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The Truth About the Titanic was written by Colonel Archibald Gracie. The book was published in 1913, one year after the Titanic disaster. Gracie was an American passenger on the Titanic. He survived the disaster and later wrote about what he saw.
The story takes place on the Titanic in April 1912. The Titanic was a very large ship. It was sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to America. On the night of April 14, 1912, the ship hit a large iceberg. Water came into the ship, and the Titanic began to sink.
Gracie tells us about the last hours on the ship. He also tells us about the lifeboats, the people in the cold water, and the long night on an overturned boat. In the morning, the Carpathia came and rescued the survivors.
This Level 1 version of The Truth About the Titanic has been rewritten for English language learners. It uses simple vocabulary, short sentences, and easy grammar. It helps beginners enjoy this famous true story while practicing English reading.
This Level 1 version of The Truth About the Titanic has been carefully adapted and rewritten by LearnEnglish-new.com for English language learners. The original work by Colonel Archibald Gracie was published in 1913 and is in the public domain. This adaptation uses simple vocabulary, short sentences, and easy grammar to make the story easier for beginners to read. The main events and important details of Gracie’s account have been preserved. This version is created for educational purposes and English reading practice. Enjoy reading the story and improve your English skills!
The Truth About the Titanic
Colonel Archibald Gracie
Contents
Chapter One: The Last Day on the Titanic
Chapter Four: The Ship Goes Down
Chapter Six: The Night on the Boat
Chapter Seven: The Carpathia Comes
Chapter Eight: The People Who Survived
Chapter One
The Last Day on the Titanic
The Titanic was a very big ship. It was sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. The sea was calm. The passengers were happy. They walked on the deck. They talked with their friends. Some people listened to music. Gracie was one of the passengers. He was enjoying his time on the ship.
It was Sunday, April 14, 1912. The weather was cold, but the ship was warm and comfortable. People ate good food and talked with their friends.
Gracie spent time with other passengers. He walked around the ship and enjoyed the day. He also exercised and went swimming.
Everything seemed normal.
Later, Gracie went to dinner. After dinner, he listened to music with other passengers. The musicians played for the people on the ship.
The Titanic was moving through the dark ocean.
The wireless operators received messages about ice. Other ships had seen ice in the area. But the Titanic continued on its way.
The passengers did not know what was coming. They felt safe on the great ship. Gracie went to his room. He was tired and wanted to sleep.
The night was quiet. Far ahead of the Titanic, there was ice.
Chapter Two
Chapter Two: The Iceberg
It was late at night. Most passengers were in their rooms. Some people were still awake.
The Titanic moved quickly through the cold water. The sea was very calm. There were almost no waves.
Then the men watching the sea saw something. It was a large iceberg.
The iceberg was very close to the ship. A warning came quickly. The people on the bridge tried to change the ship’s direction. But there was not enough time.
The Titanic hit the iceberg. Gracie felt the ship move. He knew that something was wrong.
He went out of his room and met other passengers. People were beginning to ask questions.
The ship had a strange list. People could feel that the ship was not moving normally.
Soon, passengers were told to put on life jackets. Gracie put on his life jacket.
People began to move toward the decks. The crew started to prepare the lifeboats.
The wireless operators sent messages for help. The Titanic needed another ship.
Chapter Three
The Lifeboats
The crew worked hard. They brought the lifeboats to the right places.
The passengers stood on the decks. Many people were frightened, but the crew tried to keep order.
Women and children were told to enter the lifeboats first.
Gracie helped where he could. He saw many people saying goodbye to their families. Some husbands stayed with their wives.
Some women did not want to leave their husbands. The lifeboats were lowered into the dark sea.
One boat left the Titanic. Then another boat left.
The ship still looked very large. Many people believed there was still time. But the water was coming into the Titanic.
The ship was slowly going down. Gracie continued to help people.
On one side of the ship, the officers followed the rule of putting women and children first. People waited quietly for their turn.
The night became colder. The sea around the ship was black.
