It is a well-known fact that the Chinese regard the turtle as a supernatural creature blessed with magical qualities and long life. To the fisherman whose livelihood comes from the perilous sea, the turtle is both a protector and a symbol of survival.
You can thus imagine the excitement in Hong Kong when some fishermen found a giant turtle in the South China Sea one April morning. A fleet of Chinese trawlers had set out in the grey-blue dawn to catch fish. When they drew in their nets, the fishermen noticed something unusual entangled among their fish, prawns and squid - it was a giant turtle.
Immediately they took the creature ashore and asked some zoological experts to estimate its age. They analyzed the calcium content of its shell and discovered that the turtle was about 260 years old! It weighed about 160 kilograms, and its moss-green patterned shell measured a meter long.
The fishermen were filled with awe. "It is the gods who sent us this turtle," they said. "We're going to give it to a charitable institution and have it set free on an auspicious day." Their reason for doing this was simple: they believed that if they restored the turtle to the sea they would share its magical powers.
As for the turtle, it belonged to the species called "chelonia Mydas' or the "Green Turtle' which usually roams the tropical waters of the Malay Archipelago. How then did it come to the South China Sea?
Professor Lai Ying offered an explanation. "The turtle must have strayed north in search of food and so got caught in the net."
However, the fishermen disagreed, saying that it had instead come to pay homage to the goddess Tin Hau on her birthday. Tin Hau is the patron saint of the fishermen, and her birthday is ceremoniously observed on the twenty-third day of the third moon in the lunar calendar [around the end of April].
The turtle was kept in a pool in a temple while waiting to be released on Tin Hau's birthday. Hundreds of believers filed past the pool to stroke the turtle's shell and drop MONEY in the pool. There was a competition too - the man who donated the largest amount of money to the charitable institution would have the privilege of casting the turtle back into the sea.
Mr C. H. Ko, a wealthy restaurateur, paid for the privilege. "I'm just like everybody else," he said. "I also want a long life." The charity organizers carved his name on the stainless steel plaque and fastened it onto the turtle's shell.
On the chosen day, Mr Ko tied a red ribbon round the head of the turtle and set it free from the launch far out at sea.
A word about the turtle's supposed magical powers which you might find hard to believe: "Sometime last year," said an official of the charitable institution, "we were given a 32- kilogram turtle by a fish dealer who did not want to sell it for food. His business was very bad then, but today it is flourishing and he is rich man."
Answer the following questions using complete sentences.
1. 1. How do Chinese fishermen regard the turtle?
2. How did the zoologists know the turtle was 260 years old?
3. Why was the competition held?
4. According to you, why did the fishermen not set the turtle free the same day but waited for an auspicious day?
5. 5. For what would you donate the largest amount of money to the charitable institution?
From the passage find the words which mean:
1) Dangerous – ______________ 3) trapped – ___________
2) Guess – ____________ 4) honor - ___________
Directed Writing: Write an article, telling the villagers about the giant turtle and its release. You must include the following points:
- · The arrival of the giant turtle.
- · The release of the giant turtle.
- · Your view and feelings about the fishermen's belief about the turtle.
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