 Hi students! This is Shayna, your teacher from EspressoEnglish.net and this month I'll be teaching you English vocabulary from the news. Today's article is about two women and their dogs who were recently rescued after their boat broke down in the middle of the ocean. If you're interested in reading the original article, you can find the link in the video description. The women spent five months on their boat in the middle of the ocean and the article calls it a five month ordeal. This word ordeal means a difficult or painful experience, especially one that lasts a long time or that is just a very big challenge. Surviving on a boat without any help is definitely an ordeal. The women and dogs were rescued by the United States Navy. The word Navy refers to a specific department of the military. It's that part of the military that works on the ocean with ships and submarines. How did the women get into this situation? Their boat broke down and they were left drifting. If something is drifting it means it's carried by currents of air and water and isn't really making any movements on its own. We sometimes also talk about a person drifting through life if this person doesn't take any action or initiative and just kind of goes with the circumstances around them. While the boat was drifting on the ocean, it was attacked by a group of sharks. A shark is a very big fish with sharp teeth but fortunately the hull of the boat was strong enough to withstand the onslaught. Let me explain three words in that phrase. The hull of the boat refers to the outside part of the boat's body and the verb withstand means to be undamaged and successfully resist an attack, a storm, an accident, etc. So the hull, the exterior of the boat, was strong enough to withstand, resist the onslaught of the sharks. The word onslaught can refer to a violent attack or a huge quantity arriving. In this case it was both. There was a group of sharks and they were violently attacking the boat. One day a fishing boat from Taiwan spotted the women's boat. The verb spot means to see something, often something that is difficult to see or to find. It's hard to see a small boat in the middle of the ocean so it's a good thing that this other boat spotted the women's boat. The fishing boat then alerted the United States and the women were very relieved when they saw the US Navy ships on the horizon. The horizon is the line between the earth and the sky. If you're on land then it's the line between the ground and the sky and if you're at sea then it's the line between the water and the sky. That's what horizon means. The women said that their dogs helped keep their spirits up. This expression keep their spirits up means to keep someone in a positive attitude and not let them get sad or depressed. Another way to say this is to lift someone's spirits. For example maybe after a bad day seeing a funny movie would lift your spirits and make you happier. After being rescued the women contacted their families and the mother of one of the women said she never gave up hope that her resourceful daughter would be found. This word resourceful describes a person who can find creative solutions in difficult situations using whatever resources they have at the moment. That's what it means to be resourceful. I hope you've enjoyed this English lesson based on the news and if you want to get more of my lessons make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and visit espressoenglish.net to sign up for my email list. Bye for now!