Girl on the Titanic

Аудіювання, 8 клас. Текст

Ruth Becker was twelve years old in March 1912 when she travelled from India to England with her little brother Richard, aged one, her sister, Marion, aged four, and their mother. They were on their way home to the USA.

After travelling by boat through the Suez Canal and across the Mediterranean Sea they arrived in England. They planned to cross the Atlantic Ocean to the USA in a famous new ship, the Titanic.

The Titanic was the biggest and most modern ship in the world, and this was its first voyage. It was as long as three football fields and eleven storeys high. The newspapers said the Titanic was like a palace. They also said it could not sink.

When the Titanic left England, the weather was good. For the first four days the passengers enjoyed life on the ship. Then, on Sunday, April 14, the weather turned cold. The northern part of the Atlantic is near the Arctic Circle, so there were icebergs in the water. At 11.40 p.m. a lookout saw a big iceberg 500 metres ahead. An officer tried to turn the ship, but it was going too fast, and the Titanic hit the iceberg.

At first, nobody was worried, just after midnight, Ruth and her mother woke up. There was a strange silence because the ship’s engines had stopped.

Ruth’s mother got up and spoke to a steward outside her cabin. He said, “Don’t worry. It’s only a small problem”.

She went back to bed, but some time later a steward knocked on their door and said, “Put your life jackets on and go up to the lifeboat deck”.

“Do we have time to dress?” she asked.

“No, Madam, you have time for nothing. The ship is sinking”.

Ruth and her mother woke the two younger children. They put coats over their nightclothes and ran up the stairs to the lifeboats.

There were not enough lifeboats, so the captain said, “Women and children first”. Men had to say goodbye to their families and stay on the ship.

It was very cold, so Mrs Becker sent Ruth back to their cabin for warm blankets. When Ruth returned, officers were putting her little brother and sister into a lifeboat. Ruth’s mother got into the boat with them, but an officer stopped Ruth and said, “Sorry. It’s full”. He lowered the boat into the sea, and Ruth was left on the ship.

Ruth’s mother shouted, “Ruth! Get in the next lifeboat!”

A few minutes later, Ruth was in another lifeboat. But more than 1,500 people were still on the ship.

Then the great ship broke into two halves. The front half sank below the water, and two minutes later the other half sank. Hundreds of people were in the water, crying for help. But nobody could help them because the lifeboats were already dangerously full.

About three hours later, Ruth saw a light from another ship. When the ship got to them, Ruth was so cold that she could not move. Men pulled her onto the ship and gave her a hot drink.

Then Ruth ran all over the ship, looking for her mother and her brother and sister. She watched as other lifeboats came in. Hours later, she found them. All three of them were safe.

In the end, 705 people were saved. But many were not as lucky as Ruth. More than 1,500 people died in the freezing water.

And Ruth Becker? She lived a long life. She finished school and went to university, became a teacher, had three children, and lived to the age of 90.

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