisherman who found him. The pool and fish also are readily accounted
for. But the boy’s choice of the alligator left the doctors guessing. It seems as if he
encountered alligators, and yet escaped unharmed.

There were other questions to ask. The fisherman had found Tyler some thirty
kilometers downstream from the pool. How had Taylor survived so long in the water? Here his

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mother could help. She guessed that his love for swimming had somehow kept him going. ‘He
loves the water,’ she said. ‘It’s as though he can sense things about it, even dangers, that
most normal people don’t tune into.’ Nor would the violent thunderstorms have frightened him,
according to his mother. ‘He loves thunderstorms. They inspire a special sort of energy in him
and would have kept his mind occupied.’ In some miraculous way his concentration on his own
little world had saved him.

Answer the following questions.

1. a) How is Taylor different from other children?

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b) What is his ability despite his advantages?

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2. From Paragraph 2, the writer mentions that, ‘… one afternoon he broke the pattern.’
What does ‘the pattern’ refer to?

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3. a) How many days was Taylor missing?

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b) Where was he found?

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4. What was the doctor’s conclusion to how Taylor managed to escape from the dangers
of the swamps?

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5. In your own words, describe how Taylor managed to survive so long in the water.

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Text B

The route up the mountain soon narrowed into a stream filled with boulders. We were
therefore forced to spend a lot of time jumping from rock to rock and fighting our way through
the surrounding bush. By late afternoon we had been climbing for around eight hours and by
now should have reached the campsite. ‘We must have taken a wrong turn,’ I said finally as
we stood on a large, flat rock that sloped down to the stream. ‘We’ll have to camp here.’

Before turning in myself, I needed to go to the toilet. I did not want to use the stream for
fear of contaminating it. So I went across the stream and began to comb a rock embankment.
The slope was steep and there was little to hold on to. As I reached out to seize a stone
outcrop, there was a loud crack. I lost my grip. In a split second, I fell backwards into the
stream. As I hit ground, a huge slab of rock fell on my lower body and legs, trapping me. The
stone pinning me covered most of my lower body up to my waist. Frantically, Geert and I

© Fatin Haya binti Ismail

struggled to move the gigantic slab but it did not move. It was then that I felt the first drops of
rain. No, not now, I prayed. As an experienced bushwalker, I knew that a mountain stream
could quickly become a roaring torrent. The stream would soon be filled with water rushing
down the mountain. Geert had found a branch with which to try to move the slab. By now, the
rain was a tropical downpour. With him lifting and me pushing, the rock seemed to shift
momentarily but the stone settled back and broke the branch. I was beginning to shiver with
cold.

After much time had passed, I had to accept the seriousness of the situation, that I was
hopelessly trapped under a rock in the middle of a rising stream. Moreover, we were eight
hours’ walk from the nearest camp-site. Suddenly, I could hear the unmistakable sound of a
plane. In a flash, Geert set about starting a fire. Using a candle, he tried to get a signal fire
going but the wet bits of wood were still just spitting and hissing when the hum of the plane’s
engine disappeared. I told Geert there was no option left. ‘At first light, you’ll have to walk out
and bring help.’

Now Geert’s difficulties began when he left me to look for help. The way up had been
strenuous. Now it would be worse. The entire rock strewn gully would be like an ice-skating
rink, each step requiring absolute concentration.

When the sun rose on Friday morning, I noticed a pool of blood spreading around my
right food. Then a movement under my foot caught my eye. A yabby is chewing my foot! The
cold was affecting me more now. My left hand was becoming numb. I took this as a sure sign
of hypothermia. Then, I felt a sting at the top of my right thigh. Ants! As quickly as I killed them,
others replaced them. I knew I could not afford to go to sleep. I had to try to keep awake but it
was no use.

Suddenly, out of the blue, in the distance, a helicopter appeared. I knew that Geert had
got to them. I prayed for the helicopter to come closer and finally the giant insect was directly
overhead. The difficult terrain proved a challenge to the pilot and he could not land on the
uneven ground. There was no choice but to winch me up. I was loaded onto a stretcher and
lifted into the helicopter.

The descent for Geert had been ten times worse than the climb. The flooded creek was
dangerous, and Geert had to go into the bush, which meant detouring round and through
dense rainforest. Once he walked into a nest of green tree ants. They bit him all over his body,
stopping only when he frantically jumped into the water. In a particularly horrifying moment, he
fell into a churning pool. All he could think of as he slid down the rock into the white water was
how not to break his ankles. By late afternoon, he arrived at Little Ramsay Bay. It had taken
him 11 hours to get down. There were no fishing boats in the bay, so he spent the night on the
beach, finally finding a boat the next morning.

The surgeon at the hospital examined me and told me, ‘Your legs have been very
badly damaged, Warren. The circulation has been cut off for almost 48 hours. I’m afraid we
can’t save them.’ I signed the permission form for the operation with tears running down my
face. Then I began to retreat into myself, searching for strength, feeling a sadness I had never
felt before. On the Thursday after my rescue, Geert came to visit and I learnt about his heroic
trek down Mount Bowen.

Answer the following questions.

1. From paragraph 1,

a) Why did the writer and his friend had to jump from rock to rock up the mountain?

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b) We know that the writer and his friend are lost. Give evidence to prove this.

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2. From paragraph 2, the writer said, ‘It was then I felt the first drops of rain. No, not now,
I prayed.’ What was the reason behind his action?

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3. How would Geert’s climbing down the mountain be difficult?

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4. From paragraph 5,

a) How did the writer know that he was having hypothermia?

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b) Why did the writer say he ‘could not afford to go to sleep’?

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5. What did the doctor tell Warren after he was rescued?

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© Fatin Haya binti Ismail