Reading task 6
Reading task: gapped text 6
Read the article and choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each gap (1-6). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
I was on holiday in the Dominican Republic with my friend when our hotel offered us a trial scuba dive. You could just put on the equipment in the swimming pool and try it for a while. My friend wasn't remotely interested in getting her hair wet, let along going scuba-diving, but it was something I'd always liked the idea of, so I gave it a go.
1.
Each piece looked intimidating as I put it on and I was alarmed at suddenly being in charge of the one thing we can't survive without - the air we breathe. But in reality, it's no different from driving a car. You have an air gauge for your tank, which you watch as if it were the fuel supply, and a depth gauge that's like reading the speedometer. After a while, everything becomes second nature.
2.
Suddenly, I'd discovered this completely silent world. I've been a make-up artist since I left school at 18; it's an industry where everyone is always chatting. Although there were people around during the dive, the experience was entirely my own as you can't talk. I'd wanted to try a calming therapy like yoga or meditation for ages, but never got anywhere because I was always distracted by something. Here, I had to keep my breathing steady and before I knew it, I was completely relaxed, lost in these beautiful colours and a myriad of sea creatures.
3.
I knew then that I really wanted to take up this new hobby seriously. So when I flew back to England I started an Introduction to Diving Skills course at a nearby swimming pool three days later. Going from the Dominican Republic to my local pool fortunately wasn’t actually as bad as I'd expected.
4.
I knew that your emergency air supply is actually with your dive partner, how the thing you absolutely must not do is to hold your breath, because you risk bursting a lung.
And you should also swot up on where you want to go diving. For example, I really enjoyed history when I was at school, so I love wreck-diving to see it all come to life and observe what I've been reading about. Diving lets you see things, in their natural surroundings, which no one has seen before.
5.
Our breaks away triggered my decision to teach scuba-diving. And having done the introduction course, I realised how important it was to learn slowly and thoroughly - on holiday I saw people in the water who really shouldn't have been there. They didn't have a clue about the dangers of coming up too quickly, of being too long underwater, or of not watching their air. I thought it would be good to learn more, to become a better diver myself and to help others dive safely.
6.
I teach once a month now at one of the top dive centres in the UK. It's so rewarding, especially when you come up with someone who has done their first dive - they've discovered an exciting new world without boundaries - a world I love so much.
A It was wonderful to get so close to everything below the surface of the sea, and to spend as long as I liked just observing and moving along completely weightless. It felt so effortless. I saw a turtle on that first dive, not a giant one, but at a metre from head to tail, it was big enough for me. It left me completely in awe, even though it totally ignored me.
B To become a competent diver, he recommended the following steps. First, take an introductory course, which consists of five swimming pool lessons. Next, do the five theory modules, which end with a multiple-choice test. But he also pointed out that to qualify to dive with a 'buddy' of the same qualification or higher, you need to complete a further four supervised dives, this time in open water.
C As well as opening up this forgotten world, it brought me into contact with my partner, Roger. I met him whilst on a training excursion - part of the course – to Crystal Waters, where they’ve deliberately sunk a double-decker bus. I’d found the bus but wanted to go back and have another look. My friend had an ear problem so Roger, who'd been standing near us, offered to partner me. We went on countless dives together and now we go on diving holidays together whenever we can.
D The very first session was extremely short but, surprisingly, it was enough time to get to grips with the three sets of equipment. There was a mask and some fins, a regulator (like a snorkel mouthpiece which you breathe through) attached to a tank for the air supply, and a buoyancy control device which you had to inflate or deflate depending on how deep you wanted to dive.
E That first time you go out on your own with someone who's scared and totally dependent on you, it's terrifying for you too. I used to be overly cautious ¬if they were even slightly worried, I took them straight back to the top. But I've learned that there are a lot of ways to help people relax underwater.
F That 20-minute session was followed by a dive in the sea. After that, I was hooked for good. Other than being shown how to put everything on, there was no further training; not something I'd recommend now, but at the time I was blissfully ignorant. I was taken ten 100 metres down and, despite being followed by a guide who monitored my gauges, I had the most wonderful feeling of freedom.
