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Unit 7 Lesson 3
The parched earth
Objectives: By the end of the lesson you will have
• read and discussed an extract from a newspaper
• prepared a set of questions
• done a True/False exercise
• done a multiple choice exercise
A Discuss with your partner and say what happens when the weather is very dry.
Look at the picture. What do you see?
Discuss the following questions in pairs.
1 What do you think is the cause?
2 What may it lead to?
3 Is there any way of preventing this?
Picture
B Now read this newspaper article.
Dry weather to persist
The Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) officials told the agency that excessive use of ground water, riverbed siltation, global warming, deforestation and a low flow from the upstream of major rivers during the dry season compounded the water crisis. Referring to the recent report on the serious scarcity of drinking and irrigation water in the northern, southern and south western parts of the country, the DPHE officials attributed these phenomena to the cause of drought during the last several weeks.
Inadequate rainfall and inadequate How from high areas during the dry season also caused a drought-like situation in the north where tarapumps have to be used now instead of hand pumps. A tara pump can draw water from a depth of 50 to 60 feet while a normal tubewell is able to draw water from 25 to 30 feet below only. "Prolonged drought may hamper irri-boro cultivation during this season," cautioned scientists from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) adding that the boro harvest may fall to 7.7 million tons.
Read the text again and in pairs prepare at least five questions to get some information from it. e.g. What is the source of the text?
Now exchange your questions with another pair and write down the answers.
C Work in pairs and say which of the following statements are true and which are false by putting T/F against the statements.
1 Overuse of underground water may be a cause of shortage of water Dash
2 Use of ground water is not related to water scarcity Dash
3 Siltation of riverbeds is responsible for the failure of water supply to tubewells Dash
4 Normal tubewells cannot reach the level of water to be pumped out. Dash
5 Insufficient rainfall causes drought. Dash
6 Rice harvest is not affected by drought Dash
7 Scientists at BARC have warned about the decrease in rice production. Dash
D There is one irrelevant statement in each. Cross out the irrelevant one in each section.
1 DPHE officials say drought is the cause of
- too much use of underground water.
- rivers flowing high.
- siltation of riverbeds.
- deforestation. 2 Scarcity of water in the south western parts is due to
- use of tubewells.
- fall in ground water level.
- long period of drought.
- little rainfall.
3 Tara pumps are
- used instead of hand pumps.
- capable of drawing water from a.
- depth of 50 to 60 feet.
- used because they are.
- manufactured locally.
- used in areas where the water
- level has gone down. 4 BARC scientists warned that drought may
- affect rice output.
- occur in areas where irri-boro rice is cultivated
- lead to fall in rice harvest.
- affect the cultivation of rice.
E Farmers often practise certain traditional customs to bring about rainfall during the dry season. Do you know of any such customs? Tell each other and then write a paragraph about it.
Focus:
Skills.
Reading,
writing,
speaking,
listening. Functions.
Expressing cause and effect, opposites.
Grammar/Structure.
Simple present tense,
simple past tense.
Vocabulary..
remote, drought, adequate, cautioned.
This text will be replaced
Unit 7 Lesson 3
The parched earth
Objectives: By the end of the lesson you will have
• read and discussed an extract from a newspaper
• prepared a set of questions
• done a True/False exercise
• done a multiple choice exercise
A Discuss with your partner and say what happens when the weather is very dry.
Look at the picture. What do you see?
Discuss the following questions in pairs.
1 What do you think is the cause?
2 What may it lead to?
3 Is there any way of preventing this?
Picture
B Now read this newspaper article.
Dry weather to persist
The Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) officials told the agency that excessive use of ground water, riverbed siltation, global warming, deforestation and a low flow from the upstream of major rivers during the dry season compounded the water crisis. Referring to the recent report on the serious scarcity of drinking and irrigation water in the northern, southern and south western parts of the country, the DPHE officials attributed these phenomena to the cause of drought during the last several weeks.
Inadequate rainfall and inadequate How from high areas during the dry season also caused a drought-like situation in the north where tarapumps have to be used now instead of hand pumps. A tara pump can draw water from a depth of 50 to 60 feet while a normal tubewell is able to draw water from 25 to 30 feet below only. "Prolonged drought may hamper irri-boro cultivation during this season," cautioned scientists from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) adding that the boro harvest may fall to 7.7 million tons.
Read the text again and in pairs prepare at least five questions to get some information from it. e.g. What is the source of the text?
Now exchange your questions with another pair and write down the answers.
C Work in pairs and say which of the following statements are true and which are false by putting T/F against the statements.
1 Overuse of underground water may be a cause of shortage of water Dash
2 Use of ground water is not related to water scarcity Dash
3 Siltation of riverbeds is responsible for the failure of water supply to tubewells Dash
4 Normal tubewells cannot reach the level of water to be pumped out. Dash
5 Insufficient rainfall causes drought. Dash
6 Rice harvest is not affected by drought Dash
7 Scientists at BARC have warned about the decrease in rice production. Dash
D There is one irrelevant statement in each. Cross out the irrelevant one in each section.
1 DPHE officials say drought is the cause of
- too much use of underground water.
- rivers flowing high.
- siltation of riverbeds.
- deforestation. 2 Scarcity of water in the south western parts is due to
- use of tubewells.
- fall in ground water level.
- long period of drought.
- little rainfall.
3 Tara pumps are
- used instead of hand pumps.
- capable of drawing water from a.
- depth of 50 to 60 feet.
- used because they are.
- manufactured locally.
- used in areas where the water
- level has gone down. 4 BARC scientists warned that drought may
- affect rice output.
- occur in areas where irri-boro rice is cultivated
- lead to fall in rice harvest.
- affect the cultivation of rice.
E Farmers often practise certain traditional customs to bring about rainfall during the dry season. Do you know of any such customs? Tell each other and then write a paragraph about it.
Focus:
Skills.
Reading,
writing,
speaking,
listening. Functions.
Expressing cause and effect, opposites.
Grammar/Structure.
Simple present tense,
simple past tense.
Vocabulary..
remote, drought, adequate, cautioned.