SESSION 12: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

SESSION 12: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

NOTE: IN ORDER TO WORK WITH THE TEXT, UNDERSTAND AND PREPARE IT BETTER I RECOMMEND THESE EXERCISES.


THERE WILL BE TWO TYPES OF EXERCISES:


1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT: THESE ARE EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE READING COMPREHENSION, WORKING WITH VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS.

2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION: EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE PREPARATION FOR THE DISCUSSION.

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

1.1 TRUE/FALSE: Look at the article and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or False (F):

a. The earthquake that hit Haiti was a magnitude 16 in strength.
b. Most Haitians were having their breakfast when the earthquake hit.
c. The President’s palace was in ruins after the earthquake.
d. The article says Haiti’s president believes 3 million people are suffering.
e. Haiti’s ambassador to the US has a good idea of casualty figures.
f. President Obama spoke of the cruel nature of the earthquake.
g. Most Haitians are so poor they live on less than two dollars a day.
h. Haiti was hit by four different hurricanes in 2008.

1.2 SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1. show ........................ a. fallen down
2. hit ........................... b. lethal
3. devastated ................. c. guessing
4. collapsed ................... d. reveal
5. unimaginable ............... e. dead and injured
6. estimating .................. f. help
7. casualties ................... g. struck
8. support ...................... h. indescribable
9. deal with .................... i. ruined
10. deadly ...................... j. cope with

1.3 PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one option is possible):

1. show how great the .................... a. capital as unimaginable
2. A magnitude ............................. b. in ruins
3. Much of the country has ............... c. damage is in Haiti
4. Preval described the scene in the .... d. have died
5. well over 100,000 people may ........ e. acting quickly
6. no way of estimating how ............. f. disaster
7. Countries around the world are ....... g. 7.3 quake
8. a “particularly cruel” ................... h. poverty line
9. people live below the ................... i. been devastated
10. Its economy is ........................... j. many casualties

1.4 GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text:

quake - scene - slowly - well - major - huge - strike - affected

Television pictures are ____________ beginning to show how great the damage is in Haiti following the ____________ earthquake on Tuesday. A magnitude 7.3 ____________, just 16km from the capital, hit the Caribbean nation as people were going home after work. It was the worst earthquake to ____________ Haiti in more than two centuries. Much of the country has been devastated. Many ____________ buildings in the capital Port-au-Prince have collapsed, including the Presidential Palace and the UN headquarters. Haiti's President Rene Preval described the ____________ in the capital as "unimaginable". The Red Cross says up to 3 million people have been ____________. Mr. Preval fears “____________ over 100,000 people” may have died.

vowed - casualties - ruins - poverty - estimating - whatever - deal - cruel

Haiti's ambassador to the USA, Raymond Joseph, said there was "no way of ____________ " how many ____________ there were. Countries around the world are acting quickly to send ____________ help they can to Haiti. US President Barack Obama has promised America will do all it can to help. He ____________ "unwavering support" following a “particularly ____________” disaster. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. More than half its people live below the ____________ line on less than two dollars a day. It is one of the poorest-equipped countries on Earth to ____________ with such a catastrophe. The nation was still trying to recover from being hit by four deadly hurricanes in 30 days in 2008. Its economy is in ____________ and it has a long history of corruption and coups.