Path International Examinations

LEVEL: B2 Competency
READING AND WRITING

1. Read the text and then answer the questions on the next page.

Mother’s Day walk along the Thames Estuary

by Nicola White. Reproduced by kind permission. ©2017 Nicola White.

O
n Mother’s day this year, we went for our usual long beach-combing trek along the
Thames Estuary, complete with a large rucksack for any interesting finds. Well, we
were indeed spoilt insofar as finds are concerned, so today’s blog is dedicated to them.
I’ll start with the discovery of a rather curious, large pottery egg which was nestled in amongst
the rocks and seaweed. It is about the size of a very large goose egg, and when I first noticed it,
I thought it was a coconut. Actually I’m surprised I noticed it at all, as it blended in very well
with the surrounding rocks.
On picking it up, I shook it and it rattled. Of course, I almost dropped it to see if it would break
so we could see what was in it, but I’ve so far managed to resist the temptation. It is clearly
handmade and glazed, but has no markings on it. It appears that a few years ago an anony-
mous artist from Sussex deposited 5000 eggs into the Thames Estuary, of varying sizes and
colours. I realise now that a small, pink ceramic egg that I found closer to Greenwich some
time ago, was certainly also one of these eggs.
The next discovery was not as pleasant, but interesting nonetheless. A few weeks ago, when
we were doing the same walk, we noticed a trio of short-eared owls hunting the waders on the
water. It was amazing to watch as they swooped in to target their prey. Happily, the waders
didn’t succumb and managed to create confusion by flying off in several different directions.
It would appear that this poor racing pigeon wasn’t quite so lucky. He had clearly been killed
by a bird of prey (maybe those same short-eared owls), and there wasn’t much of him left. We
rang the owner to share the sad news and tell him where we found his pigeon (we did spare
the gory details though...). He was a racer from Essex and had nearly reached home, but not
quite. Sorry little pigeon!!
Discovery number three was another dolphin skull! I now have two in my collection. I never
actually set out to collect skulls - it just kind of happened..... but there is something very inte-
resting about them. I now have a good collection of sun bleached seabird skulls, and they are
beautifully intricate. Does that make me morbid? I’m not sure!! Generally, if you do discover a
dead cetacean by the way, you are obliged to report it to the local coastguard, and then to the
Natural History museum for their records. I didn’t report this find given that it was only part
of a cetacean - but perhaps I should do so anyway.....
We had such an eventful walk that day, and it was dark by the time we arrived back at the
car. The cranes across the river from the New Thames Port glowed in the sunset, reminding
me, as usual, of very large birds that might just start wading across the river....As well as the
finds described above, we found pottery galore, five messages in bottles, a myriad of old and
forgotten plastic toys, and some great driftwood. Here’s to the next walk, or should I call it a
treasure hunt?

© Dorset Design Ltd., in exclusive association with Path Examinations Ltd. 1

a. If Nicola invited you to go with her on a similar walk, would you go? Why/Why not?
[ ___ | 06]

b. If you had found the egg, would you have broken it to see what was inside? Give a
reason for your answer. [ ___ | 06]

c. If you had to summarise the text in just two lines, what would you say? [ ___ | 06]

© Dorset Design Ltd., in exclusive association with Path Examinations Ltd. 2