UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA

CENTRO DE IDIOMAS COATZACOALCOS - MINATITLÁN

NATGEO STORIES –
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY,
READING, SPEAKING AND
LISTENING LEARNING OBJECTS
ANSWER KEY

Elaborado por: Janett Arianee Alonso Fonseca, Sergio Adrián Ramirez Torres,
Samael Castañeda Mesa e Isaías Pacheco Morales
 UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA
CENTRO DE IDIOMAS COATZACOALCOS - MINATITLÁN

CROSSWORD ANSWER KEY:

UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA
CENTRO DE IDIOMAS

JANETT ARIANEE ALONSO FONSECA

SERGIO ADRIÁN RAMIREZ TORRES
Elaborado por: SAMAEL
Janett Arianee Alonso CASTAÑEDA
Fonseca, Sergio Adrián Ramirez Torres,MESA
Samael Castañeda Mesa e Isaías Pacheco Morales
ISAÍAS PACHECO MORALES
 UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA
CENTRO DE IDIOMAS COATZACOALCOS - MINATITLÁN

Life on the Seine

Elaborado por: Janett Arianee Alonso Fonseca, Sergio Adrián Ramirez Torres,
Samael Castañeda Mesa e Isaías Pacheco Morales
 UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA
CENTRO DE IDIOMAS COATZACOALCOS - MINATITLÁN

Wild weather

LISTENING ANSWER KEY:

Elaborado por: Janett Arianee Alonso Fonseca, Sergio Adrián Ramirez Torres,
Samael Castañeda Mesa e Isaías Pacheco Morales
 UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA
CENTRO DE IDIOMAS COATZACOALCOS - MINATITLÁN

OPTION 1

Life on the Seine

We’re in Paris, on the Île de la Cité, in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame next to the River Seine.
This is point zero. The distances from Paris to all parts of France are measured from here. And at the
heart of Paris is the Seine. ‘For Parisians the Seine is the way to know where you are in Paris,’ says
the art historian Marina Ferretti.

I love my boat
One day 34 years ago, Claude Tharreau was walking along the Seine looking for an apartment to buy
when he saw the Cathare: a 70-foot-long boat built in 1902 and for sale. It was Sunday. On
Wednesday he bought the boat. ‘Afterwards I noticed it was a boat with no electricity or water,’ he
says. He has lived on it since then. It’s one of the 199 houseboats in Paris.
Instant beach
The beach-on-the-Seine was the idea of Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë. Every summer, the road on
the Right Bank of the river is closed for four weeks. The project manager Damien Masset lists the
ingredients for an instant beach: 5,500 tons of sand, 250 blue umbrellas, 350 deck chairs, 800 chairs,
250 loungers, 200 tables, four ice-cream sellers, eight cafés, 250 people to build the beach and 450
people to work there.

River rules
It’s a hot summer day. You can see the heat rising from the road. The river looks cool. ‘Can you swim
in the Seine?’ I ask the head of police Sandrine Berjot. ‘Non,’ she says. ’38 euros.’ That’s the fine for
swimming. ‘What about your feet?’ ‘No, you can’t put your feet in.’ Here are some other things you
can’t do: go waterskiing or tie your boat around a tree with rope. And if you see  a person in the water
you mustn’t jump in. You must call the police. This is serious: the fine for jumping in may be 75,000
euros and five years in jail.

The river
All kinds of objects float in the water: plastic toys, balloons, cigarettes, empty bottles. They float past
the famous architecture of Paris and the river changes all the time. The painters Claude Monet and
Henri Matisse had studios on the river. In their paintings we can see the changing and dancing light on
the river.

OPTION 2
Listen to the track and order the paragraphs from 1-5.

Elaborado por: Janett Arianee Alonso Fonseca, Sergio Adrián Ramirez Torres,
Samael Castañeda Mesa e Isaías Pacheco Morales
 UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA
CENTRO DE IDIOMAS COATZACOALCOS - MINATITLÁN

Life on the Seine

The river
All kinds of objects float in the water: plastic toys, balloons, cigarettes, empty bottles.
( 5) They float past the famous architecture of Paris and the river changes all the time.
The painters Claude Monet and Henri Matisse had studios on the river. In their
paintings we can see the changing and dancing light on the river.

I love my boat
One day 34 years ago, Claude Tharreau was walking along the Seine looking for an
( 2) apartment to buy when he saw the Cathare: a 70-foot-long boat built in 1902 and for
sale. It was Sunday. On Wednesday he bought the boat. ‘Afterwards I noticed it was
a boat with no electricity or water,’ he says. He has lived on it since then. It’s one of
the 199 houseboats in Paris.

We’re in Paris, on the Île de la Cité, in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame next to
the River Seine. This is point zero. The distances from Paris to all parts of France
are measured from here. And at the heart of Paris is the Seine. ‘For Parisians the
Seine is the way to know where you are in Paris,’ says the art historian Marina
( 1) Ferretti.

River rules
It’s a hot summer day. You can see the heat rising from the road. The river looks
cool. ‘Can you swim in the Seine?’ I ask the head of police Sandrine Berjot. ‘Non,’
she says. ’38 euros.’ That’s the fine for swimming. ‘What about your feet?’ ‘No, you
(4 ) can’t put your feet in.’ Here are some other things you can’t do: go waterskiing or tie
your boat around a tree with rope. And if you see  a person in the water you mustn’t
jump in. You must call the police. This is serious: the fine for jumping in may be
75,000 euros and five years in jail.

