Going under_advanced.pdf

Going under

Level 3 Advanced

Pre-reading A: Predicting the content

Read the headline and the sub-heading. What do you think the article is going to be about?

Going under

Britain is world-renowned for its depressingly damp climate. We are used

to suffering week upon week of rain. So why have a few heavy showers

caused such devastation around the country this summer?

Aida Edemariam reports

July 24, 2007

Pre-reading B: Key words

Match these keywords from the text with the deinitions below.

trapped run-off drainage sewers lush

ploughs

absorb

crop

paving

freak

1. ____________removingliquidsfromsomething

2. ____________coveringthegroundwithtiles,stones,concrete,etc.

3. ____________digsupthelandinlines,usingmachines

4. ____________excesswaterthatcannotsinkontotheground

5. ____________keptinoneplaceandstoppedfrommovingaway

6. ____________asystemofpipesundergroundtocarrywastewateraway

7. ____________takeinliquidalittleatatime

8. ____________veryunusual

9. ____________plantsgrownforfood

10.____________towashaway

Now read the article, check the words in context, and see if your prediction was correct.

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Advanced

Going under

Level 3 Advanced

Going under

Britain is world-renowned for its depressingly

damp climate. We are used to suffering week

upon week of rain. So why have a few heavy

showers caused such devastation around the

country this summer?

Aida Edemariam reports

July 24, 2007

Infact,theanswerliespartlyinhowquicklyitall

happened.BrizeNortoninOxfordshirereceived

121.2mmofrainbetweenmidnightThursdayand5pm

Friday–asixthofwhatitwouldexpectforthewhole

year.SouthYorkshiregotamonth’sworthofrainon

June25.Andithasbeenrainingforweeksnow,“and

thegroundisverywet,soimmediatelyyougetrainfall,

yougetrunoff”,explainsprofessorAdrianSaul,of

Shefield University.

Anyoneattemptingtotakeatraintoorfromthe

southwestofEnglandthisweekendcouldbeforgiven

forwonderingiftheyhadaccidentallystrayedonto

thesetofadisastermovie.Trainsappearedonboards

andthensimplyvanished.AnnouncersontheLondon

Undergroundannouncedlistsoflinesprogressively

goingoutofservice.Asforthosewhohadtowatch

theirhomesandbusinessessurrendertotherising

tide,amongthemtherewasageneralsenseof

disbelief.Disbeliefthatadownpoursoshortshould

wreaksuchhavoc,disbeliefthatsuchscenesshould

beoccurringatall.

Itisn’tjustacaseofthegroundnotbeingableto

absorbsomuchsofast–drainagesystemscan’t

either,andhavesimplybeenoverwhelmed.“When

youdesignasystemyouhavetotakealevelofrisk,

and generally the level of risk is suficient to protect

ourcommunities,”saysSaul.“Butoncethatlevelhas

beenpassed,thedefencesareoverwhelmed.It’s

veryfortunatethattheVictoriansbuiltthesystemsas

bigastheydid.InLondoninparticular,[they]hadthe

foresighttoseethattherewouldbechange,andit’s

protectedLondoneversince.”Whichis,ofcourse,

impressive,andtrue,butitisalsotruethattheywere

builtwhenLondon’spopulationwasaquarterofwhatit

isnow–andlastFriday,theysimplydidn’tholdup.

The disbelief is justiied. This, after all, is a country

famedforitswetness.Rainisournationalweather.

Snow–well,weallknowwhathappenswhenBritainis

dustedwithafewmillimetresofsnow.Excessiveheat,

like last summer’s, causes dificulties, too – but rain?

Givenourextensiveexperience,surelyweshouldlead

theworldinrainmanagement.

“Oursewersarenotdesignedtodealwiththat

capacity of water lowing through them,” says Nicola

Savage,aspokeswomanforThamesWater.Theyare

alsonotdesignedforthewaywecurrentlytreatthem.

Weeach,personally,usefarmorewaterthanever

before.Thereisalso“atendencyforthepublictouse

the sewers as a litter bin,” Savage adds. “People lush

nappiesdowntoilets,sanitaryproducts,andtights.

Inparticular,weneedtoencouragepeoplenottobe

pouringstuffdownthesink–forexample,fat,oiland

grease.Thesewerswereneverdesignedtocopewith

thissortofmaterial.”

Alas,itseemsnot.Thousandshadtobeevacuated

overtheweekend,thousandsmorearetrapped

intheirhomes.That’sthousandstoaddtothose

still unable to go home after loods in the north of

Englandlastmonth,whichkilledeightpeople–and

countlessmillionstoaddtoanationalinsurancebill

eventuallyexpectedtotop£2.5billion.Evesham,

inWorcestershire,theworst-hittownthisweekend,

experienced loods of up to ive metres. And it

isn’toveryet:atthetimeofgoingtopressthere

were warnings that lood waters weren’t expected

topeakuntiltonight,andOxfordandBedfordand

Gloucestershirewerepreparingthemselvestobethe

nextmajorareashit.Allareentitledtoaskhowsuch

relativelyshortburstsofrain–justonehourinLondon,

somewhatlongerinplacessuchasOxfordshire

–couldhavesuchdevastatingresults.

