English Reading Comprehension Worksheet --- Climate Emergency

11th Grade --- Level 7

Part 1 – Language, Grammar and Reading Comprehension

A. Match the words below to create concepts related to the topic “The Environment”.

1. energy a. change
2. endangered b. shortage
3. fossil c. destruction
4. nuclear d. warming
5. forest e. power
6. ozone f. trade
7. climate g. crisis
8. water h. fuels
9. global i. depletion
10. wildfire j. species

B. Now use the word pairs form exercise A to complete the sentences.

1. The average temperature of the planet has been going up. __________ will affect life on Earth.
2. In your opinion, why is the illegal __________ so profitable? Which exotic animals are most at risk?
3. Did you know that chimpanzees are an __________?
4. The Chernobyl __________ station in Ukraine exploded in 1986
5. __________ is very harmful. Trees provide us with O 2 and wood among other things.
6. The ozone layer is being destroyed. What are the main causes of __________?
7. We should use fewer __________ to create energy.
8. Which recent changes in the weather and the environment do you think are due to __________? Is
human activity responsible for it?
9. We experience power cuts more and more often. Gas and electricity process are going up.
Therefore, I may say we are being affected by the __________.
10. More than two thirds of our planet is covered by water but many countries are experiencing a
__________.
 C. Complete the following text with the correct option given below.

Greenhouse gases are only 1. __________ of the story when it comes to

global warming. Changes to one part of the climate system can 2. __________ additional changes to the way
to the planet absorb or reflect energy. These secondary changes are 3. __________ climate, feedback’s, and
they could more than double the amount of warming caused by carbon dioxide alone. The primary
feedbacks are 4. __________ to snow and ice, water vapour, clouds and the carbon cycle.

Perhaps the most well 5. __________ feedback comes from melting snow and
ice in the Northern Hemisphere. Warming temperatures are already 6. __________ a growing percentage of
Arctic – sea ice exposing dark ocean water during the 7. __________ sunlight of summer. Snow cover on
land is also 8. __________ in many areas. In the 9. __________ of snow and ice, these areas grow
from having bright, sunlight reflecting surfaces that cool the planet to having
dark, sunlight – absorbing surfaces that 10. __________ more energy into the Earth system and cause more
warming.

1. a. whole b. part c. material d. issue

2. a. raise b. refer c. stop d. cause

3. a. sensed b. called c. nothing d. but

4. a. due b. results c. reason d. because

5. a. done b. known c. ruled d. bestowed

6. a. mastering b. sending c. melting d. increasing

7. a. make – shift b. troubled c. ceasing d. perpetual

8. a. dwindling b. manufactured c. descending d. generating

9. a. progress b. reduced c. existence d. absence

10. a. repel b. access c. monitor d. bring

D. Rewrite these sentences starting them with IF. Make all necessary changes.

1. Tom didn’t plant trees on Earth day because his mother didn’t tell him about the initiative.
2. The tourists will explore the caves in case the weather is fine this afternoon.
3. Sheila doesn’t read about climate change because she doesn’t have time.
4. We didn’t enjoy our holiday in Dominica so we’re going back home earlier.
5. Jeff wants to buy an electric car but he doesn’t have money.
6. We can’t protect our neighborhood unless everybody does the same.

E. Read the text carefully!

 This Caribbean island is on track to become the world’s first 'hurricane-proof' country
When Hurricane Maria destroyed Dominica in 2017, the devastation spurred an ambitious goal to fully adapt
to climate change.

