Part One: Warm Up
Discuss the following questions with a partner or group:
- What are some examples of disasters that are not naturally-caused?
- Do you think all natural disasters are scary? If not, why?
- What is a bomb? Have you ever seen or heard one go off?
- Why do landslides happen?
- Describe a viking. What does he or she look like? What is their character like?
Part Two: Listening
Exercise
Open Exercise One to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document. Then, go on to Exercise Two. The recording is from ELLLO.
Transcript
I was in a typhoon in Hong Kong and I'd just arrived with a big heavy backpack and I had to hide in a telephone box while the street flooded and the water came up around me.
Person 1: Natural disaster? No, I haven't been in a natural disaster. Unfortunately I was very close to a bomb which went off in Manchester when I was about 16 years old, which was quite scary, but probably not as scary as a tsunami or a typhoon or something.
Person 2: Oh yes, yes, I have been in a natural disaster. I forget what year, but Hurricane Iniki in Hawaii. But I lived on Oahu, so we got the eye of the hurricane, so it wasn't harsh at all. In fact, I remember when it hit, I remember telling my parents I wanted to go out and fly a kite because it looked so nice outside. So it wasn't really that bad of an experience for me.
Person 3: Yes, I have. I've been in a fire, a really big one actually. It was just very scary. There was just smoke everywhere and I couldn't see anything. My eyes were hurting. I was choking and I really thought I was going to die, but I was rescued by an old man passing by.
Person 4: Okay, have I been in a natural disaster? Well, I've actually seen one happen while I was driving, and this was along the Pacific Ocean Highway, if I'm not wrong. Anyway, there was in December 2004, I think, there was a big landslide during the raining season in Los Angeles, and while I was driving, I actually saw it. I didn't know what it was damaged like, but it was all over the news, and it was bad.
Person 5: Yes, actually, I was staying with friends in Norway, and we were camping, and we got hit by a blizzard, and it was really frightening. But luckily, I was with some big Viking Norwegian guys, and they knew exactly what to do, because I didn't. It was really, you couldn't see anything. It was so white, and the snow was so heavy, and it actually hurt quite a lot, and it didn't help that it was absolutely freezing.