Historic Events

The Thai
Cave Rescue
Pre-Reading
A. Warm-Up Questions

1. Have you ever explored a cave? How did you feel?

2. Did you follow the Thai cave rescue (2018) in the

news? Did you have hope for the trapped boys
or did you expect the worst?

3. Why were people around the world glued

to this story? Did it have a happy ending?

B. Vocabulary Preview

Match up as many words and meanings as you can.

Check this exercise again after seeing the words in context on page 2.

1. mouth a)  opening

2. chamber b)  to think about and plan

3. medic c)  to move quickly by plane or helicopter in an emergency

4. devise d)  related to the wet season in South Asia

5. treacherous e)  in isolation to protect the health of the patient and the public

6. monsoon f)  the removal of something or someone

7. deteriorating g)  a large space inside a cave complex, a room

8. with heavy hearts h)  becoming worse in quality or condition

9. extraction i)  hazardous and unpredictable

10. emerge j)  in a state of grief or sadness

11. airlift k)  a doctor in the military

12. in quarantine l)  to come out, to appear

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 The Thai Cave Rescue
Historic Events

Reading
1. On June 23, 2018, twelve boys and their assistant soccer coach “We are not sure
went missing in northern Thailand. Shortly after parents reported if this is a miracle,
the Wild Boars missing, the boys’ bicycles were discovered at the
mouth of the Tham Luong cave system.
a science, or what.
2. The 25-year-old coach and his team, aged 11 to 16, had become
All the 13 Wild Boars
trapped in the cave system when heavy rains flooded the exit. They are now out of
found shelter on a muddy shelf about 2.5 miles (4 km) from the the cave.”
entrance after rising water forced them to flee deeper into the —Thai Navy SEALs
cave. For nine days, the boys survived on rainwater that dripped
into their dark chamber.

3. As the boys’ families clung to hope outside the cave, divers and
cave experts from several countries joined the search effort. Narrow *Note
passageways, muddy waters, and heavy rain complicated the search. In the navy, SEAL stands for the
While divers searched for the boys and mapped out the cave complex, “sea, air, and land” that these
other teams pumped out water and hunted for alternative entrances. teams cover.
The Thai Navy SEALs* led the mission.

4. On July 2, two British divers reached the boys and their coach.
All 13 were alive. One of the boys spoke English and was able to
communicate with the divers. Before long, a group of Thai Navy SEALs
**Lead Vs. Led
and a medic brought food and emergency supplies to the boys and
volunteered to stay with them for as long as necessary. The words lead and led are
commonly confused.
5. Experts from several countries worked together to devise a rescue
VERB
plan. The escape route was long and treacherous for experienced
divers, and many of the boys didn’t even know how to swim. Some The present tense verb lead
experts thought that waiting for the monsoon season to be over was (rhymes with feed) means
to go first or be the leader.
a safer option than having the boys dive out.
• You lead and I will follow.
6. On July 6, tragedy struck when Saman Kunan, a 38-year-old former
Thai Navy SEAL, ran out of oxygen while delivering tanks to one of the The past tense (and past
chambers. Oxygen levels inside the cave system were deteriorating. participle) of lead is led
(rhymes with fed).
Likewise, heavy rains in the forecast threatened to undo all of the
efforts to drain the caves. With heavy hearts, officials decided to • The Thai team
begin the extraction. led the operation.

NOUN
7. The three-day rescue operation began on July 8. Each boy, wearing a
full face mask and thick wet suit, was led** out of the cave between The noun lead is a type of
two divers. It took 11 hours to successfully rescue the first four boys metal (pronounced like led).
and 9 hours for the next four. Eighteen days after entering the cave, • There is no lead in the water.
the final group safely emerged, followed by the rescue personnel.
The boys were airlifted to a local hospital and placed in quarantine.

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 The Thai Cave Rescue
Historic Events

Comprehension
A. Questions

Discuss these questions in pairs and write the answers in your notebook.

1. Why does the reading mention English?

2. What is paragraph 5 mainly about?

3. Where would the following sentence fit in the reading?

Nobody knew whether they would

have to stay a few days or a few months.
4. What two major factors contributed to the decision to extract the boys on July 8?

5. Why might this story’s ending be considered “bittersweet” rather than “happy”?

B. Timeline

Place the following in chronological order (1–8).

The trapped soccer team found a shelf deep inside a flooded cave system.

Two British divers discovered the team alive after nine days.

Officials decided it was time to begin the extraction.

Many people searched for the missing boys in the cave for days.

Rescuers struggled to find a way to bring the boys out safely.

Thai Navy SEALs and a medic brought emergency supplies to the boys.

A former Thai Navy SEAL died during the mission.

The boys were rescued safely during a three-day operation and airlifted to a local hospital.

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 The Thai Cave Rescue
Historic Events

Vocabulary Review
A. Complete the Sentences

Choose a word from the vocabulary on page 1 to complete the following

sentences. You may have to change the word form.

1.                   season usually ends around October.

