Unit12

Unit 12 News (III)Part I Warming upTapescript:A.1. An avalanche is a large amount of ice, snow, earth, rock or other materials sliding swiftly down the side of a mountain or falling down a cliff.2. A mudslide is a slow-moving mudflow that moves down a gradual slope.3. An earthquake is the sudden release of strain energy in the Earth's crust resulting in waves of shaking that radiate outwards from the earthquake source.4. A cyclone is a storm or system of winds that rotates around a center of low atmospheric pressure, advances at a speed of about 30 to 50 kilometers an hour, and often brings heavy rain.5. Hurricanes are tropical cyclones with winds that exceed 64 knots or 74 miles per hour and circulate about their centers in the western Atlantic Ocean.6. A tornado is a violent destructive whirling wind usually accompanied with severe thunder, lightning, and torrents of rain, and commonly of short duration and small breadth.7. A typhoon is a type of violent tropical storm with strong circular windsthat exceed 74 mph. It especially happens in the Pacific Ocean.8. A drought is a period of dryness especially when prolonged that causes extensive damage to crops or prevents their successful growth.9. A flood is a rising and overflowing of a body of water especially onto normally dry land.10. A forest fire is a wildfire or an uncontrolled fire that is burning in forest, grass or other areas of vegetation.B. Tapescript.1. ALGERIA -- A bomb explosion in Algiers has injured several people ina market area.2. Another severe ocean storm is moving toward the Pacific coast of Mexico.3. BAHRAIN -- International experts have begun an official investigation into the cause of a crash of a passenger plane in the Persian Gulf. All 143 people on the Gulf Airlines plane died in the crash Wednesday.4. EUROPE- Austrians have honored the 38 people killed by snow at ski areas this past weekend.5. FRANCE -- The hijacker of an Air France passenger plane has released his remaining hostages and surrendered to police.6. Japanese officials say the nuclear reaction at a center northeast of Tokyo has stopped, but it is not clear if the danger has passed.7. Rescue workers are continuing to search for victims of a train accidentin Northern Punjap State. At least 189 people were killed in the accident Thursday. More than 250 people were injured.8. Russian and Norwegian divers continue working to recover bodies from the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk.9. SOUTH AFRICA -- At least 12 people have been killed after heavy rains fell in the North. The rain destroyed homes and bridges. Reports say some roads became rivers of flood waters.10. The second deadly storm in three days is moving across parts of western Europe. The storm caused transportation delays and forced some airports to close. The two storms have killed more than 115 people.11. The number of people killed in Sunday's earthquake in northeastern Turkey has now risen to more than 1,200 and is expected to go even higher. At least 50 villages have been destroyed.12. Firemen say the fires burning to the north of Sydney are now under control, but they warned that the changes in the weather might lead to new flare-ups.Part II News itemsA. You are going to hear a pair of news /terns on the same top/c presented in special and standard English. Listen carefully and summarize the news according to the cues given.Event: a fire from an oil pipe-line explosionTime: ThursdayCasualties: more than 50 people deadArea: near LagosLocation: near a fuel-loading area owned by Nigeria's National Petroleum CorporationCause: stealing fuel from leaking pipes/vandalTape-script:1. NIGERIA -- More than 50 people have died in a fire from an oil pipeline explosion near Lagos. The explosion and fire happened near a fuel-loading area owned by Nigeria's National Petroleum Corporation. This is the latest in a series of pipeline fires in Nigeria this year. The fires have killed hundreds of people. The government says people who steal fuel from leaking pipes caused some of the fires. It also blames people who cause damage on purpose.2. More than 50 people are dead in Nigeria after a leaking oil pipeline burst into flames outside the commercial capital Lagos. The blast and resulting fire Thursday ripped through an area near a fuel-loading depot owned by the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Witnesses report seeing burned bodies littering the charred grounds while many other victims are being treated for injuries sustained in the blaze. A spokesman for the petroleum company says the fire was caused by a vandal.B. Here is another news item. Complete the news summary andbriefly answer the questions you hear on the tape.1. The news item is about a cable car accident at a ski resort in northern Italy.2.a.American military plane/cut the wires/low-level flightb.20c.60 kilometers awayd. started investigation/suspended low-level missionsTape-script:An accident at a ski resort in northern Italy in which an American military plane cut the wires of a cable car during a low level training flight has killed 20 people. One car plunged about 100 meters into the snow, killing everyone aboard. An operator was rescued unhurt from a second car left dangling in the air after the accident. The plane returned to its base 60 kilometers away, the crew unaware of the accident. Commanders of the base have since started an investigation and suspended all low level missions in Italy until further notice. Questions:a.What is the cause of the disaster?b.How many people have been killed?c.How far away is the military base?d. What have the commanders of the base done since the accident?.C. Now listen to the final pair of news items. Summarize the news according to the cues given. Then answer the questions you hear on the tape.1. Event: floods and landslidesCountry: VenezuelaDamage: homes of 140,000~150,000 people