Lesson 3, We survived the tsunami!

Lesson 3

1	Do you know what a tsunami is? Do this quiz to find out.

2	Jean Paul wants to write an article about this event in the school newspaper. Read and complete his notes.

What happened?

On December 26th 2004, at 7.58 am local time, there was a bigearthquake in the Indian Ocean, near Indonesia. The tsunami thatfollowed killed more than 150.000 people and left 5 millionhomeless.

Pete and Cathy from England were spending their Christmasholidays in Phuket with their dad. Pete is talking about thathorrible day.

“When the tsunami hit, we were sleeping. My sister and I woke upbecause we heard police sirens and helicopters. We left dad asleepand went down to find out what was going on. Outside, peoplewere standing in shock. Suddenly a man yelled, ‘Another wave ...There's another one coming!' We ran as quickly as possible to ourroom. While Dad was talking on the phone with mum, the phonewent dead. We left the hotel immediately. On our way to theairport, we saw the beach... It was full of broken beach umbrellasand boats. Tourists were looking for their families. It was awful! Wewere alive because we hadn't gone to the beach earlier thatmorning! Lots of other people weren't that lucky. We just wantedto go home but the airport was shut! We'll never forget what wesaw over those days.”

adapted from Mizz No. 514 Jan 26th - Feb 8th 2005 p. 28 - 29

We survived the tsunami!

3	Do you know anything else about this event? How does it make you feel? How did Greece help the tsunami victims in Indonesia?

4	What other natural disasters can happen in the world? What might cause them? Find some information and tell the class.

Natural Disasters - Accidents:

1	Match the words with the pictures. Then listen, check and repeat.

a. hurricane	b. volcanic eruption	c. earthquake	d. flood
f. tsunami	g. avalanche	h. car crash	i. fire

This text will be replaced

Read these short texts from newspaper articles. What are they
about? Choose from Task 1 above.

“The rivers go up as much as four inches a
day, and the end of the rainy season is still
weeks away. We're fighting against time!”

On the night of the deadly crash,
photographers on motorbikes were
chasing Diana's car through the streets
of Paris.

Many strong aftershocks, one measuring 6.3 in
magnitude, rocked the area.

A SLEEPING GIANT AWAKES! Lava rocketed up to the
top of Mount Saint Helens in Washington last week.

Back to school after Katrina. Thousands of students whose
schools were destroyed by strong winds are being
welcomed at new schools.

UNIT 4

Lesson 3

Put the words in the correct WORD group. Then, read the
article and find more words to add in the groups.

September 5, 2005
Rescues Continue in New Orleans
Emergency crews search for survivors as President Bush visits Louisiana and Mississippi

One week after Hurricane Katrina hit,helicopters circled New Orleanslooking for survivors. By Monday,most people had left the destroyed Louisianacity. Police ordered anyone still there to leave.There is no electricity, clean drinking water orfood. Hundreds of thousands of people have

already been evacuated. Manyhave been taken toneighboring states, includingTexas and Tennessee. Texas isalready housing 230,000hurricane victims. Many ofthose survivors are expected tomove to other nearby statesthat have offered help.Rescue teams searchedhomes and rooftops fortrapped victims. New OrleansMayor C. Ray Nagin warnedthat the number of people

killed by the hurricane could be as high as10,000. It will take a long time for officials todetermine exactly how many people died.

By Dina El Nabli

From Time For Kids, September 5, 2005

We survived the tsunami!

Past Simple vs Past Continuous

1	Match the pictures with the example sentences and then complete the Grammar table.

a. When the tsunami hit, we were sleeping
b. While / When dad was talking on the phone with mum, the phone went dead.

Circle the tense we use for:

An action in progress:
A sudden event:

Past Simple / Past Continuous
Past Simple / Past Continuous

The sudden event often interrupts the action in progress.

While + past ...........................
When + past simple or past continuous

see Grammar Appendix, page 169-170

2	Get in two groups, A and B.

Students A: Write down half a sentence, describing an action in progress. Don't show it to
your partner.
Students B: Write down half a sentence, describing a sudden event. Don't show it to your
partner.

Students A: Give your pieces of paper to the teacher.
Students B: Listen to your teacher reading each action in progress.
If your sentence matches, read it to the class.

Now, change roles.

UNIT 4

Lesson 3

1	Accidents are not always disasters. Listen to people in three different situations (1 - 3) and match with a picture (a - d). There is one extra picture.

This text will be replaced

2	Can you describe each accident? What do you think happened in the extra picture?

We survived the tsunami!

