THE CATACLYSM

—VOCABULARY—

Exercise 1. SPEAKING: In pairs, discuss the following photographs.

- How does each photograph make you feel?

- Would you be more worried about one of the events than the others? Why?/Why not?

- Which of these events do you think can be the most dangerous one? Why?
Exercise 2. CROSSWORD. Individually, complete the following crossword to find out some interesting and
useful vocabulary aboutnatural disasters.

Across:

2- Vibrations in the earth's crust causing the ground to shake. earthquake

3- A loud, rolling noise produced by the expansion of air heated by lightning. thunder
4- Used to refer to a very heavy rain. torrential
6- A brief, sudden burst of bright light or flame. flash
8- Pieces of the grey and/or black powdery matter that remains after burning. Also, finely pulverized lava
thrown out by a volcano in eruption. ash
9- A break without separation of parts. crack
10- A fluid substance with the ability to expand without limit, as opposed to a solid or a liquid. gas
13- The ejection of molten rock, steam, etc., as from a volcano or geyser. eruption
Down:

1. A condition of the weather with strong winds, rain, thunder and lightning, etc. storm
3. To be affected with motion like vibrations. tremble
4. A vibration. tremor
5. The hot, melted, fluid rock that comes out of a volcano. lava
7. Lacking what is necessary to leave a place or to get out of a situation. stranded
11. A flash of lightning along with the thunder that comes with it. thunderbolt
12. Covered with water but not usually submerged. fiotate

Exercise 3. In pairs, match the vocabulary from the crossword with the pictures A-D (from exercise 1).

PICTURE A PICTURE B PICTURE C PICTURE D

eruption storm flash Earthquake
Lava torriental thunder tremble

Gas flooded Thunderbolt Tremor

ash crack

Do you know any other types of natural disasters not mentioned before? Brainstorm your ideas
with your partner for a couple of minutes. Then, share your thoughts with the rest of the class.
Write all the vocabulary in the space below and check that you understand everything (you can use
a dictionary if needed).

forest disasters
Exercise 4. In pairs, describe the typical weather conditions in your area for each season.

All the words in each of the groups 1-7 below can be used with one of the nouns in the box
to form strong collocations. For each group of words write the noun which can be used in the
appropriate space. There is an example at the beginning (0).

sunshine showers sky sea storm clouds rain winds

0 overcast 3 strong 6 thick

clear sky gale-force sea storm clouds

stormy light angry-looking

1 violent 4 warm 7 light

severe storm brilliant sunshine scattered Showers xº

electric glorious snow

2 fine 5 rough

heavy rain calm winds

torrential choppy

Now, individually, complete each gap with a two-word adjective + noun collocation. More
than one answer may be possible. The first one has been done for you.

1) There’s a lovely clear sky tonight so we might see a shooting star.

2) Our garden wall was blown down during the night by______violent

storm__________________.

3) Heavy rain will fall on high ground tonight, so skiers can

lookforward to a good day on the slopes tomorrow.

4) It’s going to rain - there are some very storm clouds overhead. Look at them!

5) Torrential rain has caused serious flooding throughout the region.

6) We sailed on a beautiful brilliant sunshine with not a wave in sight.

 Exercise 5. Which of the following occur in your country?

heavy volcanic
earthquake droughts floods hurricanes blizzards
storms

Have you experienced any of these? What was it like?

I have experienced heavy storms in my country, for example, while I was playing soccer, there was a
heavy storm and the game was suspended.

What are the worst weather conditions you have had to endure?
Forest fires are the most important thing I have experienced while I was in Galicia with my family
 —GRAMMAR—

Read the information in the box below very carefully.

In the previous unit, we saw:

- How to rewrite a sentence from the active to the passive form.
- With 1 object.
- With 2 objects.

In this occasion, we are going to talk about the impersonal passive voice, which is mainly used with
verbs of perception like:
- say, think, suppose, know, expect, consider, believe, report, understand, claim, rumor, suggest,
recommend, advise, warn, ask, feel, allege, presume, affirm, state, accept, etc.

The impersonal passive voice is often used when reporting news, giving views or stating perceptions.

There are two types of structures for the impersonal passive voice:

- It + to be (in the right form) + past participle (of the main verb) + “that” clause.
Example:
- Active sentence —> People say that love is the most important thing.
- Passive sentence —> It is said that love is the most important thing.

- Subject + to be (in the right form) + past participle (of the main verb) + “to + infinitive” + …
Example:
- Active sentence —> People say that love is the most important thing.
- Passive sentence —> Love is said to be the most important thing.

Construct sentences in the impersonal passive. Do 1-5 using the first structure and 6-10 with the
second one.

1) They think that he spends so much time helping other people.

It is thought that he spends so much time helping other people

2) Visitors say that the ancient volcano is worth watching.

it is said that he the ancient volcano is worth watching

3) Everybody knows that the risk of wildfires during summer is very high.
It is known that the risk of wildfires during summer is very high

4) The emergency services assume that there will be a torrential rain during the weekend.
It is assumed that there will be a torrential rain during the weekend
 5) Experts suppose that we might face a new extinction era in 2070.

it is supposed that we might face a new extinction era in 2070

 6) My friends think that we go to Hawaii next summer.
We are thought to go to Hawaii next summer

7) The TV presenter said that the earthquake caused a lot of damage to Barcelona city.
he had been said to have the earthquake caused a lot of damage to Barcelona city

8) Ancient people thought that the stars would fall on them.

They had been thought to be the starts would fall on them

9) The children reported that their friends were swimming when the tsunami started.
he had been reported to have their friends were swimming when the tsunami started

10) My dad thinks that our house would not resist a heavy flood.
he has been thought to our house would not resist a heavy flood

Exercise 6. Now, rewrite the following active sentences using both impersonal passive voice
structures learnedbefore.

1) People believe that global warming is the main problem nowadays.

It is believed that global warming is the main problem nowadays
Global Warning is belived to be the main problem nowadays

2) Scientists have reported that the Haiti Volcano was active 100 years ago.

It have been reported that the Haiti Volcano was active 100 years ago
The Haiti Volcano has been reported to be 100 years ago

3) The newsreader thought that the hurricane would decrease after two weeks.
It was thought that the hurricane would decrease after two weeks
The hurricane was thought to decrease after two weeks
 4) A lot of people say that volunteerism is worth trying.

It is said that volunteerism is worth trying

Volunteerism is said to be worth trying

5) Citizens presume that the government is responsible for the accident.

It is presumed that the government is responsible for the accident

The government is presumed to be responsible for the accident

Exercise 7. Rewrite the following sentences using the Causative Voice.

1) I repaired my house after the earthquake.

I got my house repaired after the earthquake

2) Tom will write the main points of the volunteering program.

Tom will get the main points written of the volunteering program

3) They are going to build a new hospital due to the recent tsunami.
they are getting to built a new hospital due gone to the recent tsunami

4) Susan has designed a new system to avoid floods.

Susan has had a new system designed to avoid floods

5) We have been cleaning the orphanage for three hours.

we have been getting the orphanage cleaned for three hours
 6) I washed my car after the storm.

I got my car washed after the storm