UNIT 36 NATURE ( Ⅲ ) DISASTERS Lesson 71 PartⅠ

UNIT 36 NATURE (Ⅲ)

DISASTERS

Lesson  71

PartⅠWarming-up Exercises

Spot Dictation: Fire

Training Focus:

Spot dictation

Directions: You are going to listen to a passage. Some words on the printed passage have been taken out. Listen carefully. Fill in the blanks with the words you hear on the tape.

Key:

Fire can help people in many ways. But it can also be very harmful. Fire can heat water, warm your house, give light, and cook food. But fire can burn things too. It can burn trees, houses, animals, or people. Sometimes big fires can burn forests.

Nobody knows for sure how people began to use fire. But there are many interesting, old stories about the first time a man or woman started a fire. One story from Australia tells about a man a very, very long time ago. He went up to the sun by a rope and brought fire down.

Today people know how to make a fire with matches. Children sometimes like to play with them. But matches can be very dangerous. One match can burn a piece of paper, and then it might burn a house. A small fire can become a big fire very fast.

Fires kill many people every year. So you must be careful with matches. You should also learn to put out fires. Fires need oxygen. Without oxygen they die. There is oxygen in the air. Cover a fire with water, sand, or in an emergency, with your coat or a blanket. This keeps the air away from a fire and kills it.

Be careful with fire, and it will help you. Be careless with fire, and it might hurt you.

Lesson 71 PartⅡ

Lesson  71

Ex.Ⅰ

Directions: Draw inferences from what the teacher says and what his tone of voice shows.

Ex.Ⅱ

Directions: Answer the question occording to the information you hear on the tape.

Tapescript:

Short Dialogues  (1′19″)

(for practice in drawing inferences)

Dialogue 1

Teacher: What's this then?

Child: It's my geography, sir. The Map of Africa you set us.

Teacher: But this should have been given in last Thursday?

Child: Yes, I know, sir. I'm sorry.

Teacher: Well, what's your excuse then?

Child: My mother's been ill and I had to stay at home.

Teacher: Oh, yes!

Child: It's true, sir.

Teacher: But didn't you play football for the school on Saturday?

Child: Um…yes, but she was better then.

Teacher: Hm…

Child: I've brought a note. Here it is.

Teacher: All right. But do your homework on time this week.

Child: Yes, sir.

Dialogue 2

James: Yes, Madam?

Mrs. Buckingham: James, how dare you bring me such disgusting coffee? It's cold, it's bitter, it's, it's…

James: I beg your pardon, Madam. I'll bring

you a fresh pot right away.

Mrs. Buckingham: Yes, Madam; No, Madam; Right away, Madam…Get out! ! ! I know how all of you hate me…even my‘dear’grand son, Charles. You can't wait for me to die. Out, I said…out! ! !

James: Yes, Madam. I'll bring you a fresh pot right away.

Lesson 71 Part Ⅲ

Lesson  71

Ex.Ⅰ

Directions: Choose a, b, or c to answer the questions you hear on the tape.

Key:  1.How often do most places have earthquakes? (c)

2.Which earthquake is the most talked about in the United States? (c)

3.Why do earthquakes worry people so much? (a)

4.What natural disaster hit Pakistan in 1970? (b)

Ex.Ⅱ

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the information you hear on the tape.

Key: (see tapescript)

Tapescript:

Earthquakes  (2′19″)

Earthquakes are something that most people fear. There are some places that have few or no earthquakes. Most places in the world, however, have them regularly. Some places, like Iran and Guatemala have them frequently. Countries that have a lot of earthquakes are usually quite mountainous.

The most talked about earthquake in the United States was in San Francisco in 1906. Over 500 people died in it. The strongest one in North America was in 1964. It happened in Alaska.

Strong earthquakes are not always the ones that kill the most people. In 1755, one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded was felt in Portugal. Around 20,000 people died.

In 1923, a very powerful earthquake hit the Tokyo Yokohama area of Japan. A hundred and forty thousand people died. Most of them died in fires which followed the earthquake.

One of the worst earthquakes ever was in China in 1976.It killed a large number of people. The worst earthquake ever reported was also in China. 400,000 people were killed or injured in this quake, which happened in 1556.

Earthquakes are not the only acts of nature which people fear. Floods and tidal waves also cause people to be afraid. So do bad storms like typhoons and cyclones. Sometimes these things cause lots of deaths. In 1970, a cyclone and tidal wave killed over 200,000 in Pakistan.

These kinds of things make people afraid and they are very dangerous. But they probably do not worry people as much as earthquakes, especially in these modern times. The reason is that we often know they are doming, we have some warning. Someday we may be able to know an earthquake is coming. So far, however, no sure way is known to predict an earthquake. When one comes, it is a surprise. People cannot prepare for it.