WHY DOES IT HAPPEN?

UNIT 6. IS THE EARTH IN DANGER?

LESSON 52

WHY DOES IT HAPPEN?

Цілі: вдосконалювати лексичні навички й навички вимови, аудіювання, читання й усного мовлення; розвивати логічне мислення; підвищувати загальну екологічну культуру.

Procedure

1. Warm-up

1) What examples are there of natural disasters?

2) Do you think an earthquake is the world’s scariest natural disaster?

3) What would you do if an earthquake struck right now?

4) What would you put in your emergency earthquake bag?

2. Speaking

What is a tornado? (Checking the homework Ex. 5, p. 95)

3. Reading

Do ex. 1, p. 97.

4. Writing

> Practise your vocabulary.

Do ex. 2, p. 97.

5. Listening

Listen to the text and do the tasks.

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

The

fire began one Saturday evening in 1666. As history has it, the king’s baker went to bed as usual after a long day in his bakery in pud­ding lane. The trouble was that accidentally he had left a small flame still flickering in on of his ovens in the bakery just beneath his bedroom. The fire that the small flame sparked off brought tremendous destructions and went down in history as the Great Fire of London.

The fire started at about 2 o’clock in the morning, when the sparks ris­ing from the bakery chimneys reached a haystack in the courtyard. Because Pudding Lane lay in the middle of a densely populated area, it was soon crowded with thousands of on-lookers from the neighboring streets who had come to watch the fire. If fires had not been such a frequent occasion in old London, the inhabitants of the city would have been more alarmed and informed the king at once. But Londoners did not do so until midday on Sunday, for it was only hen that they realized how grave the situation was.

On Sunday due to a strong wind blowing from the east the fire spread uncontrollably to the west. Soon it reached

the River Thames and the river warehouses containing coal, oil and brandy. One after another they ex plod­ded like bombs. Documents say that at a certain point the blaze might have been stopped had it not been for the unfortunate fact that the fire-fighters, aiming to fill their buckets with water more quickly, smashed the water pipes thus cutting off the area’s water supply.

The fire lasted from Sunday to Wednesday. During these few days it destroyed about 13,000 houses, burned down 87 churches and blackened more than 30 acres. At St Paul’s Cathedral the ruinous heat caused the stonework to explode and the tombs to burst open.

Unbelievably, only eight people died in the Great Fire of London. Most people had enough time to escape into the surrounding countryside.

By Wednesday night the fire was almost extinguished, to a great ex­tent due to the personal intervention of the king, who ordered the fire­fighters to knock down buildings thus preventing the fire from spreading even further.

The baker’s mistake had some positive effects, however. In a single week the slums of central London were demolished. Besides the fire eliminated the last traces of London’s previous disaster, the Great Plague of 1665, which had claimed numerous victims.

> Choose and tick the correct answers:

1) The fire started because ___.

A) The bakery was just under the bedroom

B) The baker had not put out the flame in the ovens

C) Because there had been an accident in the bakery

2) People ____.

A) Were not alarmed at first because fires were common in London

B) Informed the king of the fire immediately

C) Realized at once that it was very serious

3) On Sunday ____.

A) The fire caused a great number of explosions

B) The wind changed its direction

C) The fire-fighters stopped the fire

4) Complete the sentences from the text with correct numbers:

The fire destroyed ___ houses, burned down ____ churches and blackened ___ acres ____. Incredibly, only ____ people died in the Great Fire of London.

5) The king helped to extinguish the flames by ___.

A) Knocking down old buildings

B) Helpful instructions

6) The Great Fire __ .

A) Helped to fight the plague

B) Added to the number of victims greatly

C) Resulted in even larger slums

> Answer the questions.

1) How did the Great Fire of London start?

2) Was the king informed about the fire at once? Why/why not?

3) What happened when the fire reached the River Thames?

4) Why did the fire spread to the west?

5) Why was the fire not stopped by the fire-fighters?

6) How much damage did the fire do?

7) How many people died in the fire? Why was the number so small?

8) How long did the fire last?

9) When was the fire extinguished?

10) How did the king help the fire-fighters?

11) What were the positive effects of the fire?

12) What events in the history of London are connected with the two dates – 1665 and 1666?

6. Summary

1) What is the difference between natural disasters and manmade disas­ters?

2) Can you name a few of each type?

3) Where do these usually often occur?

7. Homework

Complete a list of ways that we can help to stop pollution.

Examples: not put garbage into the lakes and streams, walk or ride bikes whenever possible, pick up litter, etc.


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