Far away, the wireless operators were still calling for help.
Chapter Four
The Ship Goes Down
More lifeboats left the Titanic. The ship was now lower in the water. Its bow was going down. People could see that the danger was very great.
Gracie went toward the starboard side of the ship. He saw men trying to launch a collapsible boat.
The boat could not be launched normally. The water was rising quickly.
Gracie and Clinch Smith tried to get away from the dangerous area. They moved across the deck.
Then the water reached the ship. The situation became terrible.
The collapsible boat was pushed into the water. It turned upside down.
Gracie fell into the cold sea. For a short time, he was under the water.
He came up again. The cold was terrible. The great Titanic was still behind him. The ship’s funnels fell.
The ship was now very high at the back. Then it slowly went down into the sea.
Gracie watched the Titanic disappear. The great ship was gone. There were many people in the water.
Chapter Five
In the Cold Sea
Gracie was in the freezing water. He tried to swim. The water was extremely cold. His clothes were wet and heavy.
He needed to find something that could keep him above the water. Then he saw the upside-down collapsible boat.
Several men were already there. Gracie moved toward it. He reached the boat and climbed onto its bottom.
Other men also came to the boat.
There were about thirty men on it. Most of them were members of the crew. There were no women on this boat.
The men stood close together. There was very little space. The boat was almost under the water. Everyone was wet and cold. Some men were very weak.
Nobody had food. Nobody knew how long they would stay there.
Gracie looked across the dark sea. The Titanic was gone. Only darkness remained.
Chapter Six
The Night on the Boat
The men stayed on the upside-down boat. The night seemed very long.
They stood together because there was not enough room to sit. The cold water washed over the boat. Some men lost their strength. Others tried to help them.
Gracie was cold and tired. His clothes were completely wet. The men looked for lights in the distance.
Sometimes they thought they saw a ship. But the lights were far away. They waited.
They hoped. They were afraid.
The boat was dangerous because it was almost under the water. The men had to stand carefully and keep their balance.
Hours passed. The sky was still dark. Then something changed.
The darkness began to disappear. Morning was coming.
Chapter Seven
The Carpathia Comes
The first light of morning appeared. Gracie could see other lifeboats on the sea. The men on the upside-down boat were still waiting.
Then Lightoller blew his whistle. He wanted the other boats to see them. Two lifeboats came toward them.
The men were told to move carefully. They could not all climb into the lifeboats at the same time.
One by one, they moved from the upside-down boat. Gracie waited for his turn. He climbed carefully into the lifeboat.
The boat was already very full. There were many people inside.
Everyone was cold and tired. The lifeboat began to move toward the Carpathia. The Carpathia was the ship that had come to help the survivors.
The journey seemed very long. At last, they reached the ship. Rope ladders hung down from the Carpathia.
Gracie climbed up the ladder. He reached the deck.
He was alive. He was very thankful.
The survivors were finally safe
Chapter Eight
The People Who Survived
The survivors stayed on the Carpathia. They were tired, cold, and sad.
Many people had lost family members and friends. Some survivors talked about the terrible night. Others were too sad to speak.
Gracie thought about the people who had remained on the Titanic. He remembered the quiet sea.
He remembered the iceberg. He remembered the lifeboats.
He remembered the men on the upside-down boat. The Titanic had been one of the largest ships in the world.
Many people believed that it was very safe. But one iceberg changed everything.
The disaster showed that even a very large ship could be lost. The survivors never forgot that night. Gracie never forgot it either.
He had seen the Titanic disappear into the sea. He had survived the cold water.
He had spent the night on an upside-down boat. And in the morning, help finally came.
The Carpathia took the survivors away from the place of the disaster.
The long night was over. But the story of the Titanic would never be forgotten.
The End
Read the original story: gutenberg.org
Vocabulary
- Ship — a large boat that carries people across the sea.
Example: The Titanic was a very big ship. - Passenger — a person who travels on a ship, train, or plane.
