Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Monday, January 30, 2017
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Sunday, January 22, 2017
News
Earthquake in New Zealand - level 2
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A powerful earthquake hit New Zealand’s South Island. The epicentre was only 14 kilometres from a city.
The earthquake hit just after 1 p.m. on Sunday when the beaches were busy with swimmers and surfers. Parts of the cliffs in the area fell down into the sea. Luckily, police say that nobody was seriously injured.
In 2011, however, a strong quake led to 185 deaths and destroyed much of the city.
The region often has earthquakes. The city lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire that is a line of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Difficult words: earthquake (when the earth or ground moves), epicentre (the place right above the centre of an earthquake), cliff (a wall of rock at the edge of the sea).
You can read the original story and watch the video in the Level 3 section.
Read more: http://www.newsinlevels.com/products/earthquake-in-new-zealand-level-2/
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Songs for little learners
Goodbye Mr. Panda
You look so big and strong
We’ll only know how much we miss you
When the pandas are all gone
Goodbye Mrs. Polar Bear
You really are the best
We’ll only know how much we miss you
When there’s no more of you left
Goodbye young Bonobo
My smiley furry friend
We’ll only know how much we miss you
When we don’t see you again
Monday, January 9, 2017
Hurricanes reading
Natural Disasters
This is the preparation material for an English Conversation Lesson about Natural Disasters. Listen to an audio discusson about one person's experience of a hurricane; learn phrasalverbs relating to weather and disasters and discover the most common questions that people may ask each other about this important subject.
Audio Discussion
HURRICANES TRANSCRIPT
Todd: So Ivan, in America, in California we
have earthquakes. Do you have any natural disasters in Houston?
Ivan: Uh, it floods a lot and we get
hurricanes. Houston's called a bayou city. Bayou is kind of like a dirty river.
Sometimes it rains a lot, that thing fills up over, and the next thing you know
you got water in your house. Hurricanes are really, really angry typhoons I
think. The first hurricane I ever remember (we name our hurricanes, you give
them names, usually girl names), and the first hurricane I remember was back in
1984 named "Hurricane Alice" I believe. Um, I was in a soccer camp.
It starts raining, oh my God it's raining, trees are falling down and cars are kind of being pushed away from the water
and stuff and I'm scared to death that my parents are dead right. I was only
seven years old. So I remember, I couldn't remember my phone number and the
camp counsellors were trying to look it up. Call up: ring, ring, ring. My mom
answers the phone, "Are you OK? Are you OK?" "Yes, Ivan, we're
OK. Don't worry about it. It's just a rain storm." But it was an absolute
mess. The next day, the soccer field is completely wiped out. It was, yeah, they're big angry storms.
Todd: How long does a hurricane usually
last?
Ivan: Usually, about two or three days.
Todd: Oh, really
Ivan: Yeah, they just kind of stay in
Houston. They like Houston. Something about the weather pattern. They just
float to Houston and stay there.
Todd: Man, that's pretty intense. So
afterward everything is just kind of wiped
out.
Ivan: Ah, a lot of windows are broken. I said
a lot of cars are upside down sometimes, cause the wind is really, really high,
plus you got the water that floats the cars, but it's fun when it stops cause
the streets are flooded
and you can go swimming.
and you can go swimming.
Todd: You swim in the water?
Ivan: Sure. Sure. It's just rain water.
* Audio courtesy of elllo.org.
Natural Disasters and Phrasal Verbs
Last year, I experienced a very strong hurricane. The winds were ferocious; the roofs of houses were torn off, trees fell down and cars were blown away. It poured down with rain and we were completely flooded out. Finally, after three days, it all blew over.
