Új Szó, 2008. október (61. évfolyam, 227-253. szám)
2008-10-18 / 242. szám, szombat
18 Angol nyelvlecke ÚJ SZÓ 2008. OKTÓBER 18. www.ujszo.com BRITISH COUNCIL Kedves Olvasó! Learn English 10 Az Új Szó és a British Council együttműködésében hat héten keresztül - a SME napilapban korábban sikeresen megjelentetett - angol nyelvtanfolyamot közlünk 12 leckében. Hetente kétszer - csütörtökön és szombaton - ezen az oldalon érdekes témákat talál, melyek segítségével nemcsak szókincsét bővítheti, Iwnem angol nyelvtani tudását is tökéletesítheti. Minden lecke egy hvízhérdést is tartalmaz. Ha 2008. május 29-ig a quiz@britishcouncil.sk e-mail címre elküldi mind a 12 helyes választ, átruházható tanfolyamot illetve nyelvtankönyveket és szótárakat nyerhet. A játékot 2008. június 2-án értékeljük ki. A játékszabályokról és a díjakról a www.britishcouncil.sk címen talál további információkat. A tanfolyammal kapcsolatos véleményét, észrevételeit elküldheti a www.velemeny@ujszo.com címre. A nyelvtanulás akkor a leghatékonyabb, ha olvassa és hallgatja is a szöveget. Natural disasters by John Russell Natural disasters take many different forms and can happen without warning. Earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, drought, typhoons and hurricanes are all natural disasters. The earthquake of 26th December 2004 resulted in one of the worst natural disasters in living memory. It was a massive underwater quake and occurred in the Indian Ocean. This caused a huge tidal-wave (a tsunami) to cross the Indian Ocean. It destroyed coastlines, communities and brought death and destruction to many people. Thousands of people were killed as the wave travelled miles across the ocean to distant beaches. Whole families were swept out to sea or drowned as the sea invaded the land. The survivors need fresh water, food and shelter as well as medical help. People from all over the world are giving lots of money so that towns and villages can be rebuilt. Why do earthquakes happen? The surface of the earth has not always looked as it does today; it is moving continuously (although very slowly) and has done so for billions of years. This is one cause of earthquakes, when one section the earth (tectonic plate) collides with another. Scientists can predict where (but not when) this might happen and the area between plates is called a fault line. On one fault line in Kobe, Japan in 1923 over 200,000 people were killed. However, earthquakes do not always happen on fault lines, which is why they are so dangerous and unpredictable. Where do volcanoes happen? Volcanoes happen where the earth’s crust is thin - lava, dust and gases burst out (erupt) from beneath the earth. They can rise into a massive cone shape - like a mountain and erupt, or they can be so violent that they just explode directly from the earth with no warning. There are 1511 ‘active’ volcanoes in the world. This means that they may still be dangerous. In 1985 the massive Colombian volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupted. The lava melted a glacier and sent tones of mud down the town of Armero below. Twenty thousand people died. Can we predict earthquakes and volcanoes? Natural disasters like volcanoes are often unpredictable. We regularly do not know when they might happen, or even where they will happen. In the future, scientists may be able to watch and predict events before they happen. This could save many lives. InSouth America, scientists predicted the eruption of Popo- catépetl. Tens of thousands of people were safely moved just before the biggest eruption of the volcano for a thousand years. No one was hurt. What is the difference between a Hurricane and a Tornado? Hurricanes are extremely strong storms and often happen in the Caribbean. They cause high winds, huge waves, and heavy flooding and can be hundreds of miles across. In 1998, Hurricane Gilbert produced 160 mile an hour winds. It killed 318 people, and destroyed much of Jamaica. Tornadoes or ‘twisters’ are very strong spinning winds. They can move objects as big as a car and can blow buildings down. These are very common in West Africa and certain areas of the USA. Can too much rain cause problems? Floods happen in many countries after very heavy rainfall. When rain pours for weeks at a time, rivers overflow and people and property can be trapped or simply washed away. Since 1998, more than 30 people have drowned in floods in Britain. Flooding in Bangladesh caused Vocabulary gap fill. Now use the 5 words/phrases to fill the gaps in the sentences below: 1. He suffered from a..... .......... heart attack and died. 2. She was an ...............child so we never knew what she was going to do next. 3. They saw penguins, polar bears and a ............when they visited the North Pole. 4. The group was .................. in the mountains and had to be rescued. 5.1n Third World countries people ............because they cannot afford to buy food. 1300 deaths in 1989, another natural disaster. .....and too little? Another kind of natural disaster is a drought. This happens when there is no water, when it doesn’t rain for a long time and rivers dry up. Plants, animals and even humans die as a result of drought, for we all need water to live. Many countries today suffer from drought. This causes crops to fail, animals to die and sadly, people to starve. Which is the most dangerous natural disaster? All the disasters mentioned above are very dangerous and continue to kill thousands of people each year, but they are nowhere near the most dangerous disaster to ever happen on earth. One type of event in earth’s history has regularly killed millions of beings; asteroid impacts. About once every million years the earth is hit by a piece of rock and ice from space large enough to cause massive destruction (including earthquakes, volcanoes and ice ages) and sometimes to kill entire species. 