GLOBAL PROBLEMS (37) ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR ELEMENTARY

ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR ELEMENTARY

GLOBAL PROBLEMS (37)

A

Natural Disasters There was a hurricane / snowstorm / forest fire there last year. hurricane: a very strong wind snowstorm: a lot of snow and wind at the same time forest fire: when it is very dry and trees catch fire San Francisco has had a lot of earthquakes [when the earth moves]. There were serious floods in the north yesterday. [too much water] The river often floods after heavy rain. [water goes over the river banks]

B

Man-made problems There are too many people in some places. Cities are too crowded. Many people are: ·         poor: they do not have enough money ·         hungry: they do not have enough food ·         homeless: they do not have a place to live ·         unemployed: they do not have a job There is a lot of pollution in many places. [when the air, water or earth is dirty and bad for people, plants and animals] The river is polluted and a lot of fish have died. The air pollution is very bad today. The American War of Independence started in 1775 and ended in 1783. [fighting between two or more countries or nationalities] It lasted for eight years. The teachers are on strike today. [when people refuse to work because, for example, they want more money] He had a car crash on the way to work. The traffic jams in the city are terrible in the rush hour [times when everyone is going to work].

Exercises

37.1	What problems can you see in the pictures?
37.2	Match the words on the left with the words on the right. 1 air a fire 2 traffic b people 3 rush c pollution 4 forest d quake 5 crowded e jam 6 homeless f hour 7 car g cities 8 earth h crash
37.3	Find the words that match these definitions. 1 a very strong wind a hurricane 2 so many cars on the road that they can’t easily move ____________________________________ 3 a street with a large number of people ____________________________________ 4 when two cars hit one another ____________________________________ 5 without work ____________________________________ 6 the time of day when there is most traffic ____________________________________ 7 without enough to eat ____________________________________ 8 when a lot of trees burn ____________________________________
37.4	Look at the opposite page and find … 1 two problems on the roads. traffic jam, car crash 2 two things that pollute the air. _________________________________________ 3 two problems that can be political. _________________________________________ 4 three problems that are caused by the weather. _________________________________________ 5 four adjectives that can describe people. _________________________________________
37.5	Fill the gaps with a word from the opposite page. 1 Cars make air _____pollution________ worse in towns. 2 Their wages were very low so the workers went on ______________ 3 My great-grandfather died in the First World ______________ 4 Jack had a ______________ last year but fortunately no one was hurt. 5 Japan often has ______________ and Siberia often has 6 When people are ______________ they sometimes sleep on the streets. 7 I hate driving in the city in the ______________ 8 The water is so ______________ that people cannot drink it. TIP Try to listen to or watch the news in English every day. Make a note of new words about global problems that you find.

ANSWER KEY

37.1	2	car crash	6	forest fire
	3	flood	7	hurricane
	4	war	8	traffic jam
	5	earthquake	9	snowstorm

37.2	2	e	6	b
	3	f	7	h
	4	a	8	d
	5	g

37.3	2	a traffic jam	6	the rush hour
	3	crowded	7	hungry
	4	a car crash	8	a forest fire
	5	unemployed

37.4	Possible answers:
	2	forest fire, traffic jam	4	hurricane, snowstorm, flood
	3	strike, war	5	poor, hungry, homeless, unemployed

37.5	2	strike	6	homeless
	3	War	7	rush hour
	4	car crash	8	polluted
	5	earthquakes; snowstorms