B.Great cracks divide the earth into huge sections called plates – 7 larger ones and several smaller ones.

UNIT 2. LAND

Warming –up activity

I. Work in groups. Give your understanding of a disaster. What is it? What are your associations with this word?

DISASTER – 1. a very bad accident, e.g. a crash or a fire, that causes great damage or loss of life; a CATASTROPHE; an air/sea/train disaster, a natural disaster, a disaster area.

2. an event that causes suffering or unfortunate consequences, a MISFORTUNE.

3. (inf.) a person/thing that is a complete failure:

As a teacher, he’s a disaster.

Adj. DISASTREOUS flood/marriage/decision.

Adv. DISASTREOUSLY

II. In groups make up 3 sentences with the word DISASTER to show different meaning of it.

What kinds of disaster do you know?

Here is presented a number of definitions of the disasters. You must match the term and its definition. NB!!! Make sure you pronounce the words correctly.

Hurricane /’harikən/	A time when there is very little food in a region
Tornado /to:’neidəu/	A violet tropical storm in the Western Pacific
Typhoon /tai’fu:n/	A sudden violet movement of the earth’s surface
Drought /draut/	A violent storm with strong winds esp. in the Western Atlantic Ocean
Famine /’fæmin/	A violent storm in which strong winds move over the ground in a circle
Earthquake /’з:Өkweik/	A large quantity of water covering an area that is usually dry
Cyclone /’saikləun/	A period of continuous dry weather esp. when there is not enough water for people’s needs
Flood /flad/	A violent storm with strong wind circular winds over a small area

III. Up to now people in different countries have suffered from the catastrophes. Give the examples of the disasters which have already happened. What effect can these phenomena have on the landscape and on the development of a country?

IV. What can be the reasons of a disaster? Some scientists say about the ocean floor movement, others support the idea of nature revenge upon us. Environmentalists speak about people’s negative influence on the earth. What do you believe in?

V. Read the text on pp.24-26 “Inner forces change the earth’s surface”. Find the English equivalents for the following phrases in Russian:

ü морское дно медленно двигается вдоль океанических хребтов;

ü большие трещины разделяют землю на огромные части;

ü …по мере того, как они двигаются рядом друг с другом;

ü это движение происходит…;

ü происходит в считанные секунды;

ü сильны настолько, чтобы люди, живущие на этой территории, почувствовали…;

ü для измерения силы землетрясения;

ü ..5 баллов по шкале Рихтера;

ü вызвать большие разрушения и смерть людей;

ü говорить о приближающихся извержениях;

ü говорят, что этот вулкан бездействующий;

VI. Translate the following sentences from the text into Russian. Pay special attention to the underlined phrases.

a. An active volcano is one that always shows signs of volcanic action.

b.Great cracks divide the earth into huge sections called plates – 7 larger ones and several smaller ones.

c. Clouds of dust and ashes shot as high as6 km into the air.

d. The eruption blew off 390 m of the mountain’s top, sent smoke and ash as high as 18 km, and took 61 lives.

e. It was the first volcanic eruption to take place in the United States since 1917.

VII. Here is a report about a volcano that has erupted in southern Italy. It had laid dormant for over 20 years. Underline all the examples of the Passive, then using the report complete the sentences.

“Here I am standing on top of a pile of rubble. Yesterday it was a school. It seems that over 2000 people have been found so far. Many hundreds more have still to be traced. The volcano erupted just as everyone in this sleepy little town was having breakfast. Some were killed by the blast and the heat. Some were killed when their houses collapsed – they were buried alive in the rubble. Children were killed as they were being driven to school by their parents. Most of the people who died had been born here, and had lived all their lives in this village. The blast was felt 50 miles away.”

1. Many people have not yet been ………..

2. Because so many buildings fell down, lots of people were …… alive.

3. Many of the children were in cars which were being …… by their parents.

4. The effects of the eruption were …. by people living many miles away from the scene.

5. The school has been….

6. Most of the dead were people who had been …. in the area.

7. It may be weeks before we know how many people have been…..

VIII. Imagine you are a journalist. You must write a report about a disaster that has just happened. The previous task can be an example for you. Use the Passive as much as possible.

IX. Here are some reports about different disasters. Identify a disaster and match the titles to the stories (or you can give your own variants for the titles).