Sarah Axten: Blue Fins

It's hot. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. The hot sun is shining in the blue sky. Jen lives in Australia. Jen and her friends are not at college today. It is the weekend. Jen is on the beach. She's standing on the hot sand. She's waving to her boyfriend, Rick. Rick and Jen's friends are in the sea. They are swimming and surfing.

— Hi, Rick!

Rick is very happy. He has a new surfboard. The surfboard is red and white. Rick's favourite sport is surfing.

(Rick) — I'm going surfing. My new surfboard is very fast. It's great!

(Jen) — I'm going swimming. I'm going to look at the fish underwater. See you later!

Jen walks along the beach. She sits on some rocks. Jen puts her blue rubber fins on her feet. She puts the yellow mask and snorkel on her face. The water is warm. Her blue fins splash loudly. Jen takes a big breath. She dives under the water. She moves her blue fins and swims very quickly. She goes down and down. She can see fish and plants. She can see fish and plants through her yellow mask. The fish and plants are very beautiful. The fish swim all round her. Jen can see yellow fish. She can see blue fish. There are green, red and white fish. Jen looks at the plants. They grow on the rocks. There are tall plants. There are small plants. Jen touches the plants. Some plants are soft. Some plants are hard. Fish live in the plants and rocks. Jen sees a sea-urchin. She doesn't touch the sea-urchin. It's dangerous. It has sharp spines. Jen swims up to get air. Her snorkel comes out of the water. Jen takes a big breath. She dives down under the water again. Jen swims past a large rock. Suddenly she stops. She sees a dolphin. It cannot swim. The dolphin is in a net. The net is round the dolphin's body. The net is round the rocks. The dolphin cannot swim up to get air. The beautiful, blue dolphin is dying. The dolphin moves its fins slowly. But the net is strong. The dolphin cannot break the net.

— Hi, dolphin! I'll help you.

Jen pulls the net from the rocks. She pulls the net from the dolphin. The dolphin is out of the net. The dolphin moves its fins quickly. It swims fast. The dolphin swims up and up. It takes a breath of air. The dolphin looks down at Jen. Then it swims away. Jen is happy. She tells Rick about the dolphin.

Next day everybody is swimming. No one is surfing. The sea is flat. The sun is high in the sky. The hot sun shines on the water. The water is silver and blue. Men, women and children are in the sea. They are playing and laughing. Everybody is happy. The lifeguard watches the sea. He looks at the people swimming. Suddenly, he shouts loudly.

— Shark! Quick! Get out of the water!

The shark is swimming quickly. It is hungry. Its black finis above the water. The shark is swimming towards the people. Everybody is frightened. Sharks are dangerous.They have long, sharp teeth. Everybody swims towards the beach. Jen and Rick are swimming a long way from the beach. The shark comes towards Rick. Jen is very frightened. She shouts at Rick.

— Rick! Look out!

Rick sees the shark's black fin above the water. The shark is thirty meters away. Jen and Rick swim towards the beach. Now the shark is fifteen meters away. Jen can see the shark's sharp, white teeth. Suddenly, they see another fin in the water. A blue fin. It is a dolphin! It is the beautiful, blue dolphin. The dolphin is swimming towards the shark. The dolphin hits the shark. The dolphin hits the shark again and again. The shark swims away. Rick and Jen are safe.

— Look, Rick! It's my blue dolphin!

— Thanks, dolphin! Thanks for saving us!

Put the events in the order they happen in the story. The first is 1.

1 She helps the dolphin out of the net. | |

2 The dolphin hits the shark. | |

3 The shark swims towards Jen and Rick. | |

*Jen and her friends are at the beach. | 1 |

4 She sees a dolphin in a net. | |

5 The shark swims away. | |

6 The lifeguard shouts 'Shark! Get out of the water!' | |

7 Jen puts on her snorkel and mask and dives into the sea. | |

__/ 7

Match the words in the box to the pictures.

dolphin shark net surfboard snorkel rock sea-urchin fin

8 ________________

9 ________________

10 ________________

11 ________________

12 ________________

13 ________________

14 ________________

15 ________________

__/ 7

Circle the correct word to complete each sentence.

16 Rick is very happy / happily.

17 Her blue fins splash loud / loudly.

18 She moves her blue fins and swims very quick / quickly.

19 The fish and plants are very beautiful / beautifully.

20 Jen doesn't touch the sea-urchin. It's dangerous / dangerously.

21 The dolphin moves its fin slow / slowly.

22 But the net is strong / strongly.

__/ 7

Put the verb in brackets in the correct form.

It's hot. The sun is shining (shine). The sky is blue.

Jen 23______________ (live) in Australia.

Jen is on the beach. She 24_________________ (stand) on the hot sand.

Rick and Jen's friends are in the sea. They 25__________________ (swim) and 26_______________ (surf)

Rick is very happy. He 27_______________ (have) a new surfboard.

Jen 28_______ (take) a deep breath. She 29_________________ (dive) under the water.

Jen sees a sea-urchin. She 30________________ (not touch) the sea-urchin.

__/ 8

Total:__/ 30

Put the events in the order they happen in the story.

*, 7, 4, 1, 6, 3, 2, 5

Match the words in the box to the pictures.

8 rock

9 net

10 snorkel

11 fin

12 dolphin

13 surfboard

14 shark

15 sea-urchin

Circle the correct word to complete each sentence.

16 happy

17 loudly

18 quickly

19 beautiful

20 dangerous

21 slowly

22 strong

Put the verb in brackets in the correct form.

23 lives

24 is standing

25 are swimming

26 (are) surfing

27 has

28 takes

29 dives

30 doesn't touch

1 What kind of animal is on the cover:

YES/NO

(a) a whale? ............

(b) a shark? ............

(c) a dolphin? ............

2 Start reading. Read to the end of page 5. Look at these pictures of Jen and Rick. Complete the sentences.

3 Read to the end of page 11. Write four things Jen sees under the water. Look at pages 6 and 7.