I.E. Liceo del Saber
Homework
Grade: 11th
Skill: Reading and writing
Causes of Floods
Floods are second only to fire as the most common of all natural disasters.
They occur almost everywhere in the world, resulting in widespread damage and
even death. Consequently, scientists have long tried to perfect their ability
to predict floods. So far, the best that scientists can do is to recognize the
potential for flooding in certain conditions. There are a number of conditions,
from deep snow on the ground to human error, that cause flooding.
When deep snow melts it creates a large amount of water. Although deep snow
alone rarely causes floods, when it occurs together with heavy rain and sudden
warmer weather it can lead to serious flooding. If there is a fast snow melt on
top of frozen or very wet ground, flooding is more likely to occur than when
the ground is not frozen. Frozen ground or ground that is very wet and already
saturated with water cannot absorb the additional water created by the melting
snow. Melting snow also contributes to high water levels in rivers and streams.
Whenever rivers are already at their full capacity of water, heavy rains will
result in the rivers overflowing and flooding the surrounding land.
Rivers that are covered in ice can also lead to flooding. When ice begins to
melt, the surface of the ice cracks and breaks into large pieces. These pieces
of ice move and float down the river. They can form a dam in the river, causing
the water behind the dam to rise and flood the land upstream. If the dam breaks
suddenly, then the large amount of water held behind the dam can flood the areas
downstream too.
Broken ice dams are not the only dam problems that can cause flooding. When a
large human-made dam breaks or fails to hold the water collected behind it, the
results can be devastating. Dams contain such huge amounts of water behind them
that when sudden breaks occur, the destructive force of the water is like a
great tidal wave. Unleashed dam waters can travel tens of kilometres, cover the
ground in metres of mud and debris, and drown and crush every thing and
creature in their path.
Although scientists cannot always predict exactly when floods will occur, they
do know a great deal about when floods are likely, or probably, going to occur.
Deep snow, ice-covered rivers, and weak dams are all strong conditions for
potential flooding. Hopefully, this knowledge of why floods happen can help us
reduce the damage they cause.
l. Answer the
next questions about the text.
1. How
does deep snow cause flooding?
a. melting
snow causes flooding
b. too
much rain causes flooding
c. sudden
warm temperatures combined with heavy rains causes flooding
d. freezing
water causes flooding
2. A
broken human-made dam is compared to what?
a. a
tsunami
b. a
tidal wave
c. a
broken ice dam
d. overflowing
3. Which
of the following best describes how a frozen river can cause a flood.
a. The
ice in the river melts too quickly and causes a flood.
b. The
ice in the river cracks causing the water to overflow.
c. The
ice in the river cracks into pieces that eventually create a dam causing the
water to overflow.
d. The
water behind the ice dam collects and when the dam breaks, it causes flooding
upstream.
4. How
far can dam water travel when it is unleashed from a broken dam?
a. less
than 10 kilometres
b. tens
of kilometres
c. thousands
of kilometres
d. tens
of thousands of kilometres downstream
5. Why
does saturated ground contribute to flooding problems?
a. the
ground cannot absorb more moisture
b. the
ground is too hard, so the water runs off
c. the
ground forms a kind of dam
d. it
remains frozen
6. What
kinds of problems can floods cause?
a. death
b. widespread
damage
c. destruction
of plants and animals
d. all
of the above
7. What
is the most common natural disaster?
a. flood
b. fire
c. wind
damage
d. rain
ll. Write the definition
of the nexts words.
-Poverty
-Hunger
-Health
-Education.
-Equality
-Gender
-Inequality.
-Justice
-Peaceful
-Inclusion
-Safety
ll. Complete
the next text with the correct verb in past participle.
I
_________________ in Zaezal for two years. I have a girlfriend. She's gorgeous,
I love her so much that I couldn´t imagine my life without her. We've
______________ each other for 3 years. I work as a teacher at Liceo del Saber
school. I've _____________ for 4 years. I teach because that's my passion even
though some students don't appreciate this work. I've __________ my car for two
years. I've __________ car for 9 years.
Vl. Answer
the next questions about you.
1.
How long have you known your best friend?
2.
How many famous people have you seen?
3.
How many English teachers have you have?
4.
How many time have you fallen in love?
5.
Where have you lived for the last 5 years?
V. Write the meaning of the next words in Spanish:
In my opinion, ...
In my view ...
Personally, I think that ...
Personally speaking,
I reckon ...
If you ask me, ...
I'd say that ...
I feel that ...
My feeling is that ...
As far as I am concerned ...
From my point of view ...
It is my belief,
For my part,
As I see it,
The way I see it,
From where I stand,
To be honest,
That's my personal opinion.
That's about it, I think.
That's how I see things.
So far
However
