r WHEN SEIZED WITH CRAMP
Perhaps more swimmers have been drowned by cramp than by anything else, and
only those who have suffered from it can conceive its fatal power. Even good swimmers,
when seized with cramp, have been known to sink instantly, overcome with the sudden
pain, and nothing can save the victim but the greatest presence of mind.
The usual spot where the cramp is felt is the calf of the leg; and it sometimes comes
with such violence that the muscles are gathered up into knots. There is only one method
of proceeding under such circumstances: to turn on one's back at once, kick the leg out
in the air, disregarding the pain, and rub the spot smartly with one hand, while the other
is employed in paddling towards shore.
These directions are easy enough to give, but quite difficult to obey; cramp seems to
deprive the sufferer of all reason for the time, and it seems to overpower him with
mingled pain and terror. Therefore, the method of saving a person drowning because of
cramp demands great practice. The chief difficulty lies in the fact that a person who
cannot swim feels, in deep water, much as if he were falling through air, and
consequently clutches instinctively at the nearest object. If he succeeds in grasping the
person who is trying to save him, both will probably sink together. Every precaution
should be taken to prevent such a misfortune and the drowning man should always be
seized from behind and pushed forwards.
E X E R C I S E 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
COLUMN A COLUMN B
a) imagine; believe; understand
b) move downwards below the surface of the
water
c) happening immediately; at once
d) the ability to act quickly and sensibly in a
difficult situation
(phrase)
e) place; position
f) (of muscles) swelling out from the surface of
the skin - bulging, tense and hard
g) carry on; continue
h) ignore
i) move one's hand or hands backwards and
forwards oyer something
j) (of movements and action) sharply and quickly;
with vigour
k) move slowly through the water moving your
hands up and down
I) take away something from someone, leaving
him in need of it
m) the ability to think
n) have such a strong effect on as to make
helpless or ineffective
o) mixed
p) try to seize or grasp
(phrase)
q) naturally; without thinking
Dostları ilə paylaş: 
