General English Level 4 Version 2.1 © 2004 acl Pty Ltd GELEV4 Unit 04 Topic 01.doc se. UNIT 04 What happened? TOPIC 01 Survivors BEFORE YOU READ Discussion Here are some questions for you to discuss. 1. First, spend a few minutes thinking about your answers. 2. Then find a partner and discuss your answers together. • Have you ever had a terrifying experience? • When did it happen? • What happened?  READING 01 A survivor's story Here is a magazine article by Cynthia Birch, a woman who miraculously survived a crocodile attack. She describes her horrific experience and how she managed to escape. It came from nowhere! At last! Here I was, alone in the wetlands, paddling my tiny canoe up the lonely river. I had been planning this trip for a long time and was so happy to be here. I had come to find some ancient rock paintings which were somewhere nearby. Everything was quiet and peaceful. I was relaxed and wondering if there was a good campsite anywhere clo There was no one else around. The peace was shattered when a huge crocodile suddenly leapt out of the water right in front of me! It came from nowhere! I didn't have time to turn the canoe away before the animal swung its tail and smashed into it. Incredible! I couldn't believe it when the crocodile chased me as I paddled as fast as I could towards the shore! There was a tree hanging over the water and I stood up in the canoe to grab it. I was horrified as the crocodile leapt out of the water again and grabbed my leg in its teeth. The crocodile dragged me down below the water. I knew that crocodiles killed their prey by doing a death roll with them until they drowned. I thought that was the end of me and that I was going to die too. The crocodile rolled me over twice but I was still alive when we came to the surface. There was blood everywhere. As the crocodile relaxed its grip on my leg, I managed to escape. I began to drag myself towards the shore but the crocodile came after me again! It grabbed me and I thought "I'm finished now for sure!" Suddenly, for some reason, the crocodile let me go. I still don't know why. Up the bank 111