2. First we need to                   a plan. Then we can find the funding.

3. We need a                   ! A soldier has been hit by gunfire.

4. My grandfather’s health is                   . We need to take him to the hospital.

5. The climb was                   because it was cold and wet.

B. Matching

Match the example on the left with the vocabulary word on the right.

1. The boat launch is at the entrance to the river. a)  chamber

2. The accident victim was taken to the hospital by helicopter. b)  in quarantine

3. It took them an hour to remove my broken tooth. c)  extraction

4. She has an infectious disease, so we are not allowed to visit. d)  airlifted

5. There is a small room for brides to get ready privately. e)  mouth

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 The Thai Cave Rescue
Historic Events

Grammar Review
THE THIRD CONDITIONAL

A. Reference

The third conditional expresses a past regret or shows a

different outcome that would have happened if a 
certain condition had or had not been met.

Pattern #1
If + had + p.p. (condition), modal + have + p.p.(result)
• If a lot more rain had fallen, they might have drowned.
Note #1
In the third conditional, the verb in the if clause
is a past perfect verb (had + past participle)
and the verb in the main clause follows the past
modal pattern (modal + have + past participle).

Pattern #2
Modal + have + p.p. (result) if + had + p.p. (condition) Note #2
• They might have drowned if a lot more rain had fallen. The modals would, could, and might are
commonly used in the third conditional.

B. Practice

Complete the sentences below. Use the third conditional.

1. If the British divers had not joined the mission,                               

2. If rescuers had waited for the dry season,                                 

3. If the divers had not stayed with the boys,                                  

4. If it had continued to rain,                                        

5. The SEALs might not have attempted the rescue if                             

6. The parents would have been devastated if                                

7. The boys might have been more scared if                                 

8. It would have been a happier ending if                                   

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 The Thai Cave Rescue
Historic Events

Discussion
1. Who do you think was suffering more during this ordeal,
the trapped boys or their families?

2. What do you think was the hardest part of the ordeal for the boys?

3. Why is it significant that this historic event

took place during the World Cup (2018)?

4. Volunteers and experts from many countries worked together on

this search and rescue mission. Do you think language was a barrier?
Should the world have a universal language for emergency purposes?

5. A number of people volunteered to stay with the boys

in the cave, including Thai Navy SEALs and an Australian doctor.
Why do you think these people were willing to risk their lives?

6. Saman Kunan sacrificed his life to help save this soccer team.
What should the Thai people do to remember him?

7. What regrets do you think the Thai boys and their coach had?
Imagine your class is the Wild Boars team and your teacher is
the coach. Express some of your regrets together using the
third conditional.

8. Have you ever made a bad decision? What past regrets do you have?
Use the third conditional in your answer.

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Listening
 http://blog.esllibrary.com/2018/07/13/podcast-the-thai-cave-rescue/
Fill in the blanks as you listen to the recording.
1. On June 23, 2018, twelve boys and their
               soccer coach
went missing in northern Thailand. Shortly
after parents reported the Wild Boars missing,
the boys’ bicycles were discovered at the
               of the
Tham Luong cave system.
2. The 25-year-old coach and his team, aged 11 to 16,
had become                in the
cave system when heavy rains flooded the exit.
They found shelter on a muddy shelf about 2.5
miles from the entrance after rising water forced
them to flee deeper into the cave. For nine days,
the boys survived on rainwater that dripped into
their dark                .
3. As the boys’ families clung to hope outside
the cave,                and
cave experts from several countries joined the
search effort. Narrow passageways, muddy
waters, and heavy rain complicated the
search. While divers searched for the boys and
mapped out the cave complex, other teams
               out water and
hunted for alternative entrances. The Thai
Navy SEALs led the mission.
4. On July 2, two British divers reached the boys
and their coach. All 13 were alive. One of the boys
spoke English and was able to communicate with
the divers. Before long, a group of Thai Navy
SEALs and a               
brought food and emergency supplies to the boys
and                to stay with
them for as long as necessary.
Copyright 2018, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. ( I N T
The Thai Cave Rescue
Historic Events
5. Experts from several countries worked
together to               
a rescue plan. The escape route was long and
               for experienced
divers, and many of the boys didn’t even know how
to swim. Some experts thought that waiting for
the monsoon season to be over was a safer option
than having the boys dive out.
6. On July 6, tragedy struck when Saman Kunan,
a 38-year-old former Thai Navy SEAL, ran out
of oxygen while delivering tanks to one of
the chambers. Oxygen levels inside the cave
system were                .
Likewise, heavy rains in the forecast threatened
to undo all of the efforts to drain the caves.
With heavy hearts, officials decided to begin
the                .
7. The three-day rescue operation began on July 8.
Each boy, wearing a full face mask and thick wet
suit, was led out of the cave between two divers.
It took 11 hours to successfully rescue the first
four boys and 9 hours for the next four. Eighteen
days after entering the cave, the final group safely
emerged, followed by the rescue personnel. The
boys were                to a local
hospital and placed                .
– H I G H I N T / V E R S I O N 1. 0) 7