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Date: Jul 11, 2005
Level: Harder (Try the easier lesson.) Downloads: Word Doc | PDF Doc | Listening Audio: (1:52 - 219.2 KB - 16kbps) THE ARTICLEAn ever-strengthening Hurricane Dennis has been upgraded to a category 4 hurricane with catastrophic winds nearing 250 kph. It is moving ominously close to America’s southern coastline and is expected to make landfall Sunday evening, local time. Fears are that Dennis will batter the same areas still trying to recover from the lethal Hurricane Ivan, which caused widespread devastation in last year’s hurricane season. Dennis is following a very similar path to its vicious predecessor. Ivan pummeled into coastal communities last year, killing at least 90 people and causing $7 billion of damage. Dennis is the earliest category 4 hurricane to develop in the Caribbean. It has already cost 20 lives as it traversed Haiti and Cuba, leaving wide scale destruction in its trail. Forecasters said Dennis is the most ferocious storm to hit the region in over 150 years. Florida Governor Jeb Bush said: “It is a storm that is huge.… the devastation that could take place is something we have already seen.” Over 1.4 million people have already evacuated and gone inland. They have boarded up their properties and are now hoping Dennis does not unleash its power on their livelihoods. There are fears that Dennis is a precursor to a year of particularly destructive storms. WARM-UPS1. MOTHER NATURE: In pairs / groups, talk to each other about the power of nature. What are your experiences of the destructive forces of nature? Have you ever experienced hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, earthquakes, floods or any other natural phenomena? What do you do when such disasters strike? 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently. 3. STORM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “storm”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 4. NATURAL DISASTERS: In pairs / groups, talk about each of these natural disasters.
5. HURRICANE OPINIONS: Students A agree with these opinions; students B disagree with them. Try to persuade each other of these opinions.
BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGODD WORD OUT: Strike though the incorrect word in the sets of three words in italics. Hurricane Dennis menaces U.S. coastAn ever-strengthening Hurricane Dennis has been upgraded to a category 4 hurricane with cataclysmic / catalyst / catastrophic winds nearing 250 kph. It is moving perilously / ominously / omnivorously close to America’s southern coastline and is expected to make landfall Sunday evening, local time. Fears are that Dennis will batter the same areas still trying to recover from the lethal / lethargic / deadly Hurricane Ivan, which caused widespread devastation in last year’s hurricane season. Dennis is following a very similar path / road / course to its vicious predecessor. Ivan drove / pummeled / reversed into coastal communities last year, killing at least 90 people and causing $7 billion of damage. Dennis is the earliest category 4 hurricane to develop in the Caribbean. It has already cost / spent / taken 20 lives as it crisscrossed / traversed / sidestepped Haiti and Cuba, leaving wide scale destruction in its wake / trial / trail. Forecasters said Dennis is the most ferocious storm to hit the region in over 150 years. Florida Governor Jeb Bush said: “It is a storm that is huge.…the devastation that could take place is something we have already seen.” Over 1.4 million people have already hightailed it / evacuated / abolished and gone inland. They have boarded up their properties and are now hoping Dennis does not unleash its power on their livelihoods. There are fears that Dennis is a harbinger / precursor / ancestor to a year of particularly destructive storms. AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘lethal’ and ‘storm’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
3. ODD WORD OUT: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. 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 STORM SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, storms, etc.
6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:
DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.
SPEAKINGHURRICANE: In pairs / groups, create a disaster preparedness plan. Agree on what to do in the event of a huge (the most powerful ever) hurricane approaching your village / town / city.
After you have finished, change partners and tell each other about your ideas. Give each other advice on how to make your plans / ideas better. Return to your original partner and incorporate the advice you received into making your plans better. LISTENINGListen and fill in the spaces. Hurricane Dennis menaces U.S. coastAn ever-strengthening Hurricane Dennis has been ________ __ __ category 4 hurricane with catastrophic winds nearing 250 kph. It is moving _________ close to America’s southern coastline and is expected to make ________ Sunday evening, local time. Fears are that Dennis ____ ______ the same areas still trying to recover from ___ ______ Hurricane Ivan, which caused widespread devastation in last year’s hurricane season. Dennis is following a very similar path __ ___ _______ predecessor. Ivan _________ into coastal communities last year, killing at least 90 people and causing $7 billion of damage. Dennis is the earliest _________ ___ hurricane to develop in the Caribbean. It has already cost 20 lives __ __ _________ Haiti and Cuba, leaving wide scale destruction in its trail. Forecasters said Dennis is the most _________ storm to hit the region in over 150 years. Florida Governor Jeb Bush said: “It is a storm that is huge.…the ___________ that could take place is something we have already seen.” Over 1.4 million people have already _________ ___ ____ inland. They have ________ ___ their properties and are now hoping Dennis does not _______ its power on their livelihoods. There are fears that Dennis is a __________ to a year of particularly destructive storms. HOMEWORK1. 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 Hurricane Dennis. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. 3. STORMS: Create a fact sheet about storms and the differences between hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones. Show and explain your fact sheets to your classmates in your next lesson. 4. DIARY / JOURNAL ENTRY: Imagine you experienced a giant hurricane. Write a diary / journal entry explaining your 5-hour ordeal as the eye of the storm passed over your house. Read what you wrote to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things? ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
ODD WORD OUT: Hurricane Dennis menaces U.S. coastAn ever-strengthening Hurricane Dennis has been upgraded to a category 4 hurricane with cataclysmic / Dennis is the earliest category 4 hurricane to develop in the Caribbean. It has already cost / spent / taken 20 lives as it crisscrossed / traversed /
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