Typhoon Haiyan: Reading
Try to guess the meaning of the underlined vocabulary words from context. Read the
sentence before and the sentence after. Look at the prefixes and suffixes and roots. Discuss
with your neighbor.
The U.N. humanitarian coordinator Valerie Amos has said aid
is too slow to get to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. She told
reporters how urgent it was to act quicker. She said the
situation was "dismal" and that people were in great need of
help. Many people have left the worst areas and many more
are trying to leave. Survivors say aid is taking too long. Ms.
Amos said aid was the "immediate priority". Bad weather
stopped earlier efforts to help people.
Typhoon Haiyan is perhaps the strongest ever to hit land.
Meteorologists say the winds were up to 315kph. Over
10,000 people may have died in the city of Tacloban.
Hundreds of thousands are homeless. People really need
water. The typhoon flattened everything. The New York Times described a "typhoon gridlock:"
a charity said damaged roads are making it impossible to get around. Another charity said: "The
devastation here is unimaginable."
1. Humanitarian
7. Perhaps
2. Coordinator
8. Flattened
3. Aid
9. Gridlock
4. Urgent
10. Charity
5. Dismal
11. Devastation
6. Priority
12. Unimaginable
Group A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to Group B)
1. What do you think about when you hear the word 'typhoon'?
2. What's the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane?
3. Why is aid being delivered so slowly?
4. Why do you think so many stayed in their homes when the typhoon came?
5. What can you do to help those affected by the typhoon?
6. Does the world act fast enough in natural disasters?
HOW TO HELP: Those who want to help can go to www.redcross.org or call 1-800-REDCROSS to
donate to typhoon relief.
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Group B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to Group A)
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing this article – to entertain, inform, or persuade?
2. Do you think the city of Tacloban will ever recover?
3. What's the best way people can prepare for a typhoon?
4. How do people go about rebuilding their lives and towns?
5. What should the whole world be doing now to help?
6. What would you do if you knew a super typhoon was on its way?