Going under_intermediate.pdf

Going under

Level 2 Intermediate

Pre-reading A: Predicting the content

Read the headline and the sub-heading below. What do you think the article is going to be about?

Going under

Britain is well-known for its very wet climate. We are used to suffering

week upon week of rain. So why have a few heavy showers caused such

devastation around the country this summer?

Aida Edemariam reports

July 24, 2007

Pre-reading B: Key words

Match these keywords from the text with the deinitions below.

devastation

a downpour

evacuated

run-off

drainage

sewers

ploughs

absorb

crops

sandbags

1. ____________averyheavyshowerofrain

2. ____________removingliquidsfromsomething

3. ____________digsupthelandinlines,usingmachines

4. ____________veryseriousdamage

5. ____________excesswaterthatcannotsinkintotheground

6. ____________madetomoveaway(fromadangerousplace)

7.____________strongbagsilledwithsand,usedtokeepwaterout

8. ____________asystemofpipesundergroundtocarrywastewateraway

9. ____________takeinliquidalittleatatime

10.____________plantsgrownforfood

Now read the article, check the words in context, and see if your prediction was correct.

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Intermediate

Going under

Level 2 Intermediate

Going under

Britain is well-known for its very wet climate. We

are used to suffering week upon week of rain.

So why have a few heavy showers caused such

devastation around the country this summer?

Aida Edemariam reports

July 24, 2007

5pmFriday–asixthofwhatitwouldexpectforthe

wholeyear.SouthYorkshiregotamonth’sworthof

rainonJune25.Andithasbeenrainingforweeks

now,“andthegroundisverywet,soimmediately

yougetrainfall,yougetrun-off”,explainsprofessor

AdrianSaul,ofShefieldUniversity.

Itisn’tjustthatthegroundcannotabsorbsomuch

sofast–drainagesystemscan’teither.“When

youdesignasystemyouhavetoplanforpossible

dangers,andgenerallytheplansareenoughto

protectourcommunities,”saysSaul.“It’sverylucky

thattheVictoriansbuiltthesystemsasbigasthey

did.EspeciallyinLondon,theyimaginedthatthere

wouldbechange,andthathasprotectedLondon

eversince.”ButtheywerebuiltwhenLondon’s

populationwasaquarterofwhatitisnow–andlast

Friday,theysimplydidn’tholdup.

Anyonetryingtotakeatraintoorfromthe

southwestofEnglandthisweekendmightthink

theyhadaccidentallywalkedintoadisastermovie.

Trainswereannounced,butneverarrived,asmore

andmorelineswentoutofservice.Andthepeople

whohadtowatchtheirhomesandbusinesses

looded,couldn’tbelievethatadownpoursoshort

shouldcausesuchdamage,orthatsuchscenes

shouldbeoccurringatall.

Theirdisbeliefisjustiied.This,afterall,isacountry

famedforitswetness.Rainisournationalweather.

Snow–well,weallknowwhathappenswhen

Britaingetsafewmillimetresofsnow.Excessive

heat,likelastsummer’s,causesdificulties,too

–butrain?Givenourwideexperience,surelywe

shouldleadtheworldinrainmanagement.

“Oursewersarenotdesignedtodealwithsomuch

waterlowingthroughthem,”saysNicolaSavage,

aspokeswomanforThamesWater.Andtheyare

notdesignedforthewaywetreatthemnowadays.

Weeach,personally,usefarmorewaterthanever

before.Thepublicalsotendto“usethesewersas

arubbishbin,”Savageadds.“Peopleputnappies

downtoilets,sanitaryproducts,tights.Inparticular,

weneedtoencouragepeoplenottobepouring

stuffdownthesink–forexample,fat,oiland

grease.Thesewerswereneverdesignedtocope

withthissortofmaterial.”

Alas,itseemsnot.Thousandsofpeoplehadto

beevacuatedovertheweekend,thousandsmore

aretrappedintheirhomes.That’sthousandsto

addtothosestillunabletogohomeafterloodsin

thenorthofEnglandlastmonth,whichkilledeight

people–andmillionsofpoundstoaddtoanational

insurancebilleventuallyexpectedtotop£2.5

billion.Evesham,inWorcestershire,theworst-hit

townthisweekend,hadloodsofuptoivemetres.

Anditisn’toveryet:asthiswasprintedtherewere

warningsthatloodwatersweren’texpectedto

peakuntiltonight,andOxfordandBedfordand

Gloucestershirewerepreparingthemselvestobe

thenextmajorareashit.Everyoneisaskinghow

suchshortburstsofrain–justonehourinLondon,

slightlylongerinplacessuchasOxfordshire–could

havesuchdevastatingresults.

Saulisalsoinvolvedin£5.6millionprojectwhich

isinvestigatinghowfarmerscancontrolthelow

ofwateroffland.Farmerscandecreaserun-offif

theyploughacrosshills,ratherthandownthem,

andcarefullyplacedtreescanhelpstoplooding.

Andthemoreanimalswalkoverapieceofland,

theharderthegroundbecomes,andtheless

wateritcanabsorb.Thatwilldamagecrops,and

therewillbeashortageoffood.Andifintensively

farmedanimalsgetnodrinkingwaterfor48hours,

thousandswilldie,andthepriceofmeatwillrise.

