Messages in Bottles - Test 4
B2 First · Gapped Text · Cambridge B2 First 4, Cambridge University Press
You are going to read an article from a magazine about an unusual hobby. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
Messages in bottles
It's not just messages inside either.
So you might think these encounters could be awkward – although that hasn't been my experience so far.
One of the oldest messages I found was from a soft drinks bottle from the 1970s.
It wasn't a treasure map or a cry for help from someone stranded on a deserted island, but to me, it was a miracle.
Sometimes it's funny, as was the case with a note I found from a sender who claimed to have been 'taken prisoner by a grumpy old monster'.
It sparked a sort of obsession and I started spending every spare cent and every spare moment looking for more bottles.
The internet has made that easier than it would have been in the past and I often get help through my blog and web page.
I was 22 and on a family holiday in the Caribbean Turks and Caicos Islands when it first happened. As we strode along the beach, I saw a glint of blue glass on the shoreline. I realised it was a large bottle – and that there was something inside it. I was so excited! I'd always dreamed of finding a message in a bottle and my hands were shaking as I uncorked it. It turned out the bottle had been dropped eight months previously by a couple on board a cruise from the Portuguese island of Madeira.
This bottle had managed to survive its journey all the way across the Atlantic and I'd found it. I emailed the senders as soon as I got back to the hotel. They were happy to know someone had got their message, but perhaps disappointed that it had been found so soon after they'd dropped it overboard. For me, however, it was a profound experience.
My family and I had always beach-combed for shells on vacation, and when you learn how to look properly, you start finding loads. I figured that I could do the same with messages in bottles. Since that holiday, eight years ago, I've found more than 80 messages in bottles, mostly on the Turks and Caicos Islands, which oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer calls 'a magnet for floating objects'. Bottles have been washing up on the islands since at least the 1800s; the Turks and Caicos National Museum features a large collection. I've picked up bottles from senders in North America, Europe and Asia.
I've also found artwork, business cards, dollar bills ... even a crumbling piece of wedding cake. I try to make contact with the senders if I can.
I travelled to Düsseldorf last summer to meet Sabine Roy, a German travel agent whose message I found back in 2011. Sabine's message had deteriorated badly by the time I'd found it; all I could make out was a cruise ship letterhead, her name and 'Düsseldorf'. I tried tracing her for four years before I thought of posting a message on social media. Within a day, I had tracked her down. It's a very strange experience when I meet a sender. We've been brought together entirely by chance and there are no guarantees we'll have anything in common.
People who send messages in bottles tend to be adventurous types and are often as excited to meet up as I am. A lot of people forget they've sent these messages and when you present them with these pieces of their past, it's almost like time travel.
When I called the phone number supplied, in Baltimore, USA, I spoke to an elderly woman. She told me her young son must have sent the bottle while on a boat trip with his dad in the 1990s. It's discoveries like these that keep me interested in hunting for bottles.
I was 22 and on a family holiday in the Caribbean Turks and Caicos Islands when it first happened. As we strode along the beach, I saw a glint of blue glass on the shoreline. I realised it was a large bottle – and that there was something inside it. I was so excited! I'd always dreamed of finding a message in a bottle and my hands were shaking as I uncorked it. It turned out the bottle had been dropped eight months previously by a couple on board a cruise from the Portuguese island of Madeira. ___ This bottle had managed to survive its journey all the way across the Atlantic and I'd found it. I emailed the senders as soon as I got back to the hotel. They were happy to know someone had got their message, but perhaps disappointed that it had been found so soon after they'd dropped it overboard. For me, however, it was a profound experience. ___ My family and I had always beach-combed for shells on vacation, and when you learn how to look properly, you start finding loads. I figured that I could do the same with messages in bottles. Since that holiday, eight years ago, I've found more than 80 messages in bottles, mostly on the Turks and Caicos Islands, which oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer calls 'a magnet for floating objects'. Bottles have been washing up on the islands since at least the 1800s; the Turks and Caicos National Museum features a large collection. I've picked up bottles from senders in North America, Europe and Asia. ___ I've also found artwork, business cards, dollar bills ... even a crumbling piece of wedding cake. I try to make contact with the senders if I can. ___ I travelled to Düsseldorf last summer to meet Sabine Roy, a German travel agent whose message I found back in 2011. Sabine's message had deteriorated badly by the time I'd found it; all I could make out was a cruise ship letterhead, her name and 'Düsseldorf'. I tried tracing her for four years before I thought of posting a message on social media. Within a day, I had tracked her down. It's a very strange experience when I meet a sender. We've been brought together entirely by chance and there are no guarantees we'll have anything in common. ___ People who send messages in bottles tend to be adventurous types and are often as excited to meet up as I am. A lot of people forget they've sent these messages and when you present them with these pieces of their past, it's almost like time travel. ___ When I called the phone number supplied, in Baltimore, USA, I spoke to an elderly woman. She told me her young son must have sent the bottle while on a boat trip with his dad in the 1990s. It's discoveries like these that keep me interested in hunting for bottles.
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