GUIDELINE ANSWERS FOR THE COMPREHENSION.

”THE BARRIER REEF.”

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF MARK

1 The Great Barrier Reef is 280 000 square kilometres in 2

area
It is 1200 miles long;

2 Italy; the United Kingdom. (KANSAS IS WRONG! NOT A 2

COUNTRY)

3 Fish: coral: molluscs: 3

4 It made the sound of slowing down noises 1

5 - It was open sea,

- With a huge aluminium floating platform. 3
- Which was 2 storeys high and big enough for 400
visitors

6 - They could lie in the sun in deckchairs, 4

- go to an underwater room from which they could
see sea creatures
- borrow snorkels and flippers to swim around, or
- take a special ship to explore the reef.

7 Any 3 aspects from lines 26 - 30 3

8 a) because he had never been in such deep water before 3 for a)

and his snorkels were filling with water. He could not
touch bottom. He was not a very good swimmer. He
might have been scared of all the creatures around him. 1 for b)
b) both yes OR no is acceptable
c) any explanation that is reasonable. 3 for c)

ANY REASONABLE RESPONSE IN GOOD ENGLISH

SHOULD GET 3 MARKS. THESE ARE OPEN ENDED
QUESTIONS.
 The Great Barrier Reef.

[The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world; it is situated in
the Coral Sea off the north -eastern coast of Australia . It is famous for its
underwater beauty of vivid colours and exotic fish and other sea creature s.]

The Great Barrier Reef covers 280 000 square kilometres; stretches 1200 miles
from top to bottom; is bigger than Kansas or Italy or the United Kingdom.
Nobody can agree reall y on where the Barrier Reef begins and ends, though
everyone agrees it’s awfully big. Even by the shortest measure, it is equivalent
in length to the west coast of the United States. And it is, of course, 5
an immensel y vital habitat. The Great Barrier Reef contains at least 1500
species of fish, 400 types of coral and 40 00 varieties of molluscs, but these are
essentiall y just guesses. It is fabulous.

As the ship began to make the sort of sound of slowing -down noises that
suggested imminent arrival, I went out on deck to join Allan. I had 10
expected that we wo uld be arriving at some kind of sandy atoll ( a ring shaped
chain of islands formed by coral) , possibly with a beach bar with a thatched
roof but in fact there was nothing but open sea all
round and a long ruff of gently breaking water which I presume d indicated the
sunken and unseen reef. In the middle of this scene sat an immense aluminium
floating platform, two storeys high and big enough to accommodate 15
400 day visitors . It brought to mind, if vaguel y, an oil plat form. This was to be
our home for the next several hours. When the boat had docked, we all
filed off happil y. A loudspeaker outlined our many options. We could loll in
the sun in deckchairs, or descend to an underwater viewing chamber, or grab
snorkels and flippers for a swim, or board a semisubmersible ship for a tour of
the reef in comfort. 20
We went first on the semisubmersible , a vessel in which thirt y or fort y
people at a time could crowd into a viewing chamber below the waterline. It
was wonderful. No matter how much you read about the special nature of the
Barrier R eef, nothing reall y prepares you for the sight of it. The pilot took us
into a shimmery world of steep coral canyons and 25
razor-edged defiles, fabulousl y colourful and teeming with schools of fish of
incredible variet y and size – butterfly fish, damselfish, angelfish, parrotfish,
the gorgeousl y colou rful harlequin tuskfish, tubular pipefish. We saw giant
clams and sea slugs and starfish, small forests of waving anemones and the
pleasingl y large and dopey cod. It was, as I had expected, precisel y like 30
being at a public aquarium, except of course that it was entirely wild
and natural. I was amazed, no doubt foolishl y, by what a difference this made.
As I looked out a great turtle swam past, just a couple of yards from the
window and quite indifferent to us. Then, furtivel y poking about on th e
bottom, was a reef shark – only a couple of feet long but capable of 35
giving you a joll y good nip. It wasn’t just the darting fish and other creatures ,
but the way the light filtered down from above, and the shape and texture and
incredible variet y of the coral itself. I was captivated beyond description.
 The Great Barrier Reef.

[The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world; it is situated in
the Coral Sea off the north-eastern coast of Australia. It is famous for its
underwater beauty of vivid colours and exotic fish and other sea creatures.]

The Great Barrier Reef covers 280 000 square kilometres; stretches 1200
miles from top to bottom; is bigger than Kansas or Italy or the United
Kingdom. Nobody can agree really on where the Barrier Reef begins and
ends, though everyone agrees it’s awfully big. Even by the shortest measure,
it is equivalent in length to the west coast of the United States. And it is, of
course, 5 an immensely vital habitat . The Great Barrier Reef contains
at least 1500 species of fish, 400 types of coral and 4000 varieties of
molluscs, but these are essentially just guesses. It is fabulous.

