OBJECTIVES of the unit:
- Learning about items in the news,
- using the Past Simple and Past Continuous,
- talking about the past, describing scenes,
- writing about a bad experience,
- knowing important international events.
Debate with students:
What inportant events do you know?
Natural disasters
1. Hurricane
The meteorologists always give hurricanes names of people; they use the alphabet to choose names for the hurricanes. It hit the Gulf of Mexico terribly. Hurricanes are given people’s names to identify them quickly and track them as they move across the ocean, as there may be more than one hurricane at a time. In 19th Century tropical storms received woman’s names. In 1979, the US National Weather Service used both women’s and men’s names alternately, one name for each letter of the alphabet, except for the letters Q, U and Z. They use six lists in rotation, so the same list is used every six years. In the case a hurricane is particularly deadly, its name is retired and a new name is added.
2. Floods and storms
We know water is absolutely necessary for life on Earth, but too much water in the wrong place can bring death and destruction. In recent centuries there have been extraordinary floods, especially in India, Bangladesh, China, and the United States. There are two major causes of the floods in these countries: great rivers (Mississippi and Ganges) and sea-storms.
3. Earthquake
On January 12, 2010, at 21:53 UTC, Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake, the country's most severe earthquake in over 200 years. The epicenter of the quake was just outside the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, which was devastated. On 10 February the Haitian government gave a confirmed death toll of 230,000.
4. Tornado
A tornado is a very, very strong wind that goes around and round in the shape of a tall, thin chimney. In the centre is a vacuum, which causes very high air pressure. They wind speed at the centre can be over 480 kilometres per hour. They are common in the Midwest of the USA.
5. Volcanic eruption: Volcano Vesuvius
It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting. Pompeii is twenty kilometres south-east of Naples, Pompeii was a rich town of 20,000 people with a busy port and market. But on 24th August, A.D. 79, everything changed for ever, the earth began to shake and a south-east wind quickly blew the cloud of ash towards the town of Pompeii. In two days, the town was covered in four metres of ash and stones.
6. Snowstorm
Snowstorms are storms where large amounts of snow fall. A massive snowstorm with strong winds and other conditions meeting certain criteria is known as a blizzard. A large number of heavy snowstorms, some of which were blizzards, occurred in the United States during 1888 and 1947.
7. Fire: The Great Fire if London
The Great Fire of London began on the night of September 2, 1666, as a small fire in the bakeshop of Thomas Farynor, King Charles’ II baker. It destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St. Paul's Cathedral, and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated that it destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the City's ca. 80,000 inhabitants.
8. Tsunami
It is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, such as an ocean. One of the most relevant tsunami in the world was in the Indian Ocean in 2004, which killed over 200,000 people with many bodies either being lost to the sea or unidentified.
Skimming
1. The hurricanes receive woman’s names. T/F
2. A hurricane was name Uzumi. T/F
3. Where are flood very frequent?
4. How many people have dead in the earthquake of Haiti?
5. One of the most damaged city in Italy by the Volcano Vesuvius was: Rome Pompeii Naples
Scanning: Find the synonyms:
a. Lethal-mortal-______
b. Form- ______
c. Presently-_______
LISTENING about natural disasters.
GRAMMAR : Past Simple and Past Continuous
USES
We use the Past Continuous to talk about actions in progress at a particular time in the past.
Example 1: At five o’clock yesterday, I was waiting for you.
We use while and Past Continuous to talk about two actions in progress at the same time.
Example 1: While I was studying you were watching TV.
Example 2: ________________
When do we use Past Simple and Past Continuous?
We use when and the Past Simple to talk about a finished action in the past, and the other part in Past Continuous.
Example 3: I was running when I fell.
Example 4: When you phoned me I was having lunch.
Example 5: ________________
Spelling rules for adding ing the verb
- Most verbs add ing to the base form of the verb. Walk, read > Walking, reading
- Verbs Ending with a silent e drop the e and add ing. live > living
- Monosyllabic verbs ending with a vowel + a consonant, add ing. Run, sit > Running, sitting
- Two-syllable verbs with the stress on the last syllable, double the final consonant, and then add ing. begin > beginning.
- Verbs ending in l double the l and add ing. travel > travelling
- Verbs ending in ie change the ie to y and add ing. die > dying
Activities
