A powerful earthquake has killed at least 3,000 people in Pakistan and India. The violent and devastating quake measured 7.6 on the Richter scale. Its force was so strong that it reduced whole villages to rubble. Large areas of Pakistani and Indian Kashmir have suffered very high casualty figures. The full force of the quake rocked areas as far away as New Delhi, Kabul and Dhaka. Officials are warning the death toll will climb dramatically as searches continue over the coming days. Many isolated areas will take some time to report their casualty figures.

Thousands of mud huts and cheap houses collapsed in the quake. Many buildings were not built to high earthquake standards and had little chance of surviving. One apartment block that was totally destroyed was the luxury Margala Towers in Islamabad. Television news pictures show the building is now a mountain of stone and steel. The 75-apartment complex collapsed like a deck of cards. Hundreds of desperate rescuers are currently searching for survivors. They are stripping away the concrete and twisted metal with their bare hands. A local official predicted there would be “massive casualties”.

WARM-UPS

1. DISASTERS: This year has seen many natural disasters, almost on a weekly basis. Brainstorm the natural disasters that have happened this year and talk about what you remember of them. Have you or anyone you know suffered in any of these disasters?

2. AFTER: What do you think governments need to do after an earthquake? With your partner(s) talk about several ideas for each of the following:

Search for survivors International help The injured The homeless Food

Missing children / parents Pets People trapped under rubble Aftershocks Other

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Earthquakes / Richter scale / Pakistan / India / rubble / national tragedies / mud huts / apartment buildings / television news pictures / concrete / casualties

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. EARTHQUAKE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “earthquake”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

5. SURVIVOR: Imagine you just experienced a powerful earthquake. In pairs / groups, talk about what you were doing when the quake struck. What did you do after? What did you see? What will you do from now?

6. RESCUE: Rank the following in order of which you would save first if you had to evacuate your house because of an earthquake. Talk about your order with your partner(s).

____ Passport / documents ____ Money ____ Pet ____ Computer

____ Grandmother ____ Photo albums ____ Clothes ____ Other ___________________

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	A huge earthquake has struck India and Pakistan.	T / F
b.	The quake measured 3.2 on the Richter scale.	T / F
c.	The quake also rocked Kabul in Afghanistan and Dhaka in Bangladesh.	T / F
d.	Officials say casualty figures will not rise.	T / F
e.	All buildings in the area are built to earthquake-proof standards.	T / F
f.	An upmarket apartment complex is now a mountain of rubble.	T / F
g.	People in 75 apartments were playing with decks of cards.	T / F
h.	Rescuers are stripping away twisted metal with their bare hands.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	powerful	power
b.	at least	out-of-the-way
c.	force	fell down
d.	rocked	pile
e.	isolated	completely
f.	collapsed	frantic
g.	totally	strong
h.	mountain	huge
i.	desperate	a minimum of
j.	massive	shook

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	powerful	casualty figures
b.	The violent and devastating quake	of stone and steel
c.	it reduced whole	climb dramatically
d.	suffered very high	measured 7.6 on the Richter scale
e.	the death toll will	earthquake standards
f.	mud huts and cheap houses	for survivors
g.	built to high	earthquake
h.	the building is now a mountain	cards
i.	deck of	villages to rubble
j.	rescuers are currently searching	collapsed in the quake

AFTER READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Earthquake kills 3000 across South Asia

BNE: A ________ earthquake has killed at least 3,000 people in Pakistan and India. The ________ and devastating quake measured 7.6 on the Richter scale. Its force was so strong that it ________ whole villages to rubble. Large areas of Pakistani and Indian Kashmir have ________ very high casualty figures. The full force of the quake ________ areas as far away as New Delhi, Kabul and Dhaka. Officials are ________ the death toll will climb dramatically as searches continue over the ________ days. Many isolated areas will take some time to report their casualty ________.		warning suffered violent figures powerful rocked coming reduced
Thousands of ________ huts and cheap houses collapsed in the quake. Many buildings were not ________ to high earthquake standards and had little ________ of surviving. One apartment block that was totally destroyed was the ________ Margala Towers in Islamabad. Television news pictures show the building is now a ________ of stone and steel. The 75-apartment complex collapsed like a deck of cards. Hundreds of ________ rescuers are currently searching for survivors. They are ________ away the concrete and twisted metal with their bare hands. A local official ________ there would be “massive casualties”.		luxury predicted built desperate mountain mud stripping chance

