The Travelling Surfboard - Advanced Article Lesson.pdf

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2021.
Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS
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Level: Advanced
Stoked! Surfboard lost in Tasmania turns up 2,700km away in Queensland
Warmer
a. In pairs, think of all the rivers, oceans or seas near you.
b. If you dropped something that could float into one of these rivers, oceans or seas, where
might it end up? Think about which direction the water flows, underwater tides and
potential obstacles.
Key words
a. Find words in the article that match the definitions below.
1. sea creatures that stick firmly to objects in the sea (para 2)
2. be able to understand something or to solve a problem
(para 4)
3. a type of colour that is very bright and reflects light (para 6)
4. the parts on some surfboards that you put your feet through
(para 6)
5. something that you keep as proof of an achievement that you are proud of
(para 7)
6. large waves in the sea (para 7)
7. a scientist who studies everything to do with the sea
(para 8)
8. a strong movement of water in one direction (para 9)
9. a crash or fall off a surfboard (para 13)
10. wishing you still had something that you used to have
(para 14)
11. a light, hard substance used for making objects such as containers and boats
(para 17)
12. something that is not smooth and has lots of raised parts on it
(para 17)
13. survive being harmed or destroyed by something (para 17)
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14. found someone or something by asking questions and getting information
(para 19)
15. covering and protecting something with a sheet of plastic containing bubbles
(para 20)
b. Use some of the key words above to complete these sentences.
1. A strong swept their boat out to sea.
2. She was seeing her friends at the weekends.
3. The bunker is designed to a nuclear blast.
4. It wasn’t easy to the connection between the two events.
5. They couldn’t find him at first but they finally him to a small
mountain village in Sicily.
6. The hunter hung the huge boar head on the wall as a .
7. High-vis jackets worn by security personnel are usually
yellow or orange.
Level: Advanced

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Board belonging to big-wave
surfer Danny Griffiths believed
to have made the journey via
New Zealand
Naaman Zhou
17 March 2021
An Australian surfer has found a surfboard he
lost in 2017 after it floated at sea for thousands
of kilometres, from the bottom of Australia to
the top – potentially via New Zealand.
Danny Griffiths, a big-wave surfer, lost his
favourite board after he crashed off a wave at
the very southern tip of Tasmania. It was found,
covered in barnacles, by two brothers near
Townsville in north Queensland, more than
2,700km away.
Griffiths said the brothers had held on to the
board for years, until recently, when their
parents took a trip to Tasmania and told local
residents about the rare find, who realized that
it belonged to him.
“Their parents were caravanning around
Tasmania and got talking to a couple of local
surfers on the west coast about their sons’
finding a surfboard while they were fishing,” he
told Guardian Australia. “The local surfers –
as Tasmania is a pretty small state – all know
each other. It only took a few surfers to figure
out it was mine. They sent me some photos
to piece it all together.”
Griffiths said he recognized the board because
it was a distinctive bright green and made by a
small Tasmanian manufacturer who specialized
in big-wave boards. The Queensland brothers
are now preparing the board to be mailed
back to him.
“Even with the barnacles on it, I knew straight
away,” he said. “All my big-wave tow boards
are straight fluorescent green, and there
are not that many big-wave surfers around
Australia. Everyone puts their straps on
differently. And the logo on it is from a small
surfboard shaper here in Tasmania.
“I think the brothers hung it on their wall for the
past two years, as a trophy. They don’t surf.
It’s not the type of surfboard that a general
surfer can use. It’s built for one thing and one
thing only – that’s the biggest swells possible.”
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Edward Doddridge, an oceanoagrapher from the
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, told
ABC Tasmania, where the story first appeared,
that the board could not have travelled up the
Australian east coast but rather “must have gone
the long way round” via New Zealand.
“The big current that comes along the east
Australian coast goes north to south, which
means this board must have come some other
way,” he told the ABC. “It must have gone east
from Tasmania and then north up through the
middle of the Pacific Ocean and then come
back in towards the Australian coast.
“New Zealand seems like the only possible way
for it to get from Tasmania to Queensland. It’s
very unlikely to have gone straight up the east
coast of Australia.”
Griffiths said he had lost the board in 2017
when he was surfing huge swells at Pedra
Branca, a remote island 27km south of
Tasmania’s coast.
“The right weather conditions to surf there
only come every two or three years,” he said.
“You’re on a boat for a long time before you
even get out there.
“The whole day was going pretty well; we got
some pretty big waves. On my last wave,
I fell off and had a wipeout. When I came up
and was saved by the jet ski, I couldn’t see
it again. We lost it. We all talked about it,
wondered where it is, wondered what could
have happened.”
Griffiths said he had been missing the board for
years and no new ones could compare.
“Two weeks ago, we were back down there for
the first time in nearly two years,” he said. “We
were down there all talking about it, wondering
what happened to the surfboard. I got a few
waves on my new one, but I was saying, ‘Nah,
I don’t really like it. The old one used to go so
much better.’”
He said the big-wave board’s construction had
probably helped it survive the journey north.
“They are built very strong and are very heavy
– up to 15 to 20kg just for one. The amount
of fibreglass on them means they are really,
really strong. It’s pretty much built like a rocket,
to be able to punch through bumpy water and
withstand high speeds. Possibly that’s why it’s
still in one piece.”
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Level: Advanced

