Reading Comprehension Worksheet 16
A Lucky Boy
Read the passage. Then answer the questions.
A ten year old boy, who battled with a crocodile in a river twenty kilometers from
here, is now recovering from his wounds in the local hospital. But his left thigh
bears twelve tooth marks, which will leave scars lasting the rest of his life. After
proudly showing off his scars, the boy told a newspaper reporter this story.
He was bathing in a river, with his friend, also ten year old, near the Kampong,
where they both live. "I was splashing about in the shallow part of the river, near
the bank, close to an old coconut stump which had been washed down by
erosion. The stump saved my life, "the boy related. "Suddenly, I felt something
grip me on the left leg, dragging me towards the middle of the river. I struggled
hard and managed to get a grip on the roots of the old stump. At the same time, I
shouted for help, but none came."
His friend, meanwhile, had scrambled up the bank to safety. The boy said that he
did not realize that a crocodile has seized him until he saw its tail threshing the
water
"When I saw what it was, he went on breathlessly, "I held all the more tightly to
the coconut roots, and using my left hand, I started to beat the crocodile. Then
with my left hand and right leg I managed to force open its jaws and get free. I
climbed up on to the stump and hobbled off to tell my father."