Example: Gracie was a passenger on the Titanic. - Ocean — a very large area of salt water.
Example: The ship was sailing across the ocean. - Iceberg — a large piece of ice that floats in the sea.
Example: The Titanic hit a large iceberg. - Hit — to touch something with force.
Example: The ship hit the iceberg at night. - Water — the clear liquid that people drink and swim in.
Example: Cold water came into the ship. - Sink — to go down under water.
Example: The Titanic began to sink. - Lifeboat — a small boat used to save people from a ship.
Example: Many people got into a lifeboat. - Life jacket — something worn to help a person float in water.
Example: Gracie put on his life jacket. - Rescue — to save someone from danger.
Example: The Carpathia came to rescue the survivors.
- Cold — having a low temperature.
Example: The water was very cold. - Sea — a large area of salt water.
Example: Many people were in the sea. - Night — the dark time between evening and morning.
Example: They spent the night on the boat. - Boat — a small vessel that travels on water.
Example: Gracie climbed onto an overturned boat. - Survivor — a person who stays alive after a dangerous event.
Example: Gracie was one of the survivors. - Safe — not in danger.
Example: The people were finally safe on the Carpathia. - Light — something that makes it possible to see in the dark.
Example: They saw the lights of the Carpathia. - Help — to do something for someone who needs you.
Example: The men tried to help other people. - Die — to stop living.
Example: Some people died in the cold water. - Morning — the early part of the day.
Example: In the morning, the rescue boats came.
Comprehension Questions
- What was the name of the ship?
- Where was the Titanic sailing?
- What did Gracie do on the last day?
- What did the Titanic hit?
- What happened after the ship hit the iceberg?
- What did the passengers put on?
- What did the crew prepare for the passengers?
- Who went into the lifeboats first?
- What happened to the Titanic?
- Where did Gracie go after he left the ship?
- What was the water like?
- What kind of boat did Gracie reach?
- How many men were on the overturned boat?
- What did the men see in the distance?
- What ship came to help the survivors?
- When did the rescue boats come?
- How did the men get from the overturned boat to the lifeboats?
- Where did the lifeboats take the survivors?
- What did the people on the Carpathia give Gracie?
- How did Gracie feel when he reached the Carpathia?
Grammar Exercises
- The Titanic _ a very big ship.
A) was
B) were
C) are - Gracie _ a passenger on the Titanic.
A) were
B) was
C) is - The ship _ across the ocean.
A) sail
B) sailed
C) sailing - The Titanic _ an iceberg.
A) hit
B) hits
C) hitting - Cold water _ into the ship.
A) come
B) came
C) coming - The Titanic began to _.
A) sink
B) sank
C) sinking - The passengers _ their life jackets.
A) put on
B) puts on
C) putting on - Many people _ into the lifeboats.
A) got
B) gets
C) getting - The water _ very cold.
A) were
B) was
C) are - Gracie _ onto an overturned boat.
A) climbed
B) climb
C) climbs
- The men _ on the overturned boat.
A) was
B) were
C) is - They _ the lights of a ship.
A) saw
B) see
C) seeing - The Carpathia _ to help the survivors.
A) come
B) came
C) comes - The rescue boats _ towards the men.
A) rowed
B) rows
C) rowing - The men _ very cold during the night.
A) was
B) were
C) is - Gracie _ into the rescuing lifeboat.
A) went
B) go
C) goes - The survivors _ to the Carpathia.
A) went
B) goes
C) going - The people on the Carpathia _ Gracie.
A) helped
B) helps
C) helping - Gracie _ a hot drink on the Carpathia.
A) received
B) receive
C) receives - The survivors _ finally safe.
A) was
B) were
C) is
Answers:
1-A, 2-B, 3-B, 4-A, 5-B, 6-A, 7-A, 8-A, 9-B, 10-A, 11-B, 12-A, 13-B, 14-A, 15-B, 16-A, 17-A, 18-A, 19-A, 20-B.
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