Disaster!

Every year thousands of people’s lives are affected by disasters. This week, in News Magazine, two disaster survivors, Jamie King and Fiona Jones, tell us their stories.

Jamie King

NM: Jamie, you were in an air disaster. 1) ______

JK: Two months ago. We were flying home after a holiday on a Greek island and then disaster struck.

NM: 2) ______

JK: We were only in the air for a few minutes; we could still see the coast below. Suddenly, there was an explosion and hen two seconds later we heard another explosion. I looked out of the window and I could see a lot of smoke. The engine was on fire! Then the plane started to go down.

NM: 3) _______

JK: I was absolutely terrified! Lots of people started screaming and crying. We were very lucky. The man who was flying the plane was an excellent pilot. We crashed into the water, but the plane didn’t sink. Everyone was able to get out of the plane.

NM: Did you have to wait long to be rescued?

JK: No, because we were so close to land, some ships arrived very quickly and rescued us. We went to hospital and then to a hotel.

NM: 4) _______

JK: Yes, we had to get on a plane to go home the next day. I was a bit worried, but it was fine. The funny thing is that I used to hate flying. Now, I don’t mind it. I think: “The worst has happened. I was in a crash and I survived”.

Fiona Jones

NM: Fiona, you were in a cyclone. 5) _______

FJ: In North Australia, in Normanton. That’s where I live.

NM: 6) _______

FJ: We all stayed inside, in the basement, because that’s the safest place. We could hear the storm coming closer and closer. The noise was awful. At one point there was a really loud noise. I thought: “That’s it! It’s going to destroy the house. I was shaking”.

NM: 7) _______

FJ: There were terrible floods. More than 360 millimetres of rain fell in just twenty four hours. The army had to bring food and water to the whole area by plane and helicopter. The strangest thing was that waves from the coast and rivers flooded the land and carried three crocodiles to near my house! One of my neighbours hit a crocodile with his car – it was 2 metres long.

NM: Really? That’s incredible! So is everything back to normal again now?

FJ: Not really. The floods have gone, but they destroyed a lot of homes and farms. It’s going to cost at least $150 million to repair the damage.

NM: So, is the weather usually this bad?

FJ: No, but this summer was very hot. If it stays hot, there will probably be another cyclone. All the experts say that the extreme temperatures and heavy rain will only increase because of climate change.

Exercise 73 Read and complete the sentences.

You will read the story of John Baines, an educational consultant who writes books about

the environment. He talks about how he tries to be “green”, to be friendly to the environment.

I changed my lifestyle a couple years ago. I got my bicycle out of the garage and repaired it and.

now I use it as much as possible. I use my car less. It doesn’t mean I travel less, it means I walk

more often. When I do my shopping, I always walk now. I use public transport when I can. And my car runs on unleaded petrol. It’s more expensive but it keeps the air cleaner

In the kitchen I have different bags for different things. One bag has all the cans going into it, the second has all the papers, and the third has bottles from olive oil, wine, lemonade. But the milk bottles still go on the doorstep, so they can be re-used. I take the bags to the place where they can be recycled.

I always buy washing up liquid and washing powder and sprays that doesn’t harm the environment.

I have become a vegetarian. Animals are part of the environment and looking after them is as important as looking after the environment. But if people want to eat meat it’s their decision.

I always switch off the electricity when I’m out. Of course, I don’t use candles, but I try to switch off all gadgets when I don’t use them.

People must become more aware of the need to look after the environment. If we don’t become more friendly to the environment, then the environment will make it more difficult for us to live, and our life will not be as comfortable. We will survive, but I think it will be very difficult.

1. John uses his bicycle more because_____________________.

2. He is going to try to use less petrol by __________________.

3. He uses unleaded petrol because ______________________.

4. When the bags in the kitchen are full, __________________.

5. He is a vegetarian because ___________________________.

6. If we don’t look after _______________________________.

What do you think?

How “green” are you? What do you do to be more friendly to the environment?

Unit 7

Exercise 74 Find four styles of painting and four words to describe colours.

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

Exercise 75 Complete the table with the words in the box. Add as much as possible.

war geometric landscape clear strong square straight round

subject	shapes	describing lines

Exercise 76 The following are summaries of a magazine story called Hot Lips by Celia Young. Read and compare two versions.