Learn English : Listen to News : Hurricane Irma Batters Caribbean Islands
photo Tara Benwell Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.

dateline: 13 September 2017

NB! For WEEKLY audio stories check out LISTEN & LEARN 🔈

Hurricane Irma Batters Caribbean Islands

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

  • batter: to hit repeatedly
  • make landfall: to hit land after being in the air
  • downgrade: to reduce in strength
  • desperate: very serious, with great needs
  • aid/relief: help in the form of resources, money, or labour

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Hurricane Irma Batters Caribbean Islands

A Category 5 hurricane battered the islands this week before making landfall in the US and causing massive flooding and outages throughout Florida. Some of the hardest hit islands were Anguilla, Barbuda, and St. Martin. Irma also made landfall in Cuba, which downgraded strength slightly before the storm went through the Florida Keys. All of the islands that were hit are in desperate need of aid including clean drinking water. International relief from the UK, France, and the Netherlands has begun to arrive.

Comprehension Questions

  1. Which part of the world is this report mainly about?
  2. What are the islanders in desperate need of?
  3. Why does the report mention the Netherlands?

Discussion Questions: If you lived through a hurricane on one of these devastated islands, do you think you’d stay and rebuild or move away and start life over somewhere else?

show Answers

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Written and recorded by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
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