Reading - A Giant Ship in My Garden! A True Story!

Imagine this: You wake up in the morning, ready for a new day. You look out your window, and guess what you see? Not your usual trees or cars, but a HUGE ship! Not in the water, but right there, in your garden! Sounds crazy, right? But this really happened in Norway!

It was a normal Thursday morning, around 5:00 AM. Johan Helberg was sleeping peacefully in his house in a beautiful place called Byneset, near Trondheim. Suddenly, his doorbell rang many times. Who would visit so early? It was his neighbor, Jostein Jorgensen, looking very worried.

Jostein had a big surprise for Johan. "Johan," he said, "you won't believe it, but there's a giant ship in your garden!" Johan went to the window, and his eyes opened wide. A ship, 135 meters long, was there! It was so tall he had to look up, up, up to see the top. It looked like a toy ship, but it was real and very, very big!

Can you imagine? This huge ship, called the NCL Salten, almost hit Johan's house! It stopped just a few meters away from his bedroom. If it had gone just five meters more, it would have crashed into his room! And the amazing thing? Johan didn't hear anything! He was sleeping very well!

Jostein, the neighbor, was awake. He heard the ship coming very fast towards the land. He ran to Johan's house because he was worried. He rang the doorbell many times, but Johan didn't answer. Finally, Jostein called Johan on his phone, and Johan woke up.

The NCL Salten is a cargo ship, which means it carries many things. It had 16 people on board. Luckily, no one was hurt in this strange accident. The ship was going from one place to another when it went off course – it didn't follow the right way.

Now, the police in Norway are looking into why this happened. They want to know why the ship ended up in Johan's garden. Johan says the ship is "a very bulky new neighbor" but he hopes it will "soon go away."

The company that rented the ship said it was a "serious incident" and they were happy no one was hurt. It's a mystery why the ship went off course, and everyone is waiting to find out!

Read the full original article here.

VOCABULARY

huge: very, very big.

That building is huge! It has 100 floors.

garden: an area of land next to a house, usually with grass, flowers, or trees.

I like to relax in my garden on sunny days.

woke up: stopped sleeping. (past tense of 'wake up')

She woke up early to go for a run.

missed: did not hit something.

The ball missed the window by a little bit.

local time: the time in a particular place.

The plane will arrive at 3 PM local time.

alerted: told someone about something important or dangerous.

The fire alarm alerted everyone to the danger.

panicked: felt very anxious or afraid very suddenly.

He panicked when he saw the spider.

commotion: a lot of noisy activity and confusion.

There was a lot of commotion outside my house last night.

doorbell: a button outside a house that you press to make a sound inside, to let people know you are there.

I rang the doorbell, but nobody answered.

astonished: very surprised.

I was astonished when I saw the beautiful view.

run aground: when a ship touches the bottom of the sea or a river in a shallow area and gets stuck.

The small boat ran aground in the shallow water.

cargo ship: a ship that carries goods or products.

The cargo ship was full of cars.

on board: on a ship, plane, or train.

There were 200 passengers on board the flight.

off course: not going in the correct direction.

The car went off course and ended up on a different road.

injured: hurt physically.

Luckily, no one was injured in the accident.

investigating: trying to find out the facts about something, especially a crime or accident.

The police are investigating the robbery.

chartered: rented (a ship, plane, or bus).

They chartered a boat for their holiday.

incident: an event or occurrence.

The police reported a strange incident downtown.

authorities: official organizations or people who have the power to make decisions or control things.

The local authorities are responsible for public safety.

ACTIVITIES

1 - Choose the best answer.

2 - True or False?

3 - Match the words with their definitions.

4 - Imagine you are Johan Helberg. How do you feel about waking up to a giant ship in your garden? What do you think your friends and family would say? Write a short comment.