Content provided by British Council
[1] A 10-year-old boy in China has been nicknamed a real-life Ne Zha. He earned the name after he secretly went fishing on a boat, got lost and miraculously survived after drifting at sea for 24 hours. A tourist fishing ship in China’s southern island province of Hainan discovered the boy and rescued him on March 22. The boy, called Liang, said he had been at sea for a day and a night. He said he went fishing but could not find his way home. That home turned out to be 30km away.
[2] Liang’s survival has been considered a miracle. It was pure chance that he did not drift hopelessly far from shore. He said he shouted at other passing ships, but they did not hear him. His parents searched for him for the whole night and reported him missing to the police. They said he secretly took the boat from a beautiful spot near their village.
[3] The boy is infamously naughty in their village. After his survival story went viral, more footage emerged online regarding his earlier daredevil behaviour, such as climbing a telegraph pole, climbing a coconut tree and setting fire to a local temple.
[4] Liang is the third child of his parents, who are both sanitation workers. He was known to be undisciplined and was even on a special police watch list to make sure he did not skip school. The police reportedly sent him to a reform school to experience life, but Liang simply enjoyed the food there.
[5] Even his photo on the missing person poster was taken while he was receiving punishment at school. His father, surnamed Huang, said the boy went out to play shortly after he was sent home and did not seem upset about the incident.
[6] Mainland social media was amazed by Liang’s adventure and compared his act to that of classic films such as Life of Pi. They also found his carefree character similar to Ne Zha, a mischievous boy in the animated film series named after him. Ne Zha 2 was released this year and was a big success. The film became the biggest moneymaker among animated films. It is also one of the top five moneymaking films of all time.
Source: South China Morning Post, March 28
Questions
1. According to paragraph 1, how far away was Liang’s home from where he was found?
2. Find a word in paragraph 2 which suggests Liang’s parents did not give him permission to take the boat.
3. How many older siblings does Liang have, according to paragraph 4?
4. According to paragraph 4, Liang was on a special watch list because the police wanted to make sure …
A. he helped his parents with their work.
B. he attended school.
C. he enjoyed going to school.
D. he followed his curfew.
5. Huang’s father said that his son went to play … after returning home from being lost at sea.
A. soon
B. fast
C. short
D. quick
6. Write the past tense of these words. (5 marks)
(i) hear
(ii) shout
(iii) take
(iv) find
(v) set
Answers
1. 30km
2. secretly
3. two
4. B
5. A
6. (i) heard; (ii) shouted; (iii) took; (iv) found; (v) set