65 million years ago more than half the earth’s species were killed by such an impact (including all the dinosaurs). Disasters on the earth may seem dangerous, but the biggest threat to humans is likely to come from space. Reading Comprehension Answer the 5 questions using information from the article. 1. What is a fault line? 2. How many volcanoes in the world can possibly erupt? 3. How were lives saved when Popocatépetl last erupted? 4. Where do hurricanes and tornadoes usually occur? 5. Why do droughts case death in plants, animals and people? Quiz Question 10 Surname of musician associated with Blur and Gorillaz. Vocabulary 5 words/phrases from the text 1. massive: enormous 2. unpredictable: not foreseen 3. glacier: a huge mass of ice that has formed over many years 4. trapped: caught and unable to free oneself 5. starve: to die from lack of food RftPiPO V lecurn English It- Literature AJP I pON’T UNPEASTANP SHAKESPEARE IN EN&U5H , DO YOU ? I PON’T UNPERSTANP SHflKeSpgftRE IN AN7 |AW60A&€ .' .OL Past ability & possibility In the present tense we use ‘can’ to talk about a general ability - e.g. I can swim - and also for ability at a particular moment - e.g. I can see you!. The rules for talking about past abilities are different. General ability We use could to talk about general abilities in the past. He could speak fluent French when he was 5. I could read before I started school. Ability on one occasion However, when we talk about ability on one particular occasion, we can’t use could. The burglar was able to get in through the bathroom window. The burglar managed to get in through the bathroom window. We have to use was able to or managed to. We can’t use could. The burglar could get in through the bathroom window. Ability on one occasion - negative When we talk about a particular occasion when something wasn’t possible, we can use wasn't/weren’t able to, didn’t manage to, or couldn’t. The burglar wasn’t able to get in through the window. The burglar didn't manage to get in through the window. The burglar couldn’t get in through the window. Hypothetical past ability Sometimes things were possible in the past but didn’t happen. I could have gone to university but I decided to get a job. I would have been able to win the race but I fell over. We use use could have (+ past participle) or would have been able to to talk about these hypothetical events. They can be used in the positive and the negative. I couldn’t have done it without your help. I wouldn’t have been able to afford it even if it had been for sale. Exercise Write sentences with the same meaning as the sentences below using the word in brackets. 1 I tried to open the door but it was too difficult, (able) 2 I knew how to play the piano when I was 7. (could) 3 I had a chance to steal the necklace but I didn’t, (could) 4 It was difficult but they escaped, (managed) 5 The money you lent me meant I could afford to buy a car. (able) •am tuaj noA Aauoui aqj jnoqjm tea e Anq 0} ajqe uaaq aAeq },upjnoM x -s ‘-adeasa 04 pažeueui Aaqx > ‘-(j^upip 1 mq) aaeppau aq4 uajojs aAeq pjnoo 1 •£ ‘y sbm i uaqM oueid aqj Aejd pjnoo 1 z ‘•loop aqi uado 04 ajqe 4,usbm i *x nninneio •aaq 04 J34BAA paau sSuiqi SutAq qe asneoaq qteap asneo sjqSnora 'S ‘VSÍ1 aqi jo S4ted auios pue eoujv 4saM ut inooo saopeujot pue ueaqqueo aq4 ui .inooo saueoumH t ‘ajdoad aienoeAa pue uopdrua aq4 40ipaid 04 ajqe araM stspuaios asneaaq paAes araM saAtq •£ ‘u3Aap pue patpunq baij ‘puesnoq4 auo'?. ‘qiiex aq4 jaAoa 4eq4 sa4B{d aq4 uaaM4aq Bare aq4 si auq 4inej v T uoisuaqajdmoD •3AJB4S "S ‘paddei4 t ‘rape[8 £ ‘ajqegoipardun z ‘aAisseui q AjvpiqeooA Aa>| - sj3}ses;p |ejnqeN Megrendelőlap Név:. Utca, házszám: Település: .....................................................Irányítószám:................................................... Telefonszám: .........................................E-mail:..................................................................... Utánvéttel megrendelem az angol nyelvtanfolyam egyes CD-it 49 koronáért (1,62 €) + postaköltség* CDI .......db CD II.......db CD III.......db Aláírás:........................................................... Utánvéttel megrendelem mindhárom angol nyelvi CD-t, összesen 147 koronáért (4,87€) + postaköltség* *1 és 2db angol nyelvi CD megrendelése esetén a postaköltség 40 korona (1,32 €), 3 és több CD esetében 80 korona (2,65 €). A kitöltött szelvényt küldje el a következő c(mre: Petit Press, a.s., edičné oddelenie, Lazaretská 12,814 64 Bratislava, vagy a 02/59 233 339-es faxszámra. BRITISH COUNCIL Tanuljon angolul a British Councillal! Szeretne megtanulni angolul vagy javítani nyelvtudásán? Pozsonyi központunkban tanfolyamok széles skáláját kínáljuk felnőttek, gyerekek és fiatalok részére. Válasszon nemzetközi nyelvvizsga- és nyelvi érettségi előkészítő tanfolyamaink, üzleti, pénzügyi és jogi angol kurzusaink közül. Bővebb információk a tanfolyamokról, határidőkről a www.britishcouncil.sk honlapon. British Council, Panská 17, Pozsony, info@britishcouncil.sk