Instant beach
The beach-on-the-Seine was the idea of Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë. Every
summer, the road on the Right Bank of the river is closed for four weeks. The project
manager Damien Masset lists the ingredients for an instant beach: 5,500 tons of
( 3) sand, 250 blue umbrellas, 350 deck chairs, 800 chairs, 250 loungers, 200 tables,
four ice-cream sellers, eight cafés, 250 people to build the beach and 450 people to
work there.

OPTION 3.
Listen and write the title of each paragraph.

Elaborado por: Janett Arianee Alonso Fonseca, Sergio Adrián Ramirez Torres,
Samael Castañeda Mesa e Isaías Pacheco Morales
 UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA
CENTRO DE IDIOMAS COATZACOALCOS - MINATITLÁN

Life on the Seine

We’re in Paris, on the Île de la Cité, in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame next to the River
Seine. This is point zero. The distances from Paris to all parts of France are measured from
here. And at the heart of Paris is the Seine. ‘For Parisians the Seine is the way to know where
you are in Paris,’ says the art historian Marina Ferretti.

I love my boat

One day 34 years ago, Claude Tharreau was walking along the Seine looking for an apartment
to buy when he saw the Cathare: a 70-foot-long boat built in 1902 and for sale. It was Sunday.
On Wednesday he bought the boat. ‘Afterwards I noticed it was a boat with no electricity or
water,’ he says. He has lived on it since then. It’s one of the 199 houseboats in Paris.

Instant beach

The beach-on-the-Seine was the idea of Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë. Every summer, the
road on the Right Bank of the river is closed for four weeks. The project manager Damien
Masset lists the ingredients for an instant beach: 5,500 tons of sand, 250 blue umbrellas, 350
deck chairs, 800 chairs, 250 loungers, 200 tables, four ice-cream sellers, eight cafés, 250
people to build the beach and 450 people to work there.

River rules

It’s a hot summer day. You can see the heat rising from the road. The river looks cool. ‘Can
you swim in the Seine?’ I ask the head of police Sandrine Berjot. ‘Non,’ she says. ’38 euros.’
That’s the fine for swimming. ‘What about your feet?’ ‘No, you can’t put your feet in.’ Here are
some other things you can’t do: go waterskiing or tie your boat around a tree with rope. And if
you see  a person in the water you mustn’t jump in. You must call the police. This is serious:
the fine for jumping in may be 75,000 euros and five years in jail.

The river

All kinds of objects float in the water: plastic toys, balloons, cigarettes, empty bottles. They float
past the famous architecture of Paris and the river changes all the time. The painters Claude
Monet and Henri Matisse had studios on the river. In their paintings we can see the changing
and dancing light on the river.

ACTIVITY 2- LISTENING COMPREHENSION B

ANSWER KEY
Elaborado por: Janett Arianee Alonso Fonseca, Sergio Adrián Ramirez Torres,
Samael Castañeda Mesa e Isaías Pacheco Morales
 UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA
CENTRO DE IDIOMAS COATZACOALCOS - MINATITLÁN

Wild weather
What is happening to our weather?

What is happening to our weather?

What is ‘extreme’ weather? Why are people talking about it these days? ‘Extreme’ weather is
very unusual rain, heat, storms etc. For example, in 2010, 33 centimetres of rain fell in two
days on Nashville, USA. According to weather experts, that was a ‘once in 1000 years’ event.
But these days, extreme weather events are more frequent. Also in 2010, 28 centimetres of
rain fell on Rio de Janeiro in 24 hours, and there was record rainfall in Pakistan.

The effects of this kind of rain are dramatic. In Rio de Janeiro, landslides followed the rain.
Hundreds of people died. In Pakistan, it caused floods that affected 20 million people. The
opposite situation is drought, when no rain falls. Australia, Russia and East Africa have
suffered major droughts in the last ten years. Another example of extreme weather is a heat
wave, such as in the summer of 2003. In Europe, 35,000 people died from heat-related
problems.

So, what is happening? Are these extreme events part of a natural cycle? Are they happening
because human activity affects the Earth’s climate? The answer, Peter Miller says, is: probably
a mixture of both of these things. On the one hand, the most important influences on weather
events are natural cycles in the climate. Two of the most famous cycles are called El Niño and
La Niña. They start in the Pacific Ocean, but they affect weather all around the world. On the
other hand, the Earth’s oceans are changing: their temperatures are increasing. And this is a
result of human activity. The greenhouse gases we produce mean the atmosphere warms up.
Warmer oceans produce more water vapour – think about what happens when you heat a pan
of water in your kitchen. Information from satellites tells us that there is four percent more water
vapour in the atmosphere than 25 years ago. This warm, wet air turns into rain, storms,
hurricanes and typhoons.

Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist, says that we need to accept reality. Our weather is
changing and we need to act to save lives and money.

Elaborado por: Janett Arianee Alonso Fonseca, Sergio Adrián Ramirez Torres,
Samael Castañeda Mesa e Isaías Pacheco Morales