G The real shock came four months later when I did an open water dive at a place called Grangewaters. When I went in, it only had a water temperature of about four degrees. It's full of black mud, so you can't see anything at all. By then I had done all the theory and I had a very thorough grounding in everything that could go wrong.
1.
Each piece looked intimidating as I put it on and I was alarmed at suddenly being in charge of the one thing we can't survive without - the air we breathe. But in reality, it's no different from driving a car. You have an air gauge for your tank, which you watch as if it were the fuel supply, and a depth gauge that's like reading the speedometer. After a while, everything becomes second nature.
2.
Suddenly, I'd discovered this completely silent world. I've been a make-up artist since I left school at 18; it's an industry where everyone is always chatting. Although there were people around during the dive, the experience was entirely my own as you can't talk. I'd wanted to try a calming therapy like yoga or meditation for ages, but never got anywhere because I was always distracted by something. Here, I had to keep my breathing steady and before I knew it, I was completely relaxed, lost in these beautiful colours and a myriad of sea creatures.
3.
I knew then that I really wanted to take up this new hobby seriously. So when I flew back to England I started an Introduction to Diving Skills course at a nearby swimming pool three days later. Going from the Dominican Republic to my local pool fortunately wasn’t actually as bad as I'd expected.
4.
I knew that your emergency air supply is actually with your dive partner, how the thing you absolutely must not do is to hold your breath, because you risk bursting a lung.
And you should also swot up on where you want to go diving. For example, I really enjoyed history when I was at school, so I love wreck-diving to see it all come to life and observe what I've been reading about. Diving lets you see things, in their natural surroundings, which no one has seen before.
5.
Our breaks away triggered my decision to teach scuba-diving. And having done the introduction course, I realised how important it was to learn slowly and thoroughly - on holiday I saw people in the water who really shouldn't have been there. They didn't have a clue about the dangers of coming up too quickly, of being too long underwater, or of not watching their air. I thought it would be good to learn more, to become a better diver myself and to help others dive safely.
6.
I teach once a month now at one of the top dive centres in the UK. It's so rewarding, especially when you come up with someone who has done their first dive - they've discovered an exciting new world without boundaries - a world I love so much.
A It was wonderful to get so close to everything below the surface of the sea, and to spend as long as I liked just observing and moving along completely weightless. It felt so effortless. I saw a turtle on that first dive, not a giant one, but at a metre from head to tail, it was big enough for me. It left me completely in awe, even though it totally ignored me.
B To become a competent diver, he recommended the following steps. First, take an introductory course, which consists of five swimming pool lessons. Next, do the five theory modules, which end with a multiple-choice test. But he also pointed out that to qualify to dive with a 'buddy' of the same qualification or higher, you need to complete a further four supervised dives, this time in open water.
C As well as opening up this forgotten world, it brought me into contact with my partner, Roger. I met him whilst on a training excursion - part of the course – to Crystal Waters, where they’ve deliberately sunk a double-decker bus. I’d found the bus but wanted to go back and have another look. My friend had an ear problem so Roger, who'd been standing near us, offered to partner me. We went on countless dives together and now we go on diving holidays together whenever we can.
D The very first session was extremely short but, surprisingly, it was enough time to get to grips with the three sets of equipment. There was a mask and some fins, a regulator (like a snorkel mouthpiece which you breathe through) attached to a tank for the air supply, and a buoyancy control device which you had to inflate or deflate depending on how deep you wanted to dive.
E That first time you go out on your own with someone who's scared and totally dependent on you, it's terrifying for you too. I used to be overly cautious ¬if they were even slightly worried, I took them straight back to the top. But I've learned that there are a lot of ways to help people relax underwater.
F That 20-minute session was followed by a dive in the sea. After that, I was hooked for good. Other than being shown how to put everything on, there was no further training; not something I'd recommend now, but at the time I was blissfully ignorant. I was taken ten 100 metres down and, despite being followed by a guide who monitored my gauges, I had the most wonderful feeling of freedom.
G The real shock came four months later when I did an open water dive at a place called Grangewaters. When I went in, it only had a water temperature of about four degrees. It's full of black mud, so you can't see anything at all. By then I had done all the theory and I had a very thorough grounding in everything that could go wrong.