Before
reading
:
check
the
meaning
of
the
following
words
in
your
dictionary
and
write
them
down
in
your
notebook
:
ASTEROID
IMPACTS
?
DINOSAURS
?
HIGH
WINDS
?
ICE
AGES
?
LAVA
SHELTER
?
STARVE
?
SURFACE
?
TECTONIC
PLATE
?
TSUNAMI
?
UNDER
WATER
-
WINDS
NATURAL
DISASTERS
Natural
disasters
take
many
different
forms
and
can
happen
without
warning
.
Earthquakes
,
floods
,
volcanoes
,
drought
,
typhoons
and
hurricanes
are
all
natural
disasters
.
The
earthquake
of
26
December
2004
resulted
in
one
of
the
worst
natural
disasters
in
living
memory
.
It
was
a
massive
____________________
____________________
(
1
)
quake
and
occurred
in
the
Indian
Ocean
.
This
caused
a
huge
tidal
-
wave
(
(
A
____________________
2
)
)
to
cross
the
Indian
Ocean
.
It
destroyed
coastlines
,
communities
and
brought
death
and
destruction
to
many
people
.
Thousands
of
people
were
killed
as
the
wave
travelled
miles
across
the
ocean
to
distant
beaches
.
Whole
families
were
swept
out
to
sea
or
drowned
as
the
sea
invaded
the
land
.
The
survivors
need
fresh
water
,
food
and
____________________
(
3
)
as
well
as
medical
help
.
People
from
all
over
the
world
are
giving
lots
of
money
so
that
towns
and
villages
can
be
rebuilt
.
WHAT
IS
THE
DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN
A
HURRICANE
AND
A
TORNADO
?
Hurricanes
are
extremely
strong
storms
and
often
happen
in
the
Caribbean
.
They
cause
____________________
____________________
(
4
)
huge
waves
and
heavy
flooding
and
can
be
hundreds
of
miles
across
.
In
1998
,
Hurricane
Gilbert
produced
160
miles
an
hour
____________________
(
5
)
.
It
killed
318
people
,
and
destroyed
much
of
Jamaica
.
Tornadoes
or
?
twisters'
are
very
strong
spinning
winds
.
They
can
move
objects
as
big
as
a
car
and
can
blow
buildings
down
.
These
are
very
common
in
West
Africa
and
certain
areas
of
the
USA
.
WHICH
IS
THE
MOST
DANGEROUS
NATURAL
DISASTER
?
All
the
disasters
mentioned
above
are
very
dangerous
and
continue
to
kill
thousands
of
people
each
year
,
but
they
are
nowhere
near
the
most
dangerous
disaster
to
ever
happen
on
earth
.
One
type
of
event
in
earth's
history
has
regularly
killed
millions
of
beings
;
____________________
____________________
(
6
)
.
About
once
every
million
years
the
earth
is
hit
by
a
piece
of
rock
and
ice
from
space
large
enough
to
cause
massive
destruction
(
including
earthquakes
,
volcanoes
and
____________________
____________________
(
7
)
and
sometimes
to
kill
entire
species
.
65
million
years
ago
more
than
half
the
earth's
species
were
killed
by
such
an
impact
(
including
all
the
____________________
(
8
)
)
.
