The Angel’s School

English Department
Miss Tapia and Mister Navarrete

DISASTER!
Reading Comprehension Test

Name: ___________________________________. III° __. Score: ___/ 70points: Grade:

Objectives:
● Students will be able to identify the type of disasters
● Students will be able to discriminate true and false statements
● Students will be able to identify specific information from the book
● Students will be able to identify the most important aspects of a disaster, and to write
about it.

1. Classify the disasters from the book in NATURAL, HUMAN ERROR and
DISEASE (24 points - 2 points each disaster)

TITANIC - CHERNOBYL - EEYAM PLAGUE - THE ASIAN TSUNAMI - VESUVIUS - HVI -

EARTHQUAKE - HURRICANE KATRINA - THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON - EXXON
VALDEZ - CHALLENGER AND COLUMBIA

NATURAL DISASTER HUMAN ERROR DISEASE

2. Match a word from A with its meaning from B (8 points - 1 point each)

A B
1 ___ earthquake a. a big mountain with a hole in
2 ___ hurricane the top; gas, fire, and hot rocks
3 ___ volcano sometimes come out of it
4 ___ victim b. illness of people, animals,
5 ___ flood plants, etc., caused by infection or
6 ____ ash a failure of health rather than by an
7 ___ bury accident:
8 ___ disease c. a person who is hurt or
killed in a disaster or accident
d a sudden strong shaking of
the earth’s surface
e. black or gray powder left
by cigarettes or eruptions
f. when a lot of water covers
land that is usually dry
g. a storm with very strong
winds
h. to put a dead body into the
ground

3. Match the disaster (A) with its location (B). (5 points - 1 point each)

A B
1. The worst earthquake disaster a Sumatra ____
of the twentieth century was in … b Alaska ____
2. The Asian tsunami started near.. c Bhopal. ____
3. Hurricane Katrina caused floods d Tangshan. ____
in.. e New Orleans. ____
4. A deadly gas killed many people
in..
5. The Exxon Valdez caused an oil spill in …

4. Multiple choice: choose the correct answer (10 points - 1 point each)
1. Challenger shuttle disaster occurred in:
a. 1983
b. 2003
c. 1986
d. 1989

2. Which country WAS NOT affected by the Asian Tsunami

a. Thailand
b. Philippines
c. Sri Lanka
d. Indonesia
3. Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of:
a. New Orleans
b. Virginia
c. Washington
d. Houston

4. Who led the fight to stop the Great Fire of London

a. Thomas Farynor
b. Samuel Pepys
c. Sir Thomas Bludworth
d. King Charles

5. Captain Jeff Hazelwood of the Exxon Valdez had problems with

a. money
b. health
c. eating
d. drinking

6. Christa McAuliffe was chosen from 11,000 _____ to go into space.

a. doctors
b. teachers
c. scientists
d. astronauts

7. The first Tangshan earthquake reached a measure of

a. 4.8 Richter
b. 6.2 Richter
c. 8.2 Richter
d. 2.8 Richter

8.In January 2003, the space shuttle Columbia took off on its _____ flight.
a. first
b. second
c. tenth
d. twenty-eighth

9. In 1666, _____ of the population of England died of the plague.

a. one quarter
b. one third
c. half
d. three-quarters

10. In 2007, _____ million people around the world were living with HIV.
a. four
b. fourteen
c. twenty-four
d. forty
 5. Write if the statements are True or False (16 points - 1 point each).

1. ___ The Tangshan earthquake was the worst earthquake disaster of the twentieth
century.
2. ___ September 1st is the National Disaster Prevention Day in Japan
3. ___ The Great Fire of London happened on 1665
4. ___ Thomas Bludworth led the fight in the Great Fire of London
5. ___ All the passengers on the Titanic were very rich.
6. ___ An American company owned the factory in Bhopal.
7. ___ Titanic had a hole of 80 meters long
8. ___ Bhopal disaster happened due to a higher temperature
9. ___ After the Challenger disaster, the American government stopped their space program.
10. ___ Pieces of Columbia were found in Texas and Louisiana
11. ___ The biggest hole in the Exxon Valdez was 2 meters wide
12. ___ EAXXON Valdez oil spill covered 4800 square kilometers
13. ___ Chernobyl happened due to an experiment in the reactor 4
14. ___ USSR was told about the disaster immediately
15. ___ 260 people died in the Eeyam plague
16. ___ HIV/Aids is a disease of the lungs

6. Choose a disaster from the book, and write a short newspaper article.

Your writing must have:

● 3 lines as minimum 1 point
● The date of the disaster 1 point
● Place of the disaster 1 point
● The description of what happened 4 points

Useful expressions for your writing: there are reports of a serious….. / It is estimated
that … people have died / Rescue teams are currently trying to…..

Be careful with your spelling! You can add more details if necessary.

HEADLINE:
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BODY:
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GOOD LUCK!