Question

summarising a single paragraph 6
going solo

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:

The task requires completing the summary of the underlined portion of the text using exact words or phrases from the passage:

• For blank 1), the passage states "When the flames had died down and the desert was dark...", indicating they waited until it was "dark".
• For blank 2), the passage states they "crawled out from the British lines to inspect the wreck", which explains their purpose.
• For blank 3), the passage refers to "the British lines", which are defined in the summary as "the defences from behind which the British soldiers were fighting".

Answer:

1. dark
2. inspect the wreck
3. lines