Conversation questions about natural disasters
Answer the questions
STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show to Student B)
| 1) | What comes to mind when you hear the term ‘natural disasters’? |
| 2) | What are natural disasters? |
| 3) | Have you ever experienced a natural disaster? |
| 4) | What was the last natural disaster you saw on TV? |
| 5) | Have you ever prepared for a natural disaster? |
| 6) | Are there often natural disasters in your country? |
| 7) | Do you think natural disasters are happening more frequently in the world today? |
| 8) | What’s the worst natural disaster in your opinion? |
| 9) | Do you think the world should be more concerned about natural disasters or terrorism? |
| 10) | What’s the best natural disaster movie you’ve ever seen? |
STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show to Student A)
| 1) | What’s worse, natural disasters or manmade disasters? |
| 2) | Would you move if you lived in a country where natural disasters were common? |
| 3) | Why are so many natural disaster movies set in New York City? |
| 4) | Do you know anyone who could be called a natural disaster? |
| 5) | What are the worst natural disasters you can remember? |
| 6) | Are natural disasters acts of God? |
| 7) | Do you think world governments do enough to help people after natural disasters? |
| 8) | What would happen if a giant comet hit the Earth? |
| 9) | If a natural disaster hit your town, what would you do? |
| 10) | Why do you think natural disasters always seem to affect poor people most? |
Reading
http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/in-news-natural-disasters
Mother nature can be a bit scary at times. When she is angry she can use her amazing powers to create destruction and chaos on our little planet. These days there seem to be more and more occurrences of natural disasters happening around the world.
Let's take a look at the names of the natural disasters that we can see on the news:
Avalanche
An avalanche is the large movement of snow down the side of a mountain. They occur when the snow becomes too loose and as it slides down it mixes with air and water to cause a powerful and dangerous disaster.
Drought
A drought happens when there has been no rain in a place for a long time. The land becomes too dry and it impossible to grow any plants or vegetables on the land. Droughts sometimes occur in very hot countries. A drought may result in a famine; this is when there is not enough food to feed the people and they start to starve (die from not eating).
Earthquake
An earthquake occurs when the plates of the earth start to move and the ground begins to move and shake. Earthquakes can range from the very big (which can destroy cities) to the very small (which you might not even notice). The size of earthquakes is measured on the Richter scale.
Flood
A flood occurs when a large amount of water covers the land. Too much rain usually causes floods. Floods also happen when the water level in a river becomes too high. As sea levels continue to rise, the risk of flooding increases.
Forest fire / Wildfire
Usually during a hot, dry summer forest fires occur. They may be started by people or by lightning in storms. These huge fires spread easily because of wind and the dry conditions. California has a forest fire season when the risk of fires is high.
Hurricane / Typhoon
A hurricane, which originally means 'big wind', is most likely to occur in late summer in America. They are caused by low air pressure and thunderstorms and result in strong winds and heavy rain. When they happen in the Atlantic Ocean we call them hurricanes; however, they are called Typhoons when they happen in the Pacific Ocean.
Landslide
A landslide happens on a slope like a mountain or a hill. The rocks and earth become loose and fall down the slope. When soil on the slope is wet, a mudslide may occur.
Lightning
Lightning occurs when electricity comes down from the sky and hits the ground. A lightning strike can typically be 30,000 °C and travel at 60,000 miles per second. Thunder is the loud sound that we hear soon after a flash of lightning.
Tornado
A tornado, which is casually known as a twister, is a very large column of wind that spins around very quickly. Tornadoes happen in most places around the world, but are most common in America. The power of a Tornado can cause the winds to destroy houses and pick up and throw heavy items.
Volcanic eruptions
When a volcano erupts it sends hot red lava flowing from its top. Lava is a type of liquid rock that when cools turns back into rock. Lava is Magma which comes from below the crust of the earth. Eruptions are caused by the plates of the earth moving and the pressure makes magma push up through the cracks in the earth.
- 4 skiers are missing after the ___ in the Alps.
- After the ___ all the houses were left under water.
- High buildings are often hit by ___ during storms.
- It took fire fighters 3 days to put out the ___ .
- 3 months without rain has caused a ___ in Africa.
- A ___ occurs when loose land and rocks fall down a mountain.
- The ___ picked up the car and threw it 100 meters into the air. That's an incredibly strong wind!
- A big storm in the Pacific is known as a ___.
- The ___ shook my house last night. It was 3.5 on the Richter scale.
- Mount Fuji in Japan is a famous ___.
Matching activities
1. drought
2. mudslide
3. emergency shelter
4. flood
5. famine
6. evacuation
7. blizzard
8. tsunami
9. aftershock
10. avalanche
- the act of making people leave a place because of danger
- a place where people can sleep in an emergency
- a big wave that can destroy towns near the sea
- a disaster when there is no rain for a long time
- a very bad snowstorm
- a disaster when there is no food
- a disaster in which snow and ice move quickly down a mountain
- a lot of water
- a disaster in which hills become too wet and the soil moves
- a small earthquake after a larger one
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