1. What country is Tilly from?

2. Where was Tilly on December 26, 2004?

3. Who did she tell about the tsunami?

4. Where did Tilly learn about tsunamis?

1. Why is Tilly Smith a hero? Choose the best answer.

   1. Because she saved a child’s life.

   2. Because she saved many people’s lives.

   3. Because she rescued her family

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The Angel of the Beach

On December 26, 2004, 10-year-old Tilly Smith was on vacation with her family in Phuket, Thailand. The British school girl was playing on the beach when she noticed a change in the sea. Tilly said later, “I was looking at the sea, and the water looked very strange. There were lots of bubbles, and the tide went out very quickly. I understood what was happening.” Tilly told her mother that a tsunami was probably coming.

Tilly and her mother ran to tell the hotel manager. He quickly evacuated everyone in the area. A few minutes later a Tsunami hit the beach.

How did this young British girl know that a tsunami was coming? Not long before her trip, Tilly’s geography class watched a video of a tsunami. Tilly remembered what the see looked like. Her good memory saved her family and hundreds of other people that day. The tsunami destroyed hotels, shops, schools, hospitals, and homes in more than a dozen countries. It also killed thousands of people. The hotel manager called Tilly a hero. Her geography teacher described her as a brave girl. The people of Phuket call her “The Angel of the Beach.”