The Wreck of the Zanzibar - Session 4 - Reading Comprehension suggested answers

In the reading comprehension session for "The Wreck of the Zanzibar," students explore Laura's actions and motivations through a series of questions. Laura finds herself on Rushy Bay collecting driftwood when she encounters a turtle in distress. The gulls nearby are ominously waiting for the turtle to perish so they can feed on it. To save the turtle, Laura digs a deep hole in the sand with the intention of flipping the creature into it to right it. She covers the turtle with seaweed and driftwood to protect it from the gulls and to keep it hidden from people who might want to take it for food, as her family is in dire need of sustenance.

Laura's emotional connection to the turtle is evident as she lies to her father about her tears to prevent him from using the turtle for stew, and she talks to the turtle as if it were a friend, offering reassurance. Her exhaustion is a result of both the physical effort of digging a channel for the turtle and the anxiety that kept her awake at night. When the turtle voraciously eats the jellyfish offered to it, the author's use of words like "snapping," "crunching," and "swallowing" vividly conveys its ravenous state. Laura's repeated reference to the turtle as "my turtle" signifies her deep sense of attachment and responsibility, having saved and cared for the animal. The session concludes with a task asking students to succinctly summarise key events from the 7th to the 9th of September in no more than 50 words, encapsulating the essence of the narrative's developments.