ThamesWatersaysthatitisspending£323million

improvingitssewers,butuntilrecently,Ofwat[the

economicregulatorforthewaterandsewerage

industryinEnglandandWales]hasbeenreluctant

toallowverymuchinvestmentbywatercompanies,

becausetheywantedtokeepwaterbillsdown.

Saulisalsoinvolvedina£5.6millionprojectcalled

theFloodRiskManagementResearchConsortium,

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Advanced

Going under

Level 3 Advanced

whichisinvestigatinghowfarmerscancontrolthe

low of water off land. Farmers can decrease runoff

iftheyploughacrosshills,ratherthandownthem,

andstrategicallyplacedtreescanhelpretainwater.

Andthemoreanimalsthereareonapieceofland,

themoretheypackthegrounddown,andthelessit

canabsorbwater.Thisleadstocropdamage,which

willsoonbeevidentinourshops.Andifintensively

farmedanimalsgetnodrinkingwaterfor48hours,

thousandswilldie,whichwillalsoaffecttheprice

offood.

essence,anythingthatrunsoffthehouseshouldbe

storedlocally,”saysSaul.Insteadofgoingstraight

intotheseweragesystem,rainwatercanbecollected

–instoragetanksunderdriveways,forexample–and

used to lush toilets or run washing machines. Small

trenchescalledsoakawayscanbedugingardensand

illed with stones, to trap the water and release it into

thegroundabitmoreslowly.Everylittlehelps.

ForalthoughwhatBritainhasexperiencedoverthe

pastmonthis,asexpertsexplain,aseriesoffreak

weatherevents,ourchangingclimatemeansthat

theremaysoonbemoreofthem,morefrequently.

TodayOxfordshireandGloucestershirearehaving

togetoutthesandbagsandevacuatethecitizens.

Tomorrow, next month, next year – who knows?

Theconsortiumisalsoinvestigatinghowindividuals

canhelpreduceaproblemthat,infact,theyhave

helpedcreate:byextendingtheirhouses,paving

driveways,buildingcarparks–alldecreasingthe

amountofsoftgroundtoabsorbwater,andincreasing

theamountofrunoffintodrainsandrivers.“In

©GuardianNews&Media2007

Firstpublishedin The Guardian ,24/07/07

Comprehension check

Re-read the text more carefully, and decide whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F) .

1. The looding in Britain this summer is no worse than usual.

2. Insurancecostswillbeveryhigh.

3. One reason for the loods was that a huge amount of rain fell in a very short time.

4. Victorianengineersfullyanticipatedtheextentofpopulationgrowth.

5. Thepublichavebeenputtingthewrongkindofmaterialdownthetoilet.

6. Farmers could help prevent looding if they ploughed their land up and down hill.

7. Thepriceoffoodislikelytorise.

8. The more we build, the more likely we are to see loods in the future.

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Advanced

Going under

Level 3 Advanced

Vocabulary development 1

Find words in the text that mean the following. Paragraph numbers are given to help you.

1. famous everywhere (sub-heading)

2. enormous destruction (sub-heading)

3. wandered by accident (para1)

4. sudden period of heavy rainfall (para1)

5. cause so much damage (para1)

6. covered with very small quantities (para2)

7. when this article was printed (para3)

8. completely defeated (para5)

9. ability to think ahead and anticipate future problems (para5)

10. carefully and thoughtfully (para8)

Vocabulary development 2: Expressions of quantity

The expressions of quantity on the left have all been taken from the text. See if you can match them with

the nouns they modiied on the right.

1. weekuponweekof

a.lines

2. listsof

b.rain

3. upto

c.whatitisnow

4. asixthof

d.softground

5. amonth’sworthof

e.freakweatherevents

6. aquarterof

f.water

7. that capacity of g. ive meters

8. theamountof

h.whatitwouldexpect

9. abitmore

i.rain

10.aseriesof

j.slowly

Now scan the text to see how many you got right.

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Advanced

Going under

Level 3 Advanced

Skills development: Referring expressions

What do each of these words refer to? Paragraph numbers are given to help you.

no.

para

word

context

refers to...

those

As for those who had to watch...

them

... among them there was...

thousands

Thousands had to be evacuated...

millions

... countless millions to add...

all

All are entitled to ask...

they

... as big as they did...

they

... they were built...

thousands

... thousands will die...

Recognizing irony

The writer of this article, Aida Edemariam, sometimes uses irony for dramatic effect.

1. Find 5 examples of irony in the subheading and the irst 2 paragraphs.

2. Why do you think the use of irony is concentrated only at the beginning of the article?

Discussion

1. Has your country experienced unusual amounts of looding recently?

2. Has it experienced other changes in the weather?

3. Do you think such changes are probably due to global warming?

4. What measures is your government taking to help prevent global warming?

5. What measures do you think it should take?

6. What measures do you think individuals in your country should take?

7. In what ways have you changed your own behaviour to help reduce the risks?

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Advanced

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