The Reading / Listening - Radioactive Material - Level 4

Australia has issued an alert over a missing radioactive capsule. There is a "radioactive substance risk" in Western Australia. The search is now on for the tiny capsule. It contains the harmful substance Caesium-137. It has enough of this radioactive material to "cause serious health consequences". The capsule went missing while it was being transported from a mining town. Officials think it fell through a hole in the truck transporting it.

The chief health officer urged caution. He warned: "Exposure to this substance could cause radiation burns or severe illness." He added: "If you are very close to the material, the radiation risk increases immensely and could cause serious damage to your health, including causing radiation burns to the skin." He said that being a metre of the capsule could expose someone to radiation levels that are the same as having ten X-rays.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Radioactive Material - Level 5 or  Radioactive Material - Level 6

Sources
  • https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/search-underway-radioactive-capsule-missing-australia-2023-01-28/
  • https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/western-australians-warned-over-radioactive-capsule-lost-on-highway-0sq7zgphk
  • https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-27/radioactive-capsule-lost-in-wa-emergency-public-health-warning/101901472


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. Australia has issued
  2. a radioactive substance
  3. The search is now
  4. cause serious health
  5. The capsule
  6. being transported from a
  7. Officials think it fell
  8. a hole in
  1. consequences
  2. the truck
  3. risk
  4. mining town
  5. an alert
  6. through
  7. on
  8. went missing

Paragraph 2

  1. the chief health
  2. this substance could cause radiation
  3. If you are very close
  4. the radiation risk increases
  5. cause serious damage to
  6. being a metre
  7. expose someone to
  8. the same as having
  1. to the material
  2. of the capsule
  3. ten X-rays
  4. your health
  5. radiation levels
  6. immensely
  7. officer
  8. burns

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Australia has issued (1) ___________________ a missing radioactive capsule. There is a radioactive (2) ___________________ Western Australia. The search is now on for (3) ___________________. It contains the harmful substance Caesium-137. It (4) ___________________ this radioactive material to "cause serious health consequences". The capsule (5) ___________________ it was being transported from a mining town. Officials think it fell through a hole in the (6) ___________________.

The chief health (7) ___________________. He warned: "Exposure to this substance could cause radiation (8) ___________________ illness." He added: "If you are (9) ___________________ the material, the radiation risk increases immensely and could cause serious damage to your health, including causing (10) ___________________ the skin." He said that being a metre of the capsule (11) ___________________ to radiation levels that are the (12) ___________________ ten X-rays.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

Australiahasissuedanalertoveramissingradioactivecapsule.Thereisa
"radioactivesubstancerisk"inWesternAustralia.Thesearchisnowonfo
rthetinycapsule.ItcontainstheharmfulsubstanceCaesium-137.Itha
senoughofthisradioactivematerialto"causeserioushealthconsequen
ces".Thecapsulewentmissingwhileitwasbeingtransportedfromamini
ngtown.Officialsthinkitfellthroughaholeinthetrucktransportingit.Th
echiefhealthofficerurgedcaution.Hewarned:"Exposuretothissubsta
ncecouldcauseradiationburnsorsevereillness."Headded:"Ifyouarev
eryclosetothematerial,theradiationriskincreasesimmenselyandcoul
dcauseseriousdamagetoyourhealth,includingcausingradiationburns
totheskin."Hesaidthatbeingametreofthecapsulecouldexposesomeo
netoradiationlevelsthatarethesameashavingtenX-rays.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

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

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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