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: 06 May 2014

NB! For WEEKLY audio stories check out LISTEN & LEARN πŸ”ˆ

Afghan Village Declared Mass Graveyard

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

  • mass: very large
  • graveyard: a space where dead bodies are buried
  • give way: to collapse or fall apart due to pressure or weight
  • flash flood: sudden, major rainfall
  • mourn: to express deep sadness after a loss of life
  • suspend: to temporarily remove or prevent usage

Afghan Village Declared Mass Graveyard

A double landslide in a remote village in northeastern Afghanistan killed approximately 2,000 people last week, including many . The rescuers and nearby residents had rushed to the scene after the first , and were buried when the second one struck. The rock and mud in the region gave way after days of flash flooding. Bodies and homes were buried so deep that operations were called off, and the site was declared a mass graveyard. A national day of mourning was held on Sunday. All entertainment programming was suspended on national radio and TV for the landslide victims and their families.

  1. Where did the natural disaster take place?
  2. Why did many rescuers die?
  3. What happened on Sunday?

Discussion Question: Officials say they will never know the true figures of this natural disaster. What does this tell you about the affected community?

show Answers

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.
© EnglishClub.com
Search for more stories by topic. For example, search for keywords like: climate change, floods, trump, money, thailand, language...

Teacher's Notes

Subscribe to EnglishClub Podcasts RSS Feed

Leave a comment