UNIT 2: READING

1 What is the main point of the text below? It is an extract from the start of a
newspaper article.
1 The main point is to give information about the flooding that happened in England and
Wales in the summer of 2007.
2 The main point is to congratulate the people who worked to put preparations in place
to limit the damage caused by the floods.
3 The main point is to comment on the increasing problems of flooding, which is caused
by global warming.
4 The main point is to give the general background information about the floods as an
introduction to individual stories about personal experiences of the flooding.
5 The main point is to criticise the government and the Environment Agency for the way
in which they managed the response to the floods.
THE WETTEST SUMMER SINCE 1766
In summer 2007 England and Wales together. This joined-up approach was part of a
experienced some of the wettest weather and carefully planned strategy to cope with such
worst floods since 1766, the date when weather flooding.
records began. There were several periods of
very heavy rainfall which resulted in the worst Some examples of the groups who participated
flooding in living memory. Almost 50,000 in the damage limitation activity were the Met
houses and just under 7,000 businesses were office (weather forecasters); the police (who
flooded. This effect extended to the daily lives of used their control centres for communication);
everyone in these areas as transport, schools, the fire service (who used equipment to help
power and water supplies were all seriously people); the Royal Air Force (who used
affected. helicopters to rescue people from the most
dangerous areas); and the local councils (who
The problem seems to be that the helped place sand bags in vulnerable areas as
infrastructures in England and Wales are not well as clean up afterwards).
prepared for sudden downpours. When a large
amount of rain comes in a short time, drains Thus the work that was put into preparing for
and rivers cannot cope with the volume of the floods was instrumental in preventing a
water. This can lead to flooding, the location of worse situation. Furthermore, each time that
which is extremely difficult to predict. flooding such as this occurs, the areas that are
most at risk become better prepared for the
The situation would have been much worse if next time it could happen.
the UK’s Environment Agency had not been
well prepared. Flood warnings were sent out to The next two pages contain some of the stories
thousands of businesses and homes. Many of individuals who were affected by the
people managed to leave danger areas as a flooding. Most of these individuals tell tales of
result of these warnings and travel to safer the heart-warming generosity of many
places. members of local communities who risked
themselves to help others during this terrible
However, these record-breaking floods still time. However, faced with such a situation,
caused a huge amount of damage and personal others saw the worst side of some people who
loss for thousands of people. There were almost sought to benefit personally from the disaster
100 deaths caused by the floods and many that was unfolding. These are their stories.
people were moved into temporary
accommodation, having been forced to leave
their homes. Many of those whose homes were
saved still lost personal possessions that cannot
be replaced. The Environment Agency
continues to support these victims of the floods.

Part of the successful damage limitation

strategy that prevented the effects of the
flooding being any worse than they were, was
the way that different organisations worked

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education

2 Read the text again and answer the following questions.
1 What was special about the flooding in summer 2007?
2 Who else was affected apart from the people whose houses and businesses flooded?
3 Why was it difficult to predict the location of the floods?
4 Why did people leave some dangerous areas before the flooding occurred?
5 What happened to those who had to leave their homes?
6 What does the writer mean by a ‘joined-up approach’?
7 Did the ‘joined-up approach’ work?
8 Did everyone help each other during the flooding?

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education