As the ship began to make the sort of sound of slowing-down noises that
suggested imminent arrival, I went out on deck to join Allan. I had 10
expected that we would be arriving at some kind of sandy atoll( a ring shaped
chain of islands formed by coral), possibly with a beach bar with a thatched
roof but in fact there was nothing but open sea all
round and a long ruff of gently breaking water which I presumed indicated
the sunken and unseen reef. In the middle of this scene sat an immense
aluminium floating platform, two storeys high and big enough to
accommodate 15
400 day visitors . It brought to mind, if vaguely , an oil platform. This was to
be our home for the next several hours. When the boat had docked, we all
filed off happily. A loudspeaker outlined our many options. We could loll in
the sun in deckchairs, or descend to an underwater viewing chamber, or grab
snorkels and flippers for a swim, or board a semisubmersible ship for a tour
of the reef in comfort.
20
We went first on the semisubmersible , a vessel in which thirty or forty
people at a time could crowd into a viewing chamber below the waterline. It
was wonderful. No matter how much you read about the special nature of the
Barrier Reef, nothing really prepares you for the sight of it. The pilot took us
into a shimmery world of steep coral canyons and 25
razor-edged defiles, fabulously colourful and teeming with schools of fish of
incredible variety and size – butterfly fish, damselfish, angelfish, parrotfish,
the gorgeously colourful harlequin tuskfish, tubular pipefish . We saw giant
clams and sea slugs and starfish, small forests of waving anemones and the
pleasingly large and dopey cod. It was, as I had expected, precisely like 30
being at a public aquarium , except of course that it was entirely wild
and natural. I was amazed, no doubt foolishly, by what a difference this
made. As I looked out a great turtle swam past, just a couple of yards from
the window and quite indifferent to us. Then, furtively poking about on the
bottom, was a reef shark – only a couple of feet long but capable of 35
giving you a jolly good nip. It wasn’t just the darting fish and other
creatures, but the way the light filtered down from above, and the shape and
texture and incredible variety of the coral itself. I was captivated beyond
description.

Back on the floating platform, Allan insisted we go at once for a swim. At

one side of the pontoon metal steps led into the water. At the top of the
steps were 40
large bins containing flippers, snorkels and masks. We kitted up and plopped
in. I had assumed I would be in a few feet of water, so I was taken aback to
discover that I was perhaps sixty feet above the bottom. I had never been in
water this deep before and it was unexpectedly unnerving. My mask and
snorkel began to fill with water and I started choking. 45

COMPREHENSION.

Questions on the Great Barrier Reef.

1. How long is the Great Barrier Reef and what size is it in area? [2]
2. The Great Barrier Reef is bigger than which TWO countries? [2]
3. Name 3 living organisms that it contains. [3]
4. What did the author expect their destination to look like? [3]
5. Describe what the destination did actually look like. [3]
6. Give details of the activities the tourists could choose. [4]
7. Name 3 different underwater sights that the author saw from the
semisubmersible. [3]
8. Why do you think the author was ‘unnerved’ by his experience?
Would you have been unnerved by this experience? Explain why
or why not. [5]
MULTIPLE CHOICE.

1. Why is the Great Barrier Reef written in capital letters? { line 1}

a) it is important
b) it is a proper noun
c) it is a place in Africa
d) it has been recently discovered

2. does the word ‘square’ kilometres refer to { line 2}

a) the area
b) the shape
c) the length
d) the dimensions

3. what is the length equivalent to?

a) the Limpopo
b) Great Britain
c) an anaconda
d) the west coast of the United States

4. what does ‘vital habitat’ refer to? {line 6}

a) exciting people
b) natural home of an organism
c) living conditions
d) important area

5. what does the word ‘imminent’ mean? {line 10}

a) about to happen
b) shaky
c) fearful
d) late

6. why is the reef ‘unseen’? {line 14}

 a) it is hiding
b) it is shy
c) it is below the sea
d) it is camouflaged

7. what are ‘trippers’? {line 16}

a) clumsy teenagers
b) old people who trip a lot
c) tourists who go out for a day
d) relatives

8. is ‘vaguely’ {line 16}

a) a noun
b) a preposition
c) a verb
d) an adverb?

9. does the word ‘loll’ mean {line 18}

a) a sweet on a sucker
b) another word for to sleep
c) to relax
d) to eat in the open air

10. is the word ‘loll’

a) an adjective
b) a noun
c) a synonym
d) a preposition

11. do you think a ‘semisubmersible’ is {line 21}

a) a half built boat
b) a boat that partially lies below water
c) a platform
d) huge boat

12. the word ‘special’ is {line 23}

a) a noun
b) an adjective
c) an adverb
d) a pronoun

13. what is a ‘harlequin’?

a) a character wearing a diamond patterned costume
b) a clown
 c) an actor
d) a sportsman

14. what shape do you think a ‘tubular pipefish is? {line 28}
a) square
b) long and thin
c) round
d) bent

15. what is a good synonym for the word ‘wild’? {line 31}
a) unnatural
b) pretty
c) savage
d) natural state

16. is an ‘aquarium’ a
a) playground
b) cage
c) water tank for fish and other water creatures
d) type of zoo?

17. what does the word ‘captivated’ mean? {line 38}

a) trapped
b) charmed
c) hypnotised
d) punished

18. “As I looked out a great turtle swam past, just a couple of yards from the
window.”
In this sentence state which word is
i) noun
ii) adjective
iii definite article
iv) verb
v) preposition

19.