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Level: Advanced
Experts had told him the barnacles could have
given a clue as to where the board had been,
Griffiths said, but the brothers in Queensland
had washed them all off.
“They were saying they could have traced its
journey by looking at what barnacles grew
on it from different parts of the ocean. But
they had pressure cleaned it and taken all the
barnacles off.
“They said it’s still rock solid, no holes or
anything – hopefully it’s still useable. The guys
are, as we are speaking, bubble wrapping it
and getting it ready to be sent. Hopefully, in a
week’s time, it should be here.”
© Guardian News and Media 2021
First published in The Guardian, 17/03/2021
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Comprehension check
Find the information in the article to answer these questions.
1. Where did Danny Griffiths lose the board and how?
2. Where did the board turn up again? Which route did it probably take to get there and why?
3. Who found the board and what did they do with it?
4. What are the circumstances and coincidences that have led to the board’s imminent return?
5. Give details of three things that allowed Danny Griffiths to recognize the board and be sure it was his.
6. How does Danny feel about the imminent return of his board and why?
Synonyms
a. Read the headline again. Which do you think is the correct definition of the informal
adjective stoked?
1. relieved but slightly annoyed
2. very happy and excited
3. amazing and almost unbelievable
b. Complete the sentences with the correct form of lose or forget.
1. I’ve where I parked my car in the airport car park.
2. My grandfather the key to the chest many years ago, and no one has
been able to open it since then.
c. Read the following sentence. Does mislay have a similar meaning to lose or forget?
I seem to have mislaid my car keys. I had them just a moment ago, so they can’t be far away.
d. What are the differences between these three words (lose, mislay, forget)? In which situation
would you use each one? Write example sentences of your own for each word.
Discussion
• Have you, or has someone you know, ever lost anything that turned up somewhere
unexpected?
• Have you ever found anything belonging to someone else in an unexpected place?
• How would or could you report, search for or request help to look for a lost item that you
would dearly love to get back?
Level: Advanced
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6
In your own words
Research and retell stories from the news, and from fiction, about items that:
• were lost at sea or in rivers
• and drifted or floated a long way before being reunited with their owners.
Research ocean currents:
• Which are the fastest, strongest, longest, most dangerous, most powerful, most important, etc.
and why?
• How do they inter-relate with and influence other natural systems?
Level: Advanced

Level: Advanced – Teacher’s notes
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1. Warmer
a. Ask students to work in pairs and list all the rivers,
oceans or seas near them. Then ask them to
suggest items that float. Tell them these items should
be things that belong to daily life and are small
enough to be carried on their person, e.g. a hat or
plastic lunchbox.
b. Then ask them what would happen to these items if
they dropped them into one of the rivers, oceans or
seas they named. Where might the items end up?
How far are they likely to travel? What factors would
influence where and how they travelled?
2. Key words
a. Students find words in the article that match the
definitions and write them onto the lines provided.
Key:
1. barnacles
2. figure out
3. fluorescent
4. straps
5. trophy
6. swells
7. oceanographer
8. current
9. wipeout
10. missing
11. fibreglass
12. bumpy
13. withstand
14. traced
15. bubble wrapping
Article summary: A surfboard found 2,700km
away from where it was lost is believed to
have taken an unusual route to get there.
Time: 90 minutes
Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing
Language focus: Vocabulary
Materials needed: One copy of the
worksheet per student
b. Before reading the article carefully, students
use some of the key words to fill the gaps in the
sentences to ensure that they understand and know
how the words are used in other contexts.
Key:
1. current
2. missing
3. withstand
4. figure out
5. traced
6. trophy
7. fluorescent
3. Comprehension check
Students find information in the article to answer the
questions in as much detail as possible.
Key:
1. He lost it when he was surfing huge swells at Pedra
Branca, a remote island 27km south of Tasmania. He
had a wipeout and fell off the board. When he came
up from under the water, he could get onto the jet ski
and save himself but the board had disappeared.
2. It was found near Townsville in north Queensland,
Australia, more than 2,700km away. Because of the
way the sea currents are known to flow (north to
south down the east Australian coast), it probably got
there by floating east from Tasmania, around New
Zealand, then north through the Pacific Ocean and
then back in towards Australia.
3. Two brothers in Queensland, while they were out
fishing. They cleaned it up (removing the barnacles)
and hung it on their wall.
4. The parents of the two brothers who found the board
talked to local surfers while they were on holiday
in Tasmania. The locals they talked to knew about
Danny’s lost board. Danny was sent photos of the
board so that he could identify it.
5. The board was an unusual straight (solid) fluorescent
green colour. The logo showed that it came from a
small Tasmanian board shaper. He also recognized it
by the way the straps were put on.
6. He’s very happy as he has been missing it. He
doesn’t like his new replacement board as much as
the one he lost.

Level: Advanced – Teacher’s notes
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4. Language
a. In the first part of this task, which looks more closely
at some of the language in the article, students are
asked to think about the exact meaning of the first
word in the title, stoked.
Key:
2
Explain that it is an informal word in Australian
English. Ask them why they think it is followed by
an exclamation mark in the headline. Ask them
to find other examples of the word stoked in
sentences online.
b. In this part, students compare and contrast
similar words. First they use them to complete the
sentences.
Key:
1. forgotten
2. lost
c. Students decide whether mislay is more similar in
meaning to lose or forget.
Key:
lose
d. Students talk about or find out about the differences
between these words and talk about when they
would use each one. Then they come up with
example sentences of their own for each word.
Where possible, these should directly relate to their
own lives and experiences.
5. Discussion
Students discuss the questions that are directly related to
the topic of the article.
Ask them to relate stories relevant to their own lives,
and to talk about how best to get missing items returned
safely in a variety of situations and scenarios.
6. In your own words
Students work in groups or with a partner to compete
the tasks and then present their results to the rest of
the class.

The Travelling Surfboard - Advanced Article Lesson.pdf

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The Travelling Surfboard - Advanced Article Lesson.pdf