Unit 12 Page 120 Lesson B1A

Page 120

Lesson B

Natural disasters

1. Building vocabulary and grammar

A. Listen. Which picture goes with each news item? Number the pictures.

1: The island of Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Calvin late this morning. Electric power was temporarily disrupted throughout the island, and many homes were damaged by heavy rains and strong winds.

2: Quebec was hit by severe thunderstorms yesterday. Flights at several airports were delayed by heavy rains, thunder, and lightning. Last night, three families were rescued by emergency workers after their homes were damaged by flash floods resulting from the rains.

3: Firefighters in Australia say over 10,000 acres of forest were completely destroyed by catastrophic wildfires this year. Investigators suspect some fires were caused by careless campers. They believe other fires started when trees were struck by lightning.

4: A shopping mall in Kansas was badly damaged by a tornado last night. A nearby town was later hit by a freak hailstorm. Cars were struck by hailstones the size of golf balls. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured by the tornado or the storm.

5: A small town in Italy was struck by a minor earthquake this morning. The quake measured 4.9 on the Richter scale. Aftershocks were felt in several towns. Some homes were partially destroyed, but no serious injuries were reported.