Infact,theanswerliespartlyinhowquicklyit

allhappened.BrizeNortoninOxfordshirehad

121.2mmofrainbetweenmidnightThursdayand

Scientistsarealsoinvestigatinghowindividuals

canhelpreduceaproblemthat,infact,they

havehelpedcreate:byextendingtheirhouses,

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Intermediate

Going under

Level 2 Intermediate

pavingdriveways,andbuildingcarparks.Allthis

decreasestheamountofsoftgroundtoabsorb

water,andincreasestheamountofrun-offinto

drainsandrivers.“Inessence,anythingthatruns

offthehouseshouldbestoredlocally,”saysSaul.

Insteadofgoingstraightintotheseweragesystem,

rainwatercanbecollected–instoragetanksunder

driveways,forexample–andusedtolushtoilets

orrunwashingmachines.Smalltrenchescalled

soakawayscanbedugingardensandilledwith

stones,totrapthewaterandreleaseitintothe

groundabitmoreslowly.Everylittlehelps.

ForalthoughwhatBritainhasexperiencedover

thepastmonthis,asexpertsexplain,somevery

unusualweatherevents,ourchangingclimate

meansthattheremaysoonbemoreofthem,more

frequently.TodayOxfordshireandGloucestershire

arehavingtogetoutthesandbagsandevacuate

thecitizens.Tomorrow,nextmonth,nextyear

–whoknows?

©GuardianNews&Media2007

Firstpublishedin The Guardian ,24/07/07

Comprehension check

Re-read the text more carefully, and decide whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F) .

1.PeopleinBritainwerenotsurprisedbytheloods.

2. Insurancecostswillbeveryhigh.

3.Onereasonfortheloodswasthatahugeamountofrainfellinaveryshorttime.

4. ThesewersinLondonwerebuiltbyVictorianengineers.

5. Thepublichavebeenputtingthewrongkindsofthingsdownthetoilet.

6.Farmerscouldhelppreventloodingiftheyploughedtheirlandupanddownhill.

7.Foodwillprobablycostlessaftertheloods.

8.Ifpeoplekeepcoveringmorelandwithbuildingsandconcrete,wemayseemoreloodsinthefuture.

Vocabulary development 1

Find words in the text that mean the following. Paragraph numbers are given to help you.

1. too much, very great (para2)

2. kept somewhere, like a prisoner (para3)

3. to reach its highest level (para3)

4. often do this, as a habit (para6)

5. succeed in working with (para6)

6. covering (the ground) with hard material like concrete or bricks (para8)

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Intermediate

Going under

Level 2 Intermediate

Vocabulary development 2: Word formation

All these words appear in the text, some as nouns, some as verbs (or adjectives), and some as both.

1. Give the NOUN form of each of the VERBS given. Some you can ind in the text; others you can try to

remember, or predict.

verb

noun

1.devastating

devastation

2.evacuated

3.announced

4.manage

5.drained

6.looded

7.stored

8.prepare

9.expect

10.warn

2. How many different NOUN endings are there here? What are they?

Language development: So and such

1. See if you can remember (or guess) which word goes in each gap: SO or SUCH . Then scan the text

again quickly to check.

1. ______short

5.______asOxfordshire

2. ______damage

6.______devastatingresults

3. ______scenes

7.______muchwater

4. ______shortbursts

8.______fast

2. What can you discover about the way to use so and such ?

Discussion

1. Havetherebeenloodsinyourcountryrecently?

2. Havetherebeenotherchangesintheweather?

3. Doyouthinkthesechangesareprobablybecauseofglobalwarming?

4. Whatisyourgovernmentdoingtohelppreventglobalwarming? Whatdoyouthinkitshoulddo?

5. Whatdoyouthinkindividualsinyourcountryshoulddotohelp?

6. Howhaveyouchangedyourownbehaviourtohelpreducethedanger?

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Intermediate

Going under

Level 2 Intermediate

KEY

2 Pre-Reading B: Key words

5 Vocabulary development 2:

Word formation

1. adownpour

2. drainage

3. ploughs

4. devastation

5. run-off

6. evacuated

7. sandbags

8. sewers

9. absorb

10.crops

verb

noun

1.devastating

devastation

2.evacuated

evacuation

3.announced

announcement

4.manage

management

5.drained

drainage

6.looded

looding

7.stored

storage

3 Comprehension check

8.prepare

preparation

9.expect

expectation

1. False.AlthoughrainiscommoninBritain,

theywereverysurprised.

2. True

3. True

4. True

5. True

6. False.Theycouldhelpiftheyploughedtheir

landacrossthehills.

7. False.Itwillprobablycostmoreaftertheloods.

10.warn

warning

2.Four: -ation; -ment; -age; -ing

6 Language development: So and such

1. so

2. such

3. such

4. such

5. such

6. such

7. so

8. so

4 Vocabulary development 1

1. excessive

2. trapped

3. topeak

4. tendto

5. copewith

6. paving

Use SO :

Use SUCH :

beforeanoun

beforeadjective+noun

orwiththeword as tomean‘like’or‘for

example’,+noun

beforeanadjectivealone

•

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Intermediate

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