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘casualty’ and ‘figure’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the gap fill. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT “EARTHQUAKE” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about earthquakes.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

powerful 7.6 casualty rocked toll isolated

cheap standards luxury mountain rescuers bare

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. What did you think when you first read this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. How much did you already know about the earthquake before you read this article?
4. Can you imagine what a huge earthquake feels like?
5. What do you know about the Richter scale?
6. What is the first thing you should do in an earthquake?
7. Do earthquakes affect your country?
8. Do you receive any disaster training in your country?
9. What do you think you would do if your town was flattened in an earthquake?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. What do you think about what you read?
2. Do you follow news of tragedies like this?
3. Do you think there should be a United Nations agency to help areas hit by natural disasters?
4. What do you know about the causes of earthquakes?
5. What is the difference between an earthquake, a tremor and an aftershock?
6. Is your house / apartment strong enough to survive a natural disaster?
7. What do you think people can do to reduce the death toll in earthquakes?
8. What message would you give to the people in the South Asia earthquake?
9. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

EARTHQUAKE PLANS: You are on the committee to create your town’s plan to prepare for a major earthquake. In pairs / groups, write down your ideas for how people can prepare for and survive an earthquake in the table below:
 

AREAS	BEFORE THE QUAKE	AFTER THE QUAKE
Food and water
Communication
Shelter
Family and friends
Dangerous household items
Children
Other

Change partners and tell each other about your ideas and plans. Give each other feedback to make them better.

Return to your original partner(s) and use the feedback you received to make your plans better.

Present your plans to the class. Who has the best disaster preparedness plan?

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Earthquake kills 3000 across South Asia

A _________ earthquake has killed at least 3,000 people in Pakistan and India. The violent and devastating quake _________ 7.6 on the Richter scale. Its force was so strong that it _________ whole villages to rubble. Large areas of Pakistani and Indian Kashmir have suffered very high _________ figures. The full force of the quake rocked areas as far away as New Delhi, Kabul and Dhaka. Officials are warning the _______ ______ will climb dramatically as searches continue over the coming days. Many ___________ areas will take some time to report their casualty figures.

Thousands of mud huts and cheap houses ___________ in the quake. Many buildings were not built to high earthquake standards and had little chance of ___________. One apartment block that was totally destroyed was the luxury Margala Towers in Islamabad. Television news pictures show the building is now a ___________ of stone and steel. The 75-apartment ___________ collapsed like a _______ ___ _______. Hundreds of desperate rescuers are currently searching for survivors. They are ____________ away the concrete and twisted metal with their bare hands. A local official predicted there would be “____________ casualties”.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the South Asia earthquake. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. EARTHQUAKE POSTER: Make a poster explaining how and why earthquakes happen. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

4. DIARY / SCHEDULE: Imagine you survived a major earthquake. Write the diary / journal entry for the day after the quake. Read what you wrote to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. T

d. F

e. F

f. T

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	powerful	strong
b.	at least	a minimum of
c.	force	power
d.	rocked	shook
e.	isolated	out-of-the-way
f.	collapsed	fell down
g.	totally	completely
h.	mountain	pile
i.	desperate	frantic
j.	massive	huge

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	powerful	earthquake
b.	The violent and devastating quake	measured 7.6 on the Richter scale
c.	it reduced whole	villages to rubble
d.	suffered very high	casualty figures
e.	the death toll will	climb dramatically
f.	mud huts and cheap houses	collapsed in the quake
g.	built to high	earthquake standards
h.	the building is now a mountain	of stone and steel
i.	deck of	cards
j.	rescuers are currently searching	for survivors

GAP FILL:

Earthquake kills 3000 across South Asia

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 3,000 people in Pakistan and India. The violent and devastating quake measured 7.6 on the Richter scale. Its force was so strong that it reduced whole villages to rubble. Large areas of Pakistani and Indian Kashmir have suffered very high casualty figures. The full force of the quake rocked areas as far away as New Delhi, Kabul and Dhaka. Officials are warning the death toll will climb dramatically as searches continue over the coming days. Many isolated areas will take some time to report their casualty figures.

Thousands of mud huts and cheap houses collapsed in the quake. Many buildings were not built to high earthquake standards and had little chance of surviving. One apartment block that was totally destroyed was the luxury Margala Towers in Islamabad. Television news pictures show the building is now a mountain of stone and steel. The 75-apartment complex collapsed like a deck of cards. Hundreds of desperate rescuers are currently searching for survivors. They are stripping away the concrete and twisted metal with their bare hands. A local official predicted there would be “massive casualties”.

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