The following passage is from Blue Fin by Colin Thiele.

Blue Fin is a tuna fishing boat operating out of Port Lincoln in South Australia and owned by Snook's father, Mr Pascoe. Snook wants to become a tuna fisherman on his father's boat, but his father will not let him because he is too clumsy, stupid and weak. On the last run of the season, though, Snook is allowed to go, because his father cannot hire enough men. Instantly an amazing thing happened. A great column of water rose up out of the sea, thrust itself head and shoulders into the black fury of the vortex above and began moving across the sea like a waltzing mountain. The shrieking wind inside the funnel had done its most spectacular work; its speed had spun a vacuum in the air, and sucked the pillar of water into it like liquid up a straw. The hiss of the wind was now joined by the crash of tearing water. Snook heard it and looked up. For a second he didn't comprehend what he saw: the black funnel, a mile high, hanging above him, the obelisk of water standing on the ocean only a hundred yards away, the sibilant shriek that was unlike any sound hed ever heard on earth - all these momentarily carried no meaning. But only momentarily. Then he dropped the chumming scoop, leapt from the bait tank to the deck and screamed at the others. "A waterspout! Look out! A waterspout! A waterspout! Years later he could see again in his mind's eye the terrible events of the next three seconds: the blanched faces of the four men as they looked up in fear and surprise like animals taken unawares - their feverish unbuckling of safety belts and desperate clambering out of the racks to escape the destruction roaring down on them; the bull-like bellow of his father as he leapt across the deck for the wheel-house. And then for a long time, nothing that could be remembered clearly at all. There was a fantastic screaming in his ears as the black wall bore down and engulfed them. He was lifted up and hurled away like straw. Kaleidoscopic pictures flashed before him, so it seemed - the heavy steel racks and one of the white dinghies spiralling high above him, the three poles from the stern pinwheeling away in the air ten feet beyond the ship, the bait-tank wrenched out and tossed away like crumpled paper. For a second he could have sworn that the ship was in the air, borne aloft bodily and spun round like a white ball on

a jet of water. Disintegrating timbers flew past him - bits of board, panels of glass and wood from the wheel-house, stanchions and rails, pieces of dinghy, poles, lines, and ropes. Then he felt himself flung down the open hatch onto the brine tanks below. Answer the following questions in complete sentences. Marks will be deducted for the incorrect mechanics of language. 1. What was Snook's first reaction on seeing the waterspout? 2. 2. What happened to him when the waterspout struck the Blue Fin? 3. 3. Why did Snook's father leap to the wheelhouse? 3. 4. Which phrases tell you that the waterspout made a terrifying noise? 2. 5. What evidence is there in the passage to show the destructive force of the waterspout? 3. 6. How do you know that once the waterspout struck, everything happened very quickly? 7. Match the meanings with the words as they are used in the passage: 1. obelisk ______ small boats 2. blanched ______a load roar 3. feverish ______ breaking apart 4. disintegrating ______carried high 5. comprehend ______surrounded 6. chumming scoop ______white 7. bellow ______spinning end to end 8. engulfed _____very fast 9. dinghies _____a tall column 10. pinwheeling ______a spoon that throws bait out for fish 11. borne aloft _____ understand 8. Write a paragraph describing the feelings that might be going through Snook when this is happening to him. 9. Give two examples in the first paragraph that show how powerful the waterspout is. 1. What was Snook's first reaction on seeing the waterspout? 2. 2. What happened to him when the waterspout struck the Blue Fin? 3.

3. Why did Snook's father leap to the wheelhouse? 3. 4. Which phrases tell you that the waterspout made a terrifying noise? 2. 5. What evidence is there in the passage to show the destructive force of the waterspout? 3. 6. How do you know that once the waterspout struck, everything happened very quickly? 7. Match the meanings with the words as they are used in the passage: 1. obelisk ______ small boats 2. blanched ______a load roar 3. feverish ______ breaking apart 4. disintegrating ______carried high 5. comprehend ______surrounded 6. chumming scoop ______white 7. bellow ______spinning end to end 8. engulfed _____very fast 9. dinghies _____a tall column 10. pinwheeling ______a spoon that throws bait out for fish 11. borne aloft _____ understand 8. Write a paragraph describing the feelings that might be going through Snook when this is happening to him. 9. Give two examples in the first paragraph that show how powerful the waterspout is.