ENGLISH LISTENING MATERIALS
Title : NATURAL DISASTERS
Type :
Report/Descriptive/Story
Source :
www.britishcouncil.org
Re-uploaded and edited by www.haarrr.wordpress.com; intended
for the learners of English in Indonesia; used for the educational purposes
only; ©britishcouncil.org
_______________________________________________________________
A. Script:
Natural
disasters
by
John Russell
Natural disasters
take many different forms and can happen without warning. Earthquakes, floods,
volcanoes, drought, typhoons and hurricanes are all natural disasters.
The earthquake of
26 December 2004 resulted in one of the worst natural disasters in living memory.
It was a massive underwater quake and occurred in the Indian
Ocean. This caused a huge tidal-wave (a tsunami) to cross the Indian Ocean. It destroyed coastlines, communities and brought
death and destruction to many people. Thousands of people were killed as the
wave travelled miles across the ocean to distant beaches. Whole families were
swept out to sea or drowned as the sea invaded the land. The survivors need
fresh water, food and shelter as well as medical help. People from all over the
world are giving lots of money so that towns and villages can be rebuilt.
Why do earthquakes happen?
The
surface of the earth has not always looked as it does today; it is moving
continuously (although very slowly) and has done so for billions of years. This
is one cause of earthquakes, when one section the earth (tectonic plate)
collides with another. Scientists can predict where (but not when) this might happen
and the area between plates is called fault line. On one fault line in Kobe, Japan
in 1923 over 200,000 people were killed.
However,
earthquakes do not always happen on fault lines, which is why they are so
dangerous and unpredictable.
Where do volcanoes happen?
Volcanoes
happen where the earth’s crust is thin - lava, dust and gases burst out (erupt)
from beneath the earth. They can rise into a massive cone shape - like a
mountain and erupt, or they can be so violent that they just explode directly from
the earth with no warning. There are 1511 ‘active’ volcanoes in the world. This
means that they may still be dangerous. In 1985 the massive Colombian volcano
Nevado del Ruiz erupted. The lava melted a glacier and sent tones of mud down
the town of Armero
below. Twenty thousand people died.
Can we predict earthquakes and
volcanoes?
Natural
disasters like volcanoes are often unpredictable. We regularly do not know when
they might happen, or even where they will happen. In the future, scientists
may be able to watch and predict events before they happen. This could save
many lives. In South America, scientists
predicted the eruption of Popocatépetl. Tens of thousands of people were safely
moved just before the biggest eruption of the volcano for a thousand years. No
one was hurt.
What is the difference
between a Hurricane and a Tornado?
Hurricanes
are extremely strong storms and often happen in the Caribbean.
They cause high winds, huge waves, and heavy flooding and can be hundreds of
miles across. In 1998, Hurricane Gilbert produced 160 mile an hour winds. It
killed 318 people, and destroyed much of Jamaica. Tornadoes or ‘twisters’
are very strong spinning winds. They can move objects as big as a car and can
blow buildings down. These are very common in West Africa and certain areas of
the USA.
Can too much rain
cause problems?
Floods happen in many countries
after very heavy rainfall. When rain pours for weeks at a time, rivers overflow
and people and property can be trapped or simply washed away. Since 1998, more
than 30 people have drowned in floods in Britain. Flooding in Bangladesh
caused 1300 deaths in 1989, another natural disaster.
…..and too little?
Another
kind of natural disaster is a drought. This happens when there is no water,
when it doesn’t rain for a long time and rivers dry up. Plants, animals and
even humans die as a result of drought, for we all need water to live. Many countries
today suffer from drought. This causes crops to fail, animal to die and sadly,
people to starve.
Which is the most
dangerous natural disaster?
All the disasters
mentioned above are very dangerous and continue to kill thousands of people
each year, but they are nowhere near the most dangerous disaster to ever happen
on earth. One type of event in earth’s history has regularly killed millions of
beings; asteroid impacts. About once every million years the earth is hit by a
piece of rock and ice from space large enough to cause massive destruction
(including earthquakes, volcanoes and ice ages) and sometimes to kill entire
species. 65 million years ago more than half the earth’s species were killed by
such an impact (including all the dinosaurs).
Disasters on the
earth may seem dangerous, but the biggest threat to humans is likely to come from
space.
***
B. Samples of Exercises:
1.
Match the terms in
column A with the correct definitions in column B!
|
2. Active
3. Asteroid
4. Cone
5. Drought
6. Fault line
7. Impact
8. Lava
9. Overflow
10. Tectonic plates
11.
Tornado
|
A.
Sections of the earth’s surface
B.
Hot liquid that erupts from
volcanoes
C.
A very fast spinning wind
D.
When it doesn’t rain for a very
long time
E.
Places on the earth where
earthquakes are more common
F.
One type of shape for a volcano
G.
When there is too much water in
a river
H.
When a comet hits the earth
with great force
I.
When a volcano still has the
possibility to erupt
J.
A large piece of rock and ice
floating in space
|
2. Answer the
following questions!
- Mention forms of natural disasters!
- What is tsunami?
- Based on the CD you have listened, how many active volcanoes are there in the world?
- What is the difference between a hurricane and a twister?
- According to the speaker, what is likely the most dangerous disaster on the earth?
***
Thank
you for downloading from
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