destroyedCasualties: 30,000 people killedMajor Cause of the damage: poor city planningEstimated cost of relief and reconstruction efforts: 15 billion dollars2.a. To give quick and generous aid to Venezuela.b. To build new housing for those homeless people.c. In stadiums, car parks, airports and military barracks.d. In plain areas away from the coast.Tape-script:1. VENEZUELA -- Tens of thousands of people affected by recent floods and landslides are preparing to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays in shelters. Officials estimate that the homes of as many as 140,000 people were destroyed. Venezuelan officials say the floods and landslides may have caused the death of as many as 30,000 people. Experts say poor city planning was a major cause of the damage. Manyhouses were built on weak ground or on the sides of mountains along the northern coast. The Venezuelan Defense Minister says survivors need to cooperate with government efforts to move them away from the coastal area.2. The United Nations has urged the international community to give quick and generous aid to Venezuela to help it recover from last week's devastating floods and mudslides. A resolution passed in the general assembly said it was deeply concerned over the tremendous loss of life and severe destruction of the country. As many as 30,000 people are thought to have been killed. Officials have estimated the relief and reconstruction efforts as costing some 15 billion dollars.Officials here say that reconstruction efforts could take several years to complete. They say the priority is to build new housing for the 150,000 people who've been made homeless. These people are now sleeping in emergency shelters set up in stadiums, car parks, airports and military barracks. President Hugo Chavez says that he is looking at several different places across the country in which to build new houses, all in plain areas away from the coast. Mr. Chavez says that the government will not rebuild houses in the parts of the northern coastal region destroyed by floods and landslides. Relief efforts are continuing in damaged coastal regions.Questions:a.What has the United Nations urged the international community to do?b.According to Venezuelan officials, what is the priority now?c.Where are the emergency shelters set up?d. According to President Hugo Chavez, where will the new houses be built?Part III Torrential storms in KenyaA.1. The topic dealt with for the last two weeks is how heavy rains have contributed to the spread of Rift Valley Fever in Kenya.2. The topic this week is how the continuing torrential storms in Kenya are washing away people's hopes of a good season.3. January should be one of the best months for growers of fruit, vegetables and flowers in Kenya.James' corresponding remarkswhole life/ not a season like this/not rains like thiscrops flooded/difficult/meet requirements/ consumers/ cropsdestroyedstruggling/ not supply 100%/ somethingTape-script:Hello! For the last two weeks, we've reported how heavy rains have contributed to the spread of Rift Valley Fever in Kenya. This week, we hear how the continuing torrential storms in that region are washing awayKenyan horticulture's hopes of a good season.Sara Rannoe is just back from Nairobi.Now there's never a good time for heavy rainfall such as this. But for the horticulture industry, Sara, this must be a particularly bad time for heavy beating rain.Well, January should be one of the best months for growers of fruit, vegetables and flowers in Kenya, hot, dry, sunny days and peak production destined for consumers shivering in the European winter and longing for a taste of African sunshine. But in Kenya, as elsewhere, the weather is not behaving as it should. Most of rain, often torrential, is washing away hopes of a good harvest. Flowers are reluctant to flower. And perhaps worst it, are growers' peas and French beans."In the whole of my life and I'm talking about somebody who is over 60 years old, I've not experienced a season like this. The whole of that period, I've not seen rains like this in January in Kenya. 'James Masengi, chairman of the Fresh Produce Export Association of Kenya, who speaks not only for his members but out of personal and bitter experience."Crops are flooded. We find it even difficult to meet the requirements of our consumers because crops have been. destroyed."Are you going to be able to keep your business orders up to date? Are you going to complete your export orders?"Yes, we are struggling very much to keep the export orders. In some places, we're not able to supply 100 percent, but we are supplying something."James Masengi.B. Tapescript:And for growers of roses, the flower associated with love and romance, there's very little happiness in the air. Ian Maroe is managing director of CN Roses Limited, one of Kenya's leading rose exporters."Cold, cloudy, wet weather increases disease pressure and slows down growth. So our production is probably down a six month figure, is down 30 percent.'Are you disappointing your customers?"Some. We try to keep the more important ones contented, but some are definitely disappointed. Definitely. Yeah. 'Do you think you'll be able to pick up over the course of the season?"The bad weather as such will continue for a depressingly long time according to the forecast. But if we get sunshine in the next month or so, we'll be able to catch up quite a lot."Are you making up the short fall in production by an increase in price?"Uh, no, because a lot of our sales are on the contract price. 'Ian Maroe.And I should add that even more of Kenya's crops are in trouble. Maize has suffered badly. Coffee is under constant threat of disease. And although tea is growing well, getting it picked and transported is a nightmare on roads that become all but impossible in these conditions. But the greatest fear is that the rain could be followed by the opposite: drought.。