NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Advanced

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

Going under

Level 3

Advanced

Pre-reading A: Predicting the content

1

Pre-reading B: Key words

2

Match these keywords from the text with the definitions below.

trapped

run-off

drainage

sewers

flush

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.

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

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Advanced

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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

Anyoneattemptingtotakeatraintoorfromthe
southwestofEnglandthisweekendcouldbeforgiven
forwonderingiftheyhadaccidentallystrayedonto
thesetofadisastermovie.Trainsappearedonboards
andthensimplyvanished.AnnouncersontheLondon
Undergroundannouncedlistsoflinesprogressively
goingoutofservice.Asforthosewhohadtowatch
theirhomesandbusinessessurrendertotherising
tide,amongthemtherewasageneralsenseof
disbelief.Disbeliefthatadownpoursoshortshould
wreaksuchhavoc,disbeliefthatsuchscenesshould
beoccurringatall.

The disbelief is justified. This, after all, is a country
famedforitswetness.Rainisournationalweather.
Snow–well,weallknowwhathappenswhenBritainis
dustedwithafewmillimetresofsnow.Excessiveheat,
like last summer’s, causes difficulties, too – but rain?
Givenourextensiveexperience,surelyweshouldlead
theworldinrainmanagement.

Alas,itseemsnot.Thousandshadtobeevacuated
overtheweekend,thousandsmorearetrapped
intheirhomes.That’sthousandstoaddtothose
still unable to go home after floods in the north of
Englandlastmonth,whichkilledeightpeople–and
countlessmillionstoaddtoanationalinsurancebill
eventuallyexpectedtotop£2.5billion.Evesham,
inWorcestershire,theworst-hittownthisweekend,
experienced floods of up to five metres. And it
isn’toveryet:atthetimeofgoingtopressthere
were warnings that flood waters weren’t expected
topeakuntiltonight,andOxfordandBedfordand
Gloucestershirewerepreparingthemselvestobethe
nextmajorareashit.Allareentitledtoaskhowsuch
relativelyshortburstsofrain–justonehourinLondon,
somewhatlongerinplacessuchasOxfordshire
–couldhavesuchdevastatingresults.

Infact,theanswerliespartlyinhowquicklyitall
happened.BrizeNortoninOxfordshirereceived
121.2mmofrainbetweenmidnightThursdayand5pm
Friday–asixthofwhatitwouldexpectforthewhole
year.SouthYorkshiregotamonth’sworthofrainon
June25.Andithasbeenrainingforweeksnow,“and
thegroundisverywet,soimmediatelyyougetrainfall,
yougetrunoff”,explainsprofessorAdrianSaul,of
Sheffield University.

Itisn’tjustacaseofthegroundnotbeingableto
absorbsomuchsofast–drainagesystemscan’t
either,andhavesimplybeenoverwhelmed.“When
youdesignasystemyouhavetotakealevelofrisk,
and generally the level of risk is sufficient 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.

“Oursewersarenotdesignedtodealwiththat
capacity of water flowing through them,” says Nicola
Savage,aspokeswomanforThamesWater.Theyare
alsonotdesignedforthewaywecurrentlytreatthem.
Weeach,personally,usefarmorewaterthanever
before.Thereisalso“atendencyforthepublictouse
the sewers as a litter bin,” Savage adds. “People flush
nappiesdowntoilets,sanitaryproducts,andtights.
Inparticular,weneedtoencouragepeoplenottobe
pouringstuffdownthesink–forexample,fat,oiland
grease.Thesewerswereneverdesignedtocopewith
thissortofmaterial.”

ThamesWatersaysthatitisspending£323million
improvingitssewers,butuntilrecently,Ofwat[the
economicregulatorforthewaterandsewerage
industryinEnglandandWales]hasbeenreluctant
toallowverymuchinvestmentbywatercompanies,
becausetheywantedtokeepwaterbillsdown.

