Amazing Earth! Fantastic facts about the way our planet used to be.

The continents didn’t use to be separate! 250 million years ago there was just one “super-continent” known as Pangaea. First North America and Africa separated. Then, about 140 million years ago, Africa, South America and Australia broke away. The continents are still moving and scientists believe that one day there maybe a new “super-continent”.

The Sahara Desert was green until about 5000 years ago! It used to rain there regularly and it wasn’t sandy. There were freshwater lakes, river, forests and large areas of grassland. People farmed the area and elephants, giraffes, rhinoceros and crocodiles used to live there!

Winters used to be much colder than they are now. Between 1550 and 1850, Europe had extremely cold winters and cool summers. Scientists often call this the “Little Ice Age”. The River Thames in London used to freeze regularly and there were fairs on frozen river known as “Frost Fairs”. The last one took place in 1814.

Exercise 64 Put the letters in the correct order.

1. t r e f o s ___________ 4. a s t o c ___________ 7. a d s i n l _____________

2. d I l e f ____________ 5. e a s _____________

3. k e a l _____________ 6. v e w a s __________

Exercise 65 Complete the text with the words below.

desert continent volcano rivers mountain the Earth island sea mountain ranges Ocean waves

I’m Steve Buck and I’m an explorer. I’ve traveled all over __________ - it’s an amazing planet! I’ve swum in the Nile and the Amazon, the world’s two longest __________and I’ve swum in the Mediterranean – it’s lovely warm ________. I’ve climbed Everest, the highest ___________

In the world. I’ve crossed the Sahara, the driest _________ in the world. I’ve traveled by boat across the Atlantic _________ - it has really big _________. I’ve walked over the Alps and the Dolomites, two big _____________. I’ve been to the Mount Etna – it’s a dangerous _________! At the moment my favourite ___________ is Europe. But when I’m old I want to live on a beautiful _________ in the Caribbean, like Cuba.

Exercise 66 Complete the text with the words below.

hurricanes sea levels droughts melting high temperatures species floods

Global Warming

The Earth’s climate is changing very quickly because of global warming. There are some of the problems.

Many countries with _____________ have no water and are suffering from ____________. Other places have too much rain and the water causes ___________. Lots of animals are in danger. Giant pandas, blue whales and tigers are just some of the ______________ that are in danger of disappearance. Every year there are violent storms and _____________ which destroy towns and villages. ___________ ice in the North Pole is causing rising ______________.

The world has to do something soon!

Exercise 67 Complete the text with for or since.

Fighting Hail!

Hail is small balls of ice that falls from the sky. ______ centuries many people have thought that hailstorms happen in winter because the rain turns into ice but that is wrong. Most hailstorms happen in summer when the air near the Earth is warm enough for thunderstorms, but the air higher up is cold enough for ice.

_______ many years hailstorms have destroyed crops and land. ______ 2009 the government of Himachal Pradesh in India has tried to find a solution because they wanted to help local farmers. Now they are looking at a new technology to help protect farmers from the terrible hailstorms in the area. They want to use special guns to destroy the hail.

The idea of anti-hail guns is not new. Scientists have studied the possibilities _______ the 1800s. They have known ______ decades that strong waves of air from a gun in the air crates reassures, that can turn the hail into rain. Farmers in parts of France used them in the 1970s, but they were not successful. Now, scientists have developed a better anti-hail gun. Maybe it can help farmers, not only in India but all over the world.

Exercise 68 Complete the sentences with very or absolutely.

There was a very bad hurricane last month, the winds were ______ terrible and the waves were _______ enormous all along the coast. After the hurricane there were ______ serious floods in some places. The year before it was ______ hot all summer and the high temperatures were _____ awful. I saw a(n) _________ incredible hailstorm – it was ______ frightening.

Exercise 69 Write the nouns from the verbs

1. explain _______________ 5. crash ______________

2. disappear _______________ 6. inspire ______________

3. destroy _______________ 7. smoke ______________

4. explode _______________ 8. erupt ______________

Exercise 70 Find the nouns from exercise 69.

d	e	s	t	r	u	c	t	i	o	n
i	x	t	y	j	n	r	m	n	m	v
s	p	g	d	s	a	a	z	s	x	c
a	l	q	w	r	t	s	t	p	h	j
p	o	z	x	c	b	h	n	i	b	n
p	s	m	o	k	e	u	i	r	o	l
e	i	a	p	b	u	g	c	a	n	m
a	o	z	l	j	h	k	o	t	v	p
r	n	i	o	g	q	o	d	i	e	q
a	w	w	m	r	r	m	f	o	a	j
n	e	q	g	e	u	k	r	n	m	k
c	e	r	u	p	t	i	o	n	h	j
e	x	p	l	a	n	a	t	i	o	n

Exercise 71 Complete the sentences with the words below.

shake destroy explosion volcanic eruption ash gunfire uninhabited island sailing ship loud noise

1. Many people died in Pompeii when there was a _________________.

2. Natural disasters often _______________ everything around them.

3. Columns of _____________ and smoke explode into the sky when a volcano erupts.

4. Lots of people dream about living on an ______________ but it might be very dangerous.

5. When the volcano exploded, we heard a _______________. It was louder than an _______ or _________. Everyone started to ____________ with fear.

6. They crossed the ocean in a ______________.

Exercise 72 Read the text and match the missing questions in the gaps. There is one extra.