Five stranded snorkellers rescued from tiny island off Australia after their huge SOS message was spotted by helicopter.

(Adam Withnall / Wednesday 23 April 2014)

    Five snorkellers stranded on a tiny island off
the east coast of Australia have been rescued after
scrawling a giant SOS message into a nearby
sandbank.

[05]    The group had been stuck out at sea for more
than nine hours after their boat’s anchor failed and
it drifted away. 

    They had been swimming around a remote
sandbar near Wigton Island, Queensland, when the
[10] vessel started shifting - with their mobile phones,
clothes, water and sunscreen all still on board – and
it had moved beyond reach before they had time to
react. 

    Speaking to the Courier-Mail about the ordeal
[15] yesterday, Lyn Forbes-Smith described how she, a
female friend and three male friends were facing
the prospect of a long, cold night surrounded by
ocean when they finally spotted an approaching
rescue helicopter. 

  [20]   “We had sort of made plans about what we’d
do on the rock for the evening,” she said.

    “We had reef walkers on thankfully, but we
had no food, water, cream, no hats, not much at all.
We just looked for the highest ground, we looked
for rocks where five of us could huddle together
[25] because we didn’t really want to separate, and we
wanted to be out of the wind as best as possible.” 

    Ms Forbes-Smith explained that they were
concerned the sandbar – and their message – would
[30] go under with the tide, but that they were
“reasonably confident” someone would come
looking when friends realised they had not
returned.

    The group had set off from Keswick Island
[35] towards Wigton Island at around 8am for the
snorkelling trip, and it was around 5pm when they
first saw signs of help approaching.

    Another member of the group, Craig Gilbert,
told ABC News of their joy at spotting an RACQ
[40] rescue helicopter. 

    “We saw the helicopter and we thought, 'Oh,
you beauty' - and then it disappeared and we
thought, 'Oh no - we better look out for our beds
for the night' - then it came back probably 20
minutes later,” he said. 

    Rescue helicopter crew member Damien
[45] Kross said the five were treated for sunburn and
dehydration, but were otherwise “fine”. 

    “They were a little bit dehydrated but we
winched them to safety and brought them back here
to Mackay on the mainland] for just to have a
[50] quick medical attention and they were all fine.” 

(Adapted from The Independent / Friday 11 July 2014)

INSTRUCTION: Answer question in relation to text.

TEXT 

Chinese thirst for formula spurs rationing

By Amie Tsang, Louise Lucas and Neil Hume,

  Supermarkets as far afield _______ the UK and
Australia have been forced to ration infant formula
due to rampant Chinese demand for foreign-made
baby milk. Mainland Chinese buyers have been
[5] snapping up cans of formula across the globe following
safety scandals in the domestic market, starting with
the melamine-spiked milk of 2008 that killed six babies
and left 300,000 sick.
  Voracious demand for overseas-manufactured
[10] formula – Chinese babies are expected to slurp
their way through $14.5bn worth of milk powder this
year – has prompted a wave of smuggling rings and
entrepreneurial escapades: cans are available online
for Rmb150-Rmb200 ($24-$32).
[15]   Production of formula is _______ under pressure,
as a severe drought in New Zealand – the biggest
provider in the global dairy trade – forces up the cost
of raw milk powder. The New Zealand price, a proxy
for Asia-Pacific, was 30 per cent higher month-on-

[20] month in March. The frenzy for formula has forced
governments to step in. Hong Kong, ________
shelves of formula are regularly cleared by mainland
visitors, introduced curbs at customs in February

Adapted from Financial Times June 22nd 2013, from the Internet edition

Glossary:
bn = billion
Rmb = Ren Min Bi (The official currency of China)