UNIT 5 – HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK

A. READING COMPREHENSION
1. Answer the following questions on the text you have just read:
1) What is the name of the two volcanoes that have been intermittently active in
Hawaii?
Mauna Loa and Kilauea.
2) What happened in November 1969?
November 1969 was when one of the most spectacular eruptions in Hawaii’s
recorded history started, when a line of lava ‘fountains’ sprang from the East Rift,
a zone of fractured rock extending away from the summit of Kilauea volcano.
3) How many people watched the Kilauea erupt on September 25-26 1982?
25,000 spectators.
4) Which volcano is visible to air travellers a hundred miles away?
Mauna Loa.
5) What happened to the upper portion of the trail of Mauna Loa in July 1975?
The eruption wiped out the upper portion of the trail to the summit.
6) Why does the text say that Kilauea and Mauna Loa are young volcanoes?
Because they grow with energy, keeping ahead of the ever-present agents of
erosion.
7) What happens whenever a new eruption occurs?
Whenever a new eruption occurs, Hawaii residents rush out to view the
magnificent fiery display. Parking lots on the rim are quickly filled and airplanes
buzz overhead.

B. VOCABULARY STUDY
1. Fill in the gaps in the sentences with one of the words below: cinder, fountain,
flank, curtain, dome, pit, vent, rift.

1) Although the lava dome expanded it is still of small stature and rises to 200
metres.
2) Pieces of the ejected lava cooled in the air and fell around the vent to form a
cinder cone.
3) One of the pit craters that have occurred in the caldera is Halemaumau pit.
4) The country lies across a rift and this is why there are active volcanoes and
frequent earthquakes.
5) Lava flows descended on the flank of the volcano and pose a danger to the
neighbouring city.
6) The lava and hot gases erupted in a fountain of lava that was visible a hundred
miles away.
7) The thick lava didn’t flow but rather piled around the vent of the volcano.
8) They had difficulty seeing the mountain because of the curtain of fog and
smoke before it.

2. Match the words from the text to their definitions on the right and fill in the
grid at the end of the exercise:
1) streaming: i. producing a continuous flow of liquid; run with liquid
2) intermittently: d. occurring at irregular intervals; not continuous or steady
3) gush: a. (of a liquid) flow out in a rapid and plentiful stream, often suddenly;
4) molten: g. (especially of materials with a high melting point, such as metals and
glass) liquefied by heat
5) breach: h. make a gap in and break through (a wall, barrier, or defence)
6) tremor: l. an involuntary quivering movement
7) spew: f. expel large quantities of something rapidly and forcibly
8) pronged: e. each of two or more projecting pointed parts at the end of a fork;
9) wipe out: c. ruin someone financially
10) trail: m. a beaten path through rough country such as a wood or a moor
11) erosion: b. the process of eroding or being eroded by the wind, water or other
natural agents
12) vent: j. an opening that allows air, gas or liquid to pass out of or into a
confined space
13) pit: k. a large hole in the ground

3. Match the words in the first list to those in the second so as to form the right
collocation and then use them in sentences of your own
a) streaming, property, hot, lava, awesome, ocean
b) gases, floor, views, volcanoes, damage, flow

streaming volcanoes
property damage
hot gases
lava flow
awesome views
ocean floor

C. GRAMMAR OVERVIEW
1. Identify the past continuous and its uses illustrated in the sentences below:
1) What were you doing while all this was going on?
2) At the time of our arrival the town was growing rapidly.
3) The weather was getting warmer every day.
4) The night was falling over the city by the time they walked out of the station.
5) Were you planning on going somewhere else later?
6) Last year he was receiving treatment once a month.
7) She was crossing the street when she heard a screeching of brakes.
8) Emma was taking the next flight to London so she couldn’t attend the office
party.
9) I was wondering if you would like me to show you around the city later.
10) The secretary was making phone calls all morning.

5. Complete the sentences using the verbs in pairs in the past simple or the past
continuous. live – spend; start - check in; look – see; not concentrate – think;
not watch – dream; buy – arrive; open - rush
1) When I lived in Paris, I spent three hours a day travelling to and from work.
2) A friendly American couple started chatting to him as he was checking in at the
hotel reception.
3) I bumped into Mary last week. She looked a lot better than when I last saw her.
4) Although the television was on, I couldn’t concentrate on it. Instead I was
thinking about my holidays.
5) When the doors weren’