Question

summarising a single paragraph 6
going solo

1 read the passage and then complete the comment on the underlined part using words from the passage.

when the flames had died down and the desert was dark, a little patrol of three brave men from the suffolk regiment crawled out from the british lines to inspect the wreck. they did not think for one moment that they would find anything but a burnt-out fuselage* and a charred skeleton, and they were apparently astounded when they came upon my still-breathing body lying in the sand nearby.

when they turned me over in the dark to get a better look, i must have swum back into consciousness because i can distinctly remember hearing one of them asking me how i felt, but i was unable to reply. then i heard them whispering together about how they were going to get me back to the lines without a stretcher.

• fuselage the body of an aircraft

the little patrol waited until it was 1) _____________ before they crawled out to 2) ___________ because it meant that they were less likely to be shot at by the enemy. the men came from the 3) _____________—the defences from behind which the british soldiers were fighting.

Explanation:

1. The passage states, "When the flames had died down and the desert was dark, a little patrol... crawled out". This indicates they waited until it was "dark" before crawling out.
2. The passage states that the patrol crawled out "to inspect the wreck".
3. The passage states that the patrol crawled out "from the British lines", which is defined in the summary sentence as "the defences from behind which the British soldiers were fighting".

Answer:

1. dark
2. inspect the wreck
3. British lines