Topic: Emergencies and (Un)Natural Disasters
Mode: Interpretive
Level: Intermediate
Students will practice vocabulary related to different emergencies.
Components of this activity: A multiple choice activity with answers in bold.
Instructions to the teacher
There are two versions of vocabulary activities below.
Version 1: Categories
Instructions to students
Mark the one that is NOT like the others in the following lists of what to do in an emergency or what items are needed in an emergency.
- Flash flood, first aid kit, standing water, evacuation route
- Power outage, flashlights, battery powered radio, standing water
- air conditioning, blizzard, blankets, energy food
- Heat wave, air conditioning, water, blankets
- Tornado, basement, air conditioning, secure building
- Hurricane, snow boots, canned food, extra water
- Basement, car accident, first aid kit, blanket
- Kitchen fire, fire extinguisher, smoke detector, canned food
- House fire, first aid kit, smoke detector, ladder
Version 2: Matching
Instructions to students
Match the emergency terminology in column A with words or phrases that are associated with them in column B.
| Column A | Column B |
| Drought | scarcity of food |
| Flood | strong winds and heavy rain |
| Famine | ground shaking |
| Blizzard | speeding |
| Hurricane | human-like machine |
| Volcanic eruption | violently rotating wind |
| Avalanche | the walking dead |
| Earthquake | scarcity of rain |
| Car accident | parenting |
| House fire | strong winds, snow, and extreme cold |
| Lost child at a store | cooking gone bad |
| Robot | excess rain |
| Zombies | a mass of snow, ice or rocks moving downhill |
| Tornado | flowing lava |
Answer Key
- Drought scarcity of rain
- Flood excess rain
- Famine scarcity of food
- Blizzard strong winds, snow, and extreme cold
- Hurricane strong winds and heavy rain
- Volcanic eruption flowing lava
- Avalanche a mass of snow, ice or rocks moving downhill
- Earthquake ground shaking
- Car accident speeding
- House fire cooking gone bad
- Lost child at a store parenting
- Robot human-like machine
- Zombies the walking dead
- Tornado violently rotating wind