English with Jo

Here is today’s English lesson. It is a news story about a driver lost in the snow for three days. The answers to the exercises will be uploaded to my blog tomorrow.

 

 

 

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Driver lost for three days in the snow

Vocabulary        

1. affected-(v) – acted upon; influenced
2. technology-(n) – Electronic or digital products and systems
3. treat-(n) – anything that affords pleasure or enjoyment, given by way of compliment
4. analysis-(n) – Research and investigation.
5. apocalyptic-(adj) – Related to great destruction or the end of the world.
6. confused-(v) – Perplexed or bewildered; does not understand.

Reading

Driver lost for three days in the snow

Source: Metro
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/851439-driver-lost-for-three-days-in-the-snow#ixzz19zNf1SFh

Mohammed Bellazrak’s Christmas treat this year was simply getting home, after spending three days trying to get back in the snow.

The 72-year-old Moroccan-born and Wiltshire-based grandad spent the best part of three days trying to get home from Gatwick Airport after the snowy conditions confused him on his return to his house.

His family reported him missing when he couldn’t get to his home in Trowbridge after he dropped his wife off for a flight from the airport, itself affected by the terrible weather.

Police in Oxfordshire, using number-plate recognition systems, were finally able to flag down Mr Bellazrak and get him home on the big day.

Further analysis using the technology found that he had driven around a few towns in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire during his magical mystery tour, as well as stretches of the M4.

Compounding his misery was a broken sat-nav system, while he had no mobile phone.

It is just a good job that he isn’t driving from Newark or JFK airports, after the snow has caused almost apocalyptic scenes on the eastern seaboard of the US.

 

Comprehension Questions

1. How did Mr Bellazrak become lost?

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2. Make a list of the main events that happened in this story.

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3. What adjectives could you use to describe how Mr Bellazrak might have felt during the 3 days he was lost?

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Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks using the new vocabulary words listed above.

1. The doctor’s _______________________ of his blood took a week.
2. A nuclear war might be _______________________.
3. The whiskey _______________________ his driving and he crashed the car.
4. Computer _______________________ improves every year.
5. The visit to the fun part was a real __________.
6. The complex equations ______________ me.

Focus on Grammar

Words that describe actions are called adverbs. In the sentence “Bob eats quickly”, the adverb quickly describes how Bob eats. What are the adverbs in the sentences below?

1. Driver lost for three days in the snow Mohammed Bellazrak’s Christmas treat this year was simply getting home, after spending three days trying to get back in the snow.
2. Police in Oxfordshire, using number-plate recognition systems, were finally able to flag down Mr Bellazrak and get him home on the big day.

 

Practice – Sentence Writing

Use the two adverbs that you found above to write two new sentences.

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2._________________________________________________