© Linguapress.com  2001 - All rights reserved

CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH A TWISTER:

Exercise 1:
Replace the missing prepositions in this extract from the article. You will find a list of the missing prepositions in the left hand column, indicating the number of times each one is needed.
 

List of missing prepositions to replace: About: 3 , above 1, across 4, along 1 , at 4, beside 2, beyond 1, by 3, down 3, for 2, from 3, in 7 , into 1, of 10, off 1, on 2, out 3, over 1, through 1, to 10, to, towards 2, up 2, with 2,

The time was just _________ midday, yet somehow, _________ the space _________ ten minutes, all the blue had vanished _________ the sky, and the light was fading fast, as if evening was coming  _____.     The track twisted and turned, _________ and  _______, _________ woods and _________ streams, and then, _________ last, _________ onto an open, treeless, hilltop. Suddenly Sarah shouted.     "Look, a tornado!"     I pulled the car _________ a stop, and looked back; and there it was. Just like _________ the movie: the clouds were hanging like a dark ceiling _________ our heads, slate gray _________ tinges _________ brown and green. And there, just a few miles _________ the south, was the tornado, an inky funnel _________ twisting cloud coming right _________ _________ the ground. _________ it, several other menacing cones were hanging downwards, ready _________ strike. We could see them moving _________ our direction.     "Let's get _________ _________ here!" I said, and threw the car _________ gear.     I don't usually drive cars _________ 50 m.p.h _________ dirt tracks, but this time I did; as we sped _________ the open hilltop, it seemed like there were three different storms coming _________ us _________ once, _________ three different directions. _________ now we could see waves _________ wind gusting _________ the grassland, and _________ the time we reached the trees again, branches were blowing _________ all directions.     Then, _________ the track, we came _________ a group _________ tourists _________ quad bikes, enjoying a cross-country trip. We stopped the car _________ a moment _________ warn them, but the tour-guide laughed.     "Tornado?! No! We don't get tornados here!"     I wasn't going _________ hang around arguing _________ him, so we just set _________ again, hoping _________ find a real road where we could move faster than the storm. But it was not _________ be. We had come _________ _________ the woods, and were going _________ _________ a valley when suddenly the hills _________ front _________ us vanished. It all happened _________ the space _________ _________ two minutes.     "It's coming this way," shouted Sarah.     "Find some shelter!" said Julie.     There was none - not a tree, not a building, not a bridge, until, just as we were giving _________ hope, like a mirage _________ the desert, we spotted an old abandoned church. Just _________ it, the sky seemed _________ touch the ground.     As we raced _________ the shelter _________ this - probably the most solid building _________ miles around - the first hailstones hit us, as big as golf balls, blowing almost horizontally _________ the windscreen. We reached the church, and pulled _________ an abrupt halt. Shelter!     _________ then we could see nothing - or _________ least nothing further _________ us than _________ fifteen meters.

Exercise 2:

Read the article, and decide which of the three alternatives suggested is the best synonym for the following words or phrases:

• eventually: a) perhaps, b) finally, c) by chance
• funnel: a) chimney, b) hole,   c)lake
• at once: a)  immediately, b)  very fast, c)  at the same time
• we came across: a) we saw, b) we hit, c) we got stopped by
• to warn them: a) to watch them, b) to inform them of the danger, c) to let them pass
• it lasted: a) it finished, b) it seemed to be, it c) continued for.

Exercise 3:

Make up eight questions that you would like to ask Sarah, using eight different structures or questions words, including two from each of these groups:

• Group 1: Questions with NO question word.
• Group 2: Questions with how much or how many.
• Group 3: Questions with how often, how long, or how + adjective.
• Group 4: Questions with what, where, how, when or why.

Exercise 4:

Teachers, a) using exercise 3 as a starting point, have students script an imaginary interview involving Sarah or Paul and a radio reporter; this interview can be acted out in class, or recorded.

b) Note tense usage in this article, notably use of the past perfect (with had). this is only used in English, when it is necessary to place one action or event further in the past (i.e.before) than another that is mentioned.
    Until (i.e.before) last year (past event), I HAD always wanted to see a tornado.

Further suggestions submitted by Annette Engelmann, from Switzerland.

A/ Find the synonyms (look only at the bold and italicized words)

To go
To have no more of
Four-wheeled motor scooters
Protection
To appear, become real

B/ Answer the following questions about the text (full sentences, please)
1.    What was the weather like when Paul Denman experienced a tornado in
Castle? Explain the development of the weather.
 
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2.    How many people were there in the car? Give the names.
 
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3.    What were the reactions of the various people in the car?
 
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4.    Who  and what saved them?
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C/ Your opinion (number of words is the minimum expected)
1.    What do you think happened to the group of tourists? (30 words )

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2.    How do you think you would react in a similar situation? (30 words)
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3.    Do you think anything like this could happen in your country? Why (not)?   (25 words)  
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