Listening Practice Intermediate : They are sharing their experiences with disasters and bad weather.
TED, U.K.
I was in a typhoon in Hong Kong, and I just arrived with a big heavy backpack, and I had to hide in a telephone box while the street flooded and the water came up around me.
Jessica, U.K.
Natural disaster? No, I haven’t been been in a natural disaster. Unfortunately I was very close to a bomb which went off in Manchester when I was about sixteen years old, which was quite scary, but probably not as scary as a tsunami or a typhoon or something.
Geo, U.S.
Oh, yes, yes. I have been in a natural disaster. I forget what year but Hurricane Yuniki in Hawaii, but I lived on Ohau so we got the eye of the hurricane so it wasn’t like harsh at all. In fact, I remember when it hit, I remember telling my parents, I wanted to go out and fly a kite because it looked so nice outside, so it wasn’t really that bad of an experience for me.
Helen, Jamaica
Yes, I have. I’ve been in a fire. A really big one actually. It was just very scary. There was just smoke everywhere, and I couldn’t see anything. My eyes were hurting. I was choking, and I really thought I was going to die, but I was rescued by an old man passing by.
Tony, Singapore
OK, have I been in a natural disaster? Well, I’ve actually seen one happen while I was driving, and this was along I think the coast. I think it’s called the Pacific Ocean Highway, if I’m not wrong. Anyway, there was in December 2004 I think, it was … there was a big landslide during a the raining season in Los Angeles, and while I was driving I actually saw it, and then I didn’t know what was damaged, but it was all over the news, and then it was bad.
Ed, U.K.
Yeah, actually, I was staying with friends in Norway and we were camping and we got hit by a blizzard and it was really frightening, but luckily I was with some big Viking Norwegian guys, and they knew exactly what to do, because I didn’t. It was really … you couldn’t see anything. It was so white and the snow was so heavy and it actually hurt quite a lot, and it didn’t help that it was absolutely freezing.