Saulisalsoinvolvedina£5.6millionprojectcalled
theFloodRiskManagementResearchConsortium,

Going under

Level 3

Advanced

1

2

3

4

6

7

8

5

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Going under

Level 3

Advanced

Comprehension check

3

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

1. The flooding in Britain this summer is no worse than usual.
2. Insurancecostswillbeveryhigh.
3. One reason for the floods was that a huge amount of rain fell in a very short time.
4. Victorianengineersfullyanticipatedtheextentofpopulationgrowth.
5. Thepublichavebeenputtingthewrongkindofmaterialdownthetoilet.
6. Farmers could help prevent flooding if they ploughed their land up and down hill.
7. Thepriceoffoodislikelytorise.
8. The more we build, the more likely we are to see floods in the future.

9

whichisinvestigatinghowfarmerscancontrolthe
flow of water off land. Farmers can decrease runoff
iftheyploughacrosshills,ratherthandownthem,
andstrategicallyplacedtreescanhelpretainwater.
Andthemoreanimalsthereareonapieceofland,
themoretheypackthegrounddown,andthelessit
canabsorbwater.Thisleadstocropdamage,which
willsoonbeevidentinourshops.Andifintensively
farmedanimalsgetnodrinkingwaterfor48hours,
thousandswilldie,whichwillalsoaffecttheprice
offood.

Theconsortiumisalsoinvestigatinghowindividuals
canhelpreduceaproblemthat,infact,theyhave
helpedcreate:byextendingtheirhouses,paving
driveways,buildingcarparks–alldecreasingthe
amountofsoftgroundtoabsorbwater,andincreasing
theamountofrunoffintodrainsandrivers.“In

essence,anythingthatrunsoffthehouseshouldbe
storedlocally,”saysSaul.Insteadofgoingstraight
intotheseweragesystem,rainwatercanbecollected
–instoragetanksunderdriveways,forexample–and
used to flush toilets or run washing machines. Small
trenchescalledsoakawayscanbedugingardensand
filled 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?

©GuardianNews&Media2007
FirstpublishedinThe Guardian,24/07/07

10

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Advanced

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Going under

Level 3

Advanced

Vocabulary development 1

4

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 modified 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. five meters

8. theamountof

h.whatitwouldexpect

9. abitmore

i.rain

10.aseriesof

j.slowly

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

5

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)

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

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Advanced

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Going under

Level 3

Advanced

no.

para

word

context

refers to...

1.

1

those

As for those who had to watch...

2.

1

them

... among them there was...

3.

3

thousands

Thousands had to be evacuated...

4.

3

millions

... countless millions to add...

5.

3

all

All are entitled to ask...

6.

5

they

... as big as they did...

7.

5

they

... they were built...

8.

8

thousands

... thousands will die...

Skills development: Referring expressions

6

Recognizing irony

7

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

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

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

Discussion

8

1. Has your country experienced unusual amounts of flooding 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?

2 Pre-reading B: Key words

1. drainage

2. paving

3. ploughs

4. runoff

5. trapped

6. sewers

7. absorb

8. freak

9. crop

10. flush

3 Comprehension check

1. False.Itismuchworsethanusual.

2. True

3. True

4. False.Theyanticipatedalotofgrowth,

butnotenough.

5. True

6. False.Theycouldhelpiftheyploughed

theirlandacrossthehill.

7. True

8. True

4 Vocabulary development 1

1. world-renowned

2. devastation

3. strayed

4. downpour

5. wreaksuchhavoc

6. dusted

7. atthetimeofgoingtopress

8. overwhelmed

9. foresight

10.strategically

5 Vocabulary development 2: Expressions

of quantity

1.b

2.a

3.g

4.h

5.i

6.c

7.f

8.d

9.j

10.e

6 Skills development:

Referring expressions

7 Recognizing irony

1. Britainisworld-renownedforitsdepressingly

dampclimate.

This,afterall,isacountryfamedforitswetness.

Rainisournationalweather.

Snow–well,weallknowwhathappenswhenBritain

isdustedwithafewmillimetresofsnow.

Givenourextensiveexperience,surelyweshould

leadtheworldinrainmanagement.

2.Becauseafterthat,thecontentistooseriousforirony.

KEY

NEWS LESSONS / Going under / Advanced

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Going under

Level 3

Advanced

no.

word

refers to...

1.

those

people(whosehouseshad

been flooded)

2.

them

asabove

3.

thousands

thousandsofpeople

4.

millions

millionsofpounds

5.

all

everyoneintheUK

6.

they

theVictorians(whobuilt

thesewers)

7.

they

thesewers

8.

thousands

thousandsofanimals