Handout L1 2
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Madiyar KospekovHandout L1 2
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Madiyar KospekovA Flying Disaster
Paragraph A.
Earthquakes. Floods. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. It seems that every day we read about at least one of
these somewhere in the world. But every year, somewhere, another kind of disaster causes great
damage to plants and people. It’s something much smaller and not so well-known as an earthquake
or a tsunami — it’s an insect called the locust.
Paragraph B.
The locust usually does things alone - it lives on its own and eats on its own. But, sometimes,
something changes the way nature works. When the number of locusts increases somewhere and
there are lots of plants to eat, the locusts get together in ‘swarms’.
Paragraph C.
Perhaps the most dangerous locust is the desert locust. It is found in Africa, the Middle East, and
Asia in about 60 countries altogether. When desert locusts swarm, they bring problems to one-tenth
of all the humans in the world.
Paragraph D.
The numbers are huge and frightening. A swarm of desert locusts can be 1,200 square km in size -
imagine an area that is over 20 kilometres wide and 50 kilometres long, full of locusts! And there
can be 50 million locusts in each square kilometre. Each locust eats its own weight in plants every
day — so a swarm of desert locusts can eat more than 150 million kilos of food in one day. They
can also fly very long distances —in 1954 a swarm of locusts from northwest Africa flew thousands
of miles to finally land in Great Britain!
Paragraph E.
It’s no wonder that farmers in many countries of the world fear the desert locust more than snakes
and spiders. It’s the desert locust that destroys the harvest and brings hunger to people all over the
world.
Task 1. Match the topics with the paragraphs A-E
1. Basic facts about locusts ___
2. Scary numbers ___
3. A disaster that we don’t always hear about ___
4. Desert Locusts can destroy the food we need ___
5. The problem caused by a certain type of locust
Task 2. Answer the questions. Give FULL answers
1. What insects is the text about?
2. How do these insects normally live?
3. When can they become dangerous for people?
4. Why are farmers afraid of them?
Task 3. Find words or phrases in the text
1. harm or break something (Paragraph A) ____________
2. alone (Paragraph B) ____________
3. when insects come together in a big group (Paragraph C) ____________
4. very big (Paragraph D) ____________
5. not surprising ____________
6. Plants, fruit or vegetables that farmers collect from their fields or gardens (Paragraph E)
____________
Vocabulary
shine
breeze
roar
scream
unable
massive
swallow
breathe
grab
gasp
for air
loud
lonely
lost
Fill in the gaps with the new vocabulary
1. A warm ___________ is blowing near the sea.
2. Last week a group of people went hiking and _________ in the
mountains.
3. The only thing he could do was to watch, _______________ to
move.
4. A shark can __________________ lots of fish.
5. When Tom was falling down on the floor, someone
_______________ him.
6. In the steppe they heard a ______________ sound of thunder.
7. An old man didn’t have a family, he was ___________________.
Listen and do the task
Task 1: TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN
1. It was winter.
2. The weather was bad.
3. Mark saw a massive wave.
4. There was no water under his feet.
5. His mum was swallowed by the wave.
6. There were many Thai people.
7. Mark was shocked.
8. A week later they left the island.
Listen and do the task
Task 2: fill in the gaps with no more than four words.
Mark and his family went to ____________________
While Mark was swimming, he heard _____________________________
A ____________________ wave was coming towards people.
Mark _____________ and looked around.
The pilot ________________ a Thai man and Mark.
Task 3. Read the text and complete the sentences using two to four
words
Homework: In groups, tell about natural disaster and its possible effects
Earthquakes may cause …
One of the possible effects of a tsunami is...
The main effect of forest fires is...
Floods may result in...