A newspaper article

1	Look at the following notes. What are they about?

                Project - Disasters
              

Notes on earthquake

Date: 7/9/1999
Time: 14.57
Location: Athens - Greece
Magnitude: 5.9
Number of victims:
- 143 people were killed
- 700 people were injured
Witnesses: Heleni Denou, 13
Lives in Nea Smyrni - Athens
Was at home
Her description:

Kids / set the table
Mum / serve lunch
Dad / talk on the phone
House / start shaking
Plates / books / fall off
Under the kitchen table
She: terrified / Sister: crying
Telephones / go dead
After the earthquake / go downstairs /
lots of people in shock
Next day: watch the news / see the
victims / cry.

2	You are going to write an article about a disaster in Greece with your partner. In pairs, look at the notes and do the following:

a. Plan your writing. You can have 3 paragraphs.

Paragraph 1:
THE FACTS

what / when / where
victims

Paragraph 2:
INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR WITNESS
Paragraph 3:
DESCRIPTION OF

the disaster
people’s feelings

b. Decide on

the events in progress before the earthquake.
the main events.
the tenses you need.
the vocabulary you need.

c. Write your first draft. Look at the article about
the tsunami for help.

Work in pairs.

Read each other's first drafts.

Make comments.

UNIT 4

Lesson 3

Natural Disasters around the world

In groups, search sites of Greek and English newspapers on the Internet to prepare
a photographic display on the theme ‘Natural Disasters around the World'.
Write information cards for each event.

Earthquake - China, 2008

Date: 12/05/2008
Time: 14.28
Location: China (Sichuan province)
Magnitude: 7.8
Number of victims:
- 69,000 people were killed (10,000 in Sichuan province alone)
- about 250,00 people were injured
Help from: the army, paramilitary People's Armed Police, the Red Cross, Mercy Corps etc.

S e l f - A s s e s s m e n t

VOCABULARY LINK

1	Delete the odd word out.

1.chemist
2. bridge
3. pavement
4. heavily
5. injured

puppeteer
fairy tale
disappointed
shining
homeless

play
block of flats
excited
slightly
government

1 POINT FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER TOTAL ___/5

Complete the sentences with the correct word.

1. Graham Bell i…………….. the telephone.
2. I was b…………… on January 10th.
3. It was raining s…………….
4. Ron and Jean fell in l………. at first sight.
5. The house started s………………. during the earthquake.

1 POINT FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER TOTAL ___/7

GRAMMAR LINK

3	Complete the sentences with did/was/were

1. How much ………. you pay for your dress?
2. ………….. you at school at 9 o'clock?
3. I ……………n't see him yesterday.
4. What …………. you doing when I called you?
5. ………….. you find your book?

1 POINT FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER TOTAL ___/5

4	Put the verbs in brackets in Past Simple or Past Continuous.

1. While I ……………………..(wait) for the bus, I …………………….. (meet) Maria.
2. Jim ……………………. (study) maths while we ………………………. (play) golf.
3. Mum ……………….. (wash) the dishes and then …………………… (make) a cake.
4. She ……………………. (go) swimming last Sunday.

1 POINT FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER TOTAL ___/7

5	Write questions and give short answers. Use Past Simple or Past Continuous.

you/go/to school/yesterday?

Did you go to school yesterday? Yes, I did.

1. your sister/sleep/ at 11 o'clock / last night /?

........................................................................
2. you/watch the concert on TV/ last night / ? x...........................................................................
3. Jenny/ get back home early / last Saturday / ?

....................................................................
4. you/ take a test/ when the bell rang / ? x................................................................................

2 POINTS FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER TOTAL ___/8

CHECK YOUR ANSWERS WITH YOUR PARTNER. THEN LOOK AT THE ANSWER KEY ON PAGE 176

0 -10

11 -20

21 -25

26 -30

S e l f - A s s e s s m e n t

Which is true for you? Put a tick

in the right box.

I can read ‘Mystery Person' entries to complete an information table.
I can write a ‘Mystery Person' quiz for my classmates.
I can guess the content of a short story from its title.
I can understand a policeman's report.
I can talk about a day when I was grounded.
I can read extracts from articles to find out what disaster they are about.
I can listen to people talking in everyday situations and understand what is
going on.
I can write a short article about a natural disaster based on notes.

: I'm very good! What can I revise?	My Notes: ……………………………………………… ……………………………………………… ……………………………………………… ……………………………………………… …………………………………....…………
: I can become better. What should I practise?
: I must try harder. What do I need to work on?

FOCUS ON LEARNING NEW VOCABULARY

Tick

the strategies for learning vocabulary that have helped you in
this unit. Which other(s) do you want to try in the future?

Try to guess the meaning of a word from the context.
Draw pictures for new words.
Form WORD GROUPS.
Make a list of word collocations.
Make word associations, i.e. say what a word brings to your mind or
how it makes you feel.
Highlight words in texts.
Make simple sentences about you with each new word.
Record new words with synonyms or an English definition.
Play vocabulary games.
Look a word up in your dictionary.
Try to use the new words when you write or speak.
Ignore new words that you don't need to understand.