Unsinkable Ship
Naval architects never claim that a ship is unsinkable, but the sinking of the passenger-and-car ferry Estonia in the Baltic surely should have never have happened. It was well designed and carefully maintained. It carried the proper number of lifeboats. It had been thoroughly inspected on the day of its fatal voyage. Yet hours later, Estonia rolled over and sank in a cold, stormy night. It went down so quickly that most of those on board, caught in their dark, flooding cabins, had no chance to save themselves: Of those who managed to scramble overboard, only 139 survived. The rest died of hypothermia before the rescuers could pluck them from the cold sea. The final death toll amounted to 912 souls. However, there was an unpleasant number of questions about why Estonia sank and why so many survivors were men in the prime of life, while most of the dead were women, children and the elderly.
1. One can understand from the reading that ----.
A) the lifesaving equipment did not work well and lifeboats could not be
lowered
B) design faults and incompetent crew contributed to the sinking of the
Estonia ferry
C) 139 people managed to leave the vessel but died in freezing water
D) naval architects claimed that Estonia was unsinkable
E) most victims were trapped inside the boat as they were in their cabins
2. It is clear from the passage that the survivors of the accident ----.
A) helped one another to overcome the tragedy that had affected them
all
B) were mostly young men but women, children and the elderly stood little
chance
C) helped save hundreds of lives
D) are still suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder
E) told the investigators nothing about the accident
3. According to the passage, when Estonia sank, ----.
A) there were only 139 passengers on board
B) few of the passengers were asleep
C) there were enough lifeboats for the number of people on board
D) faster reaction by the crew could have increased Estonia's
chances of survival
E) all the passengers had already moved out into the open decks
Source:
https://www.grammarbank.com/short-reading-comprehension-passages.html