I T S T A R T E D I N  the evening on September 18, two years ago. The winds picked up; waves began
crashing ashore with intensity; the skies darkened. Unbeknownst to the people of Dominica, Hurricane
Maria was slowly gathering the strength it needed to destroy over 90 percent of the island’s structures,
cripple its economy, and force a small country that did little to cause climate change to reckon with its
5 consequences.
Yet despite the ominous signs befalling Dominica, many residents say they were no more worried than
usual. The tiny Caribbean island, after all, is no stranger to hurricanes. Situated in the eastern Caribbean,
Dominica sits just over 500 miles northeast of Caracas, Venezuela and among a string of islands that stich the
Caribbean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. In the span of a single night, Dominica was torn apart. But from the
10 devastation, the tiny country forged a new goal: to become the world’s first climate-resilient nation, capable
of prospering despite a new era of storms made worse by climate change.
As Maria approached land, the island’s residents quickly realized the storm would be much worse than
they had anticipated. “We kept listening to the radio to figure out what was going on,” says Ann Aeevieal, a
local cook at the Tamarind Tree Hotel. “They said it was a Category 2, and then a Category 3.”
15 As we continue pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, warming the planet,  hurricanes like
Maria are expected to grow in number and intensity. Studies have shown that the Atlantic Ocean is heating
up, causing storms to become more common, intense, and long-lasting.
As Maria neared the Caribbean Sea, it burst to life, a process meteorologists describe as “rapid
intensification”. Then the storm hit. Local baker Sheila Jelviel lives in Scott’s Head, a southeastern
20 neighborhood where the hurricane struck the hardest. Just after nightfall on September 18, the sea rushed
into her home. A small skiff rammed itself through her front door. “We had to go out the window in the back
to escape,” she recalls.
Five days after the storm hit, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit addressed the United Nations
General Assembly. “I come to you straight from the front line of the war on climate change,” Skerrit said  in
25 his address. “In the past, we would prepare for one heavy storm a year. Now, thousands of storms form on a
breeze in the mid-Atlantic and line up to pound us with maximum force and fury.”
Skerrit’s impassioned speech was a plea for the funds to make Dominica into the world’s first fully climate
resilient nation. It requires not replacing what was lost, but building for a future where climate change all but
guarantees a storm of Maria’s scale will strike again. Dominica is striving to construct not only hurricane-
30 proof buildings but also a diverse economy, including a tourism sector that attracts more high-end spenders
and an agricultural system that grows a variety of fruits and vegetables eaten locally, rather than primarily
exporting bananas.
It's Easter weekend 2019 and the sky is free of clouds. The ocean laps the shore with meditative regularity;
the wind barely moves. It’s difficult to imagine the chaos that ripped this neighborhood to shreds and left the
35 island so destroyed that it was repeatedly described as a war zone. Jelviel, whose home was rammed by a
boat during the hurricane, shows me her house, now mostly rebuilt. The government assisted her with two
windows and a door, but the 64-year-old mostly credits her neighbors with helping restore her home. The
community in Scott’s Head is tightly knit, she says, and they took care of each other after the storm.
Like their famous parrot and rainforests, Dominica is coming back to life, albeit with the scars to remind
40 Dominicans that hurricanes of such magnitude will always be part of their reality. To become truly hurricane
proof is to function like the country’s tropical ecosystem, capable of recovering—even thriving—in the wake
of disaster.
published November 19, 2019
by Sarah Gibbens
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/11/
F. Who or what do these words refer to in context?

1. it (l. 3)
2. its (l.4)
3. her (l. 21)
4. that (l. 30)
5. they (l. 38)

G. Match the words from the text with their synonyms. There are two extra options.

1. unbeknownst (l. 2) a. canoe

2. reckon with (l. 4) b. consider
3. befalling (l. 6) c. appeal
4. skiff (l. 21) d. endeavouring
5. pound (l. 26) e. unknown
6. impassioned (l. 27) f. strike repeatedly
g. taking place
h. intense

H. Decide in which paragraph you can find the following information.

1. Local neighbourhoods are the ones that really matter.

2. A country with a new ambition.
3. Future predictions about devastating storms.
4. Becoming stronger to face future calamities.
5. Hurricane Maria and its catastrophic consequences in the island of Dominica.

I. Answer the following questions about the text. Use your own words as far as possible.

1. Why weren’t Dominicans worried about the warning concerning hurricane Maria?
2. What is the main aim of the island after being devastated by hurricane Maria?
3. How do scientists explain the fact that hurricanes will continue to grow in number and strength?
4. Why is it difficult to imagine the tragedy two years later?
5. What do Dominicans need to become hurricane proof?

Part 12 - Writing

Write a newspaper article about climate emergencies and the urgent need to limit them.

Write between 150 and 220 words.

You may use the input provided by activities A and B.

 whole part material Issue
raise refer stop cause
sensed called nothing but
due results reason because
done known ruled bestowed
mastering sending melting increasing
make – shift troubled ceasing perpetual
dwindling manufactured descending generating
progress reduced existence absence
repel access monitor bring

Answers:
1 (2)
2 (5)
3 (2)
4 (1)
5 (2)
6 (3)
7 (4)
8 (1)
9 (5)
10 (4)
https://www.pagalguy.com/articles/english-quiz-on-cloze-test-8491