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GENERAL ENGLISH · BREAKING NEWS · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

FLOODS
AND FIRES
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1 Warm-up

Add the missing vowels to identify these natural disasters:

1. f l d 2. t r n d 3. rthq k 4. f r s t f r

Has your country experienced these events? Where in the world do these usually happen?

You are going to watch two news reports about recent natural disasters. Then you are going to
compare and contrast these events.

2 Disaster 1

Watch the video to understand the main idea. After you watch, work in pairs to say what the disaster
is and where it has happened. Then say what else you understood from the report.

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INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

FLOODS AND FIRES

Match these key words from the report with their meaning.

1. canals a. dishonest activities, e.g. stealing from public money

2. corruption b. dying in the water

3. devastating c. loud sounds which warn people of danger

4. drowning d. people who steal

5. sirens e. something like streets, but filled with water for boats to
travel on
6. offshore barriers f. something like walls or fences located in the sea to
protect the land from flooding
7. thieves g. the daily movement of the sea towards and away from
the land which is caused by the moon
8. tide h. very serious and destructive

Watch the report again and add the missing words from Exercise 2.

1 2
Streets and merged as the second highest ever recorded
swept through Venice on Tuesday. Undaunted, most tourists took to touring the city on
gangplanks but some chose to swim through Saint Mark’s Square, the city’s main Piazza.
3
As waters hit 1.87 meters high, the highest in half a century, sounded. For
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residents, the effects are : ”Our masks, our plates, everything. Look at what
we’re living with here. I just want to cry.”
The city’s mayor has declared a state of emergency, blaming the rising waters on climate
5
change. Meanwhile much-needed designed to prevent floods remain
unfinished. The project, started in 2003, has been dogged by delays, soaring costs, and
6
scandals and Venetians are demanding progress.
”It’s been 10 years but they have done nothing. It’s in total neglect, it does not work and
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they have stolen six and a half billion dollars. Our politicians are all – they
should be in jail.” The damage is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars and there are
8
concerns that this flood is the starkest warning yet that the city is .

3 Disaster 2

Watch the video to understand the main idea. After you watch, work in pairs to say what the disaster
is and where it has happened. Then say what else you understood from the report.

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INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

FLOODS AND FIRES

Match these key words from the report with their meaning.

1. alerts a. burning but you can only see smoke, not fire

2. blazing b. burning strongly

3. catastrophic c. feeling like you don’t need to do anything more

4. complacent d. fire which is burning brightly and strongly

5. evacuate e. leave your home in a hurry because of a disaster

6. flames f. to affect a larger area

7. spread g. very dangerous and destructive

8. smoldering h. warnings to people that danger is coming

Watch the report again and add the missing words from Exercise 2.

1
Australia’s fire service chiefs have described conditions as . High
temperatures, strong winds, and dry conditions are making bushfires travel fast, and
2
people are being warned to prepare themselves or . ”Complacency kills.
3
We cannot afford for people to be . The fact that the catastrophic rating is
there ... that’s ... that’s the highest level risk available.”
4
Dozens of fires are in the state of New South Wales and there are more in
Queensland to the north and in Western Australia. And many have come close to cities,
this one just 18 kilometers northwest of Sydney’s famous Harbour Bridge, but firefighters
were able to contain it.
”I got home from work and then heard sirens and came out the front and three or four
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fire trucks on the street, as high as the trees, and everyone was running
around like mad.”
Another fire took hold in Sydney’s western suburbs. These firefighters are hosing down
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the last of the trees here but authorities are saying that this is the exception
rather than the rule. In these catastrophic conditions they can’t hope to get on top of every
fire.
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Emergency have been issued, some by phone, and some people warned it
was too late to leave their homes and they were safer inside, although that doesn’t mean
it’s safe.
Many fires are out of control and with more strong winds and high temperatures forecast
8
for the end of this week they’re likely to .

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FLOODS AND FIRES

4 Talking point

Work in groups to compare and contrast the two disasters in the news reports. We often use the
language in the box to introduce any ideas we are not sure about.

• how the city/countryside has been affected

• how people have been affected
• the cost of rebuilding
• the cause of the disaster
• how this type of disaster could be prevented in the future

Useful language for imagining/guessing:

• I’m not sure, but ...
• I imagine that ...
• It looks as if ... / sounds as if ...
• It could/may/might be that ...
• It seems likely that ...

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TEACHER MATERIALS · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

FLOODS AND FIRES

Key
1. Warm-up

5 mins. This brief introduction to the topic of the lesson could be done as a whole class activity. Students suggest
vowels to complete the words shown in the pictures – perhaps this could be done as a game between two halves
of the class? Then discuss the two questions briefly and explain the structure of the lesson. Students may like to
know that the topic of disasters is frequently included in IELTS and Cambridge exams.
1. flood 2. forest fire 3. earthquake 4. tornado

2. Disaster 1

20 mins. Play the video so students can watch and listen – the images will support their global understanding of
the story. After watching, students can answer the question in pairs, followed by a quick round-up of answers and
ideas from the whole class. Then students complete the matching exercise. They can work alone or in pairs, but
when you check answers with the class, make sure they can pronounce all the words – the stressed syllables are
underlined. Before watching the video again, students could work in pairs to predict the gap-fill answers. Show
the video again for students to complete the exercise. Note: the words chosen for the matching and gap-fill are
useful for talking about this topic, but it is not necessary for students to understand every word of the clip in order
to complete the activities and comment on the disasters. However, if students want to ask a few questions about
other vocabulary after exercise 3, or use their dictionaries for a few items, and you have time, that’s fine, but don’t
let this activity go on for too long.
1. e 2. a 3. h 4. b 5. c 6. f 7. d 8. g

1. canals 2. tide 3. sirens 4. devastating

5. offshore barriers 6. corruption 7. thieves 8. drowning

3. Disaster 2

20 mins. The procedure is the same as for the first video.

1. h 2. b 3. g 4. c 5. e 6. d 7. f 8. a

1. catastrophic 2. evacuate 3. complacent 4. blazing

5. flames 6. smoldering 7. alerts 8. spread

4. Talking point

15 mins. This activity gives students an opportunity to react to the two reports. As the reports were short and
students may not have a great deal of personal knowledge of these events, they will need to use their imaginations
to speculate/guess/imagine about the discussion topics. This is a key skill for students at this level and will be
helpful for any students taking speaking exams (e.g. Cambridge or IELTS). The phrases in the box are used to
introduce speculative answers – all are followed by clauses (subject + verb) so are easy to use. Call students’
attention to the phrases and their function and drill them before the discussion activity. Students can then work
in pairs or small groups to discuss the topic points in the exercise. Monitor to ensure use of the target language
and any other vocabulary from the lesson. If students struggle for ideas, prompt them with key words from the
answers below. Towards the end of the lesson, conduct a class feedback session to share ideas and/or to correct
any errors you heard, including pronunciation.
Students’ answers will vary but they may mention the following – damage to homes and property, loss of cultural
heritage – buildings and art works, loss of plants/animals/biodiversity, injuries and deaths to people and animals,

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TEACHER MATERIALS · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

FLOODS AND FIRES

financial loss, having to move while homes are repaired or move permanently, having to replace expensive items,
losing personal items that cannot be replaced, more expensive cost of insurance in the future, no insurance in
the future. Both disasters are probably caused by climate change, but the flooding is also due to the fact that the
city’s flood defences are incomplete, due to corruption, while forest fires might have been deliberately set in some
cases. Disasters could be prevented by taking action against climate change, corrupt governments, and managing
the countryside in a different way.

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