2358 crocwrestling granny wins award

A. Read the following article and put the verbs in brackets in the correct
form, Past Simple or Continuous, active or passive.

A brave grandmother who (fight) ………………….. off a giant crocodile to save her friend's life has
been given a special award.
Alicia Sorohan, 61, (camp) ………………….. in Australia in 2004 when she (wake) ………………….. up to find a
massive saltwater croc dragging her friend out of his tent.
She (jump) ………………….. onto the reptile's back before it (turn) ………………….. on her, smashing her
nose and arm before her son (shoot) ………………….. it.
Mrs Sorohan (give) ………………….. Australia's Star of Courage, awarded to people for acts of
outstanding bravery.
The crocodile attack (happen) ………………….. at the Bathurst Bay campsite in Queensland in October
2004.
Mrs Sorohan almost (lose) ………………….. her arm in the fight but doctors (manage) ………………….. to
save it by pinning it together using two metal plates and 12 screws.
Her friend also (survive) ………………….. with minor injuries.
After hearing about the award Mrs Sorohan, who has two grandchildren, said of the incident: "It
was pretty scary. But it's one of those things - if you see someone in trouble, you've got to help
them."
She (add) ………………….. that she still (love) ………………….. crocs and (find) ………………….. them
"fascinating" creatures.

B. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)?

1

Alicia and her friend were camping in Queensland when the incident happened.

2

Alicia was sleeping when the crocodile attacked her friend.

3

Her friend was seriously injured by the crocodile.

4

Alicia wasn’t afraid of the crocodile.

5

When the crocodile turned on her, Alicia hit it on the back.

6

Alicia was finally rescued by her son.

7

She was given an award for her great courage.

8

Alicia has always detested crocodiles.




C. Match the words on the left with the definitions on the right. Put the
correct letter into the box next to each word.

1

award

a)

breaking into pieces

2

massive

b)

an animal

3

dragging

c)

excellent; clearly very much better than what is usual

4

reptile

d)

flat pieces of metal

5

smashing

e)

very large and heavy

6

awarded

f)

not very serious

7

outstanding

g)

a prize

8

plates

h)

extremely interesting or attractive

9

minor

i)

pulling

10

fascinating

j)

given

D. Roleplay
Student A: You are a reporter interviewing Alicia about the incident.
Student B: You are Alicia Sorohan talking to a reporter about the incident.

The article was taken from:
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A. Read the following article and put the verbs in brackets in the correct form,

Past Simple or Continuous, active or passive.

A brave grandmother who (fight) ………………….. off a giant crocodile to save her friend's life has
been given a special award.
Alicia Sorohan, 61, (camp) ………………….. in Australia in 2004 when she (wake) ………………….. up to find a
massive saltwater croc dragging her friend out of his tent.
She (jump) ………………….. onto the reptile's back before it (turn) ………………….. on her, smashing her
nose and arm before her son (shoot) ………………….. it.
Mrs Sorohan (give) ………………….. Australia's Star of Courage, awarded to people for acts of
outstanding bravery.
The crocodile attack (happen) ………………….. at the Bathurst Bay campsite in Queensland in October
2004.
Mrs Sorohan almost (lose) ………………….. her arm in the fight but doctors (manage) ………………….. to
save it by pinning it together using two metal plates and 12 screws.
Her friend also (survive) ………………….. with minor injuries.
After hearing about the award Mrs Sorohan, who has two grandchildren, said of the incident: "It
was pretty scary. But it's one of those things - if you see someone in trouble, you've got to help
them."
She (add) ………………….. that she still (love) ………………….. crocs and (find) ………………….. them
"fascinating" creatures.

B. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)?
1

Alicia and her friend were camping in Queensland when the incident happened.

2

Alicia was sleeping when the crocodile attacked her friend.

3

Her friend was seriously injured by the crocodile.

4

Alicia wasn’t afraid of the crocodile.

5

When the crocodile turned on her, Alicia hit it on the back.

6

Alicia was finally rescued by her son.

7

She was given an award for her great courage.

8

Alicia has always detested crocodiles.

C. Match the words on the left with the definitions on the right. Put the
correct letter into the box next to each word.

1

award

a)

breaking into pieces

2

massive

b)

an animal

3

dragging

c)

excellent; clearly very much better than what is usual

4

reptile

d)

flat pieces of metal

5

smashing

e)

very large and heavy

6

awarded

f)

not very serious

7

outstanding

g)

a prize

8

plates

h)

extremely interesting or attractive

9

minor

i)

pulling

10

fascinating

j)

given

D. Roleplay
Student A: You are a reporter interviewing Alicia about the incident.
Student B: You are Alicia Sorohan talking to a reporter about the incident.

The article was taken from:
/>
TEACHER’S NOTES
PRE-READING ACTIVITY

Before handing out the worksheets to the students I pick up a number of key words from the text
and write them on the blackboard in random order, e.g. arm, son, crocodile, drag, award,
grandmother, shoot, jump, friend, star. After I explain any words they don’t know, I ask the
students to use their imagination and make up a story using all the words on the B/B, which they
tell the class. My students enjoy this activity as they compete for the most unpredictable, weird
or funny story.

ANSWER KEY
A.
fought
was camping
woke
jumped
turned
shot
was given
happened
lost
managed
survived

added

B.

1. T
2. T
3. F
4. F

5. F
6. T
7. T
8. F

C.

1. g
2. e
3. i
4. b
5. a
6. j
7. c
8. d
9. f
10. h

loved
found