During a winter storm in 1919, one dog managed to save the lives of the people on the ship Ethie. Today, people still tell the story of the dog. In December 1919, Ethie was travelling along the coast of northern Canada. Without warning, the ship ran into a bad storm. Because of high winds and heavy snow, the captain could not tell where he was going. Sailing too close to the shore  , the ship could not move because of some rocks. Ethie was in danger. The captain decided to save the people on his ship. He thought it was too dangerous to try to reach the shore by lifeboat, so he sent up flares   to call for help. People saw the flares and rushed to the beach. The crew   tried to throw a rope   to them, but there seemed to be no way to get a rope to the shore. In the early 1900s ships often carried a large kind of dog called a Newfoundland. Newfoundlands are excellent swimmers. During sea journeys, Newfoundlands would bring back things that had fallen off the ship or even save people from the sea. The Newfoundland on Ethie was named Tang. The captain decided that Tang offered their best hope of survival  . He gave the dog a long rope. Holding the rope between his teeth, Tang jumped into the _ water. He fought his way through high waves and strong winds. Finally he reached the beach. The people on the shore took the rope. The rope became the ship's lifeline. Because of Tang, all the people on Ethie landed on the beach safely. He was given a special medal for being a hero. Tang wore the medal for the rest of his life. Ethie could not move near the shore because of  _  .
the high waves the heavy snow some rocks in the sea the strong winds