The Reading / Listening - Tonga Tsunami - Level 2

A cleanup has begun in Tonga after the island was hit by a tsunami and covered in volcanic ash at the weekend. The undersea volcano erupted on Saturday. Experts believe it was the world's biggest eruption in 30 years. It sent tsunami waves across to Japan and the U.S. It also destroyed large parts of Tonga. Islanders are now trying to restore their normal life. However, the ash is making this difficult. A lot of the recovery work cannot go ahead until the ash has been cleared. It has buried buildings and is also blocking many of the country's roads.

Tonga's government called the disasters "unprecedented". It said they have badly affected life on the island. There is no Internet because the eruption cut Tonga's underwater Internet cable. Engineers are trying to fix it. It is also difficult to fly aid into the country because of damage to the airport. Tonga is worried that rescuers may bring COVID-19 into the country. Tonga shut its borders in 2020. It said it was "covid-free" before the tsunami. It now fears international aid workers could bring a "tsunami of COVID-19" into the country.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Tonga Tsunami - Level 0 Tonga Tsunami - Level 1   or  Tonga Tsunami - Level 3

Sources
  • https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/18/asia/tonga-volcano-tsunami-damage-intl-hnk/index.html
  • https://www.the-sun.com/news/4482496/shocking-before-after-satellite-photos-tonga-tsunamis-devastation/
  • https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/18/world/australia/tonga-volcano-covid.html


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. A cleanup has
  2. after the island was hit
  3. covered in
  4. The undersea volcano
  5. the world's biggest eruption
  6. It sent tsunami waves across
  7. trying to restore their
  8. blocking many of the
  1. to Japan
  2. erupted
  3. normal life
  4. volcanic ash
  5. begun in Tonga
  6. country's roads
  7. by a tsunami
  8. in 30 years

Paragraph 2

  1. Tonga's government called the disasters
  2. they have badly affected
  3. Tonga's underwater Internet
  4. Engineers are trying to
  5. difficult to fly aid
  6. rescuers may bring
  7. it was "covid-free" before
  8. international aid
  1. COVID-19
  2. fix it
  3. life
  4. cable
  5. the tsunami
  6. unprecedented
  7. workers
  8. into the country

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A cleanup (1) ___________________ Tonga after the island was hit by a tsunami and covered (2) ___________________ at the weekend. The undersea volcano erupted on Saturday. Experts believe it was (3) ___________________ eruption in 30 years. It sent tsunami waves across to Japan and the U.S. It also destroyed (4) ___________________ Tonga. Islanders are now trying to restore their normal life. However, the ash is (5) ___________________. A lot of the recovery work cannot go ahead until the ash has been cleared. It has buried buildings and (6) ___________________ many of the country's roads.

Tonga's government (7) ___________________ "unprecedented". It said they have (8) ___________________ on the island. There is no Internet because the eruption cut Tonga's underwater Internet cable. Engineers are (9) ___________________ it. It is also difficult to fly aid into the country because of damage to the airport. Tonga is worried (10) ___________________ bring COVID-19 into the country. Tonga shut (11) ___________________ 2020. It said it was "covid-free" before the tsunami. It now fears international (12) ___________________ bring a "tsunami of COVID-19" into the country.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

AcleanuphasbeguninTongaaftertheislandwashitbyatsunamiandcov
eredinvolcanicashattheweekend.TheunderseavolcanoeruptedonSa
turday.Expertsbelieveitwastheworld'sbiggesteruptionin30years.Its
enttsunamiwavesacrosstoJapanandtheU.S.Italsodestroyedlargepa
rtsofTonga.Islandersarenowtryingtorestoretheirnormallife.Howeve
r,theashismakingthisdifficult.Alotoftherecoveryworkcannotgoahea
duntiltheashhasbeencleared.Ithasburiedbuildingsandisalsoblockin
gmanyofthecountry'sroads.Tonga'sgovernmentcalledthedisasters"
unprecedented".Itsaidtheyhavebadlyaffectedlifeontheisland.Therei
snoInternetbecausetheeruptioncutTonga'sunderwaterInternetcabl
e.Engineersaretryingtofixit.Itisalsodifficulttoflyaidintothecountrybe
causeofdamagetotheairport.Tongaisworriedthatrescuersmaybring
COVID-19intothecountry.Tongashutitsbordersin2020.Itsaiditwa
s"covid-free"beforethetsunami.Itnowfearsinternationalaidworker
scouldbringa"tsunamiofCOVID-19"intothecountry.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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