Staying alive: A2 Reading Comprehension

4 A2 Reading exercises on “Staying alive”, with answers. Complete each task and check it straight away. Free, no account needed.

SkillReading
LevelA2 Elementary
Exercises4
Gaps6
Topic19 of 21

Before you start. 4 exercises. Read each text, then answer the questions.

Exercise 1. Match the pairs of adjectives with similar meanings. Put them in the correct columns.

  • astonishing      bad      big      disgusting      exhausted      filthy
  • good      hungry      sad      stunning      tasty      terrifying      tiny
Simple adjectiveExtreme adjective
surprising1astonishing
2delicious
beautiful3
4awful
unpleasant5
6starving
small7
8brilliant
frightening9
10tragic
dirty11
12huge
tired13

Exercise 2. Read the text. Find five extreme adjectives from exercise 1.

6 gaps
  • [A]
  • Alone at sea
  • On 29 January 1982, Steven Callahan left the Canary Islands in a small yacht. 1) But a week later, during an awful storm, something (probably a whale) hit the yacht and made a huge hole in it. 2) He had to act quickly!
  • [B]
  • Steven got into an inflatable life raft and just had time to get a sleeping bag, a first-aid kit, some food, maps, and a torch from the yacht before it sank. He also managed to get a copy of a book called Sea Survival3) But he couldn’t rescue the radio from the yacht.
  • [C]
  • 4
    His food ran out after a few days so he had to survive by catching sea-birds, fish and flying fish. He drank rain water which he caught in the raft.
  • [D]
  • After about two months at sea, the raft was 3,000 km from the place where the yacht sank. 5) But unfortunately they didn’t see him. He was beginning to think that he might not survive. He was starving, exhausted, weak and very thin.
  • [E]
  • Finally, after 76 days, some fishermen saw the sea-birds that were flying around the raft and took Steven to the island of Guadeloupe. After his terrifying experience, he was finally in the Caribbean!

Exercise 3. Read the Reading Strategy. Match sentences A-G with gaps 1-5 in the text. There are two extra sentences.

Reading Strategy

When you do a task with gapped sentences in a narrative text, look carefully at the sentence before each gap and think about what is likely to happen next. Then look at the options and see which of the sentences matches your ideas. Finally, check that the text reads smoothly with your chosen sentence in place.

  • A
    During this time, Steven saw nine ships.
  • B
    Water was coming in and the boat was sinking fast.
  • C
    But he couldn’t swim back to the yacht.
  • D
    It contained lots of useful information about surviving at sea.
  • E
    He was planning to sail to the Caribbean.
  • F
    Some men were fishing near Steven’s raft.
  • G
    Alone in the life raft, Steven travelled slowly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Exercise 4. Read the text again, including the missing sentences. Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)? Write the paragraph (A-E) which contains the answer.

  • 1
    Steven wanted to sail to the Canary Islands. T or F? Paragraph?
  • 2
    Steven’s nightmare started four days into the trip. T or F? Paragraph?
  • 3
    Steven managed to get some useful things from the sinking yacht. T or F? Paragraph?
  • 4
    Steven ate birds and fish in order to survive. T or F? Paragraph?
  • 5
    Steven didn’t reach the Caribbean. T or F? Paragraph?

View all Reading exercises

Listen to a recording and type it, one sentence at a time

How to Practice

  1. 1Read each question carefully
  2. 2Write your answer or select the correct option
  3. 3Click “Check answers” to mark your gaps, or “Show answers” to see the answer key
  4. 4Review any mistakes and try similar exercises
  5. 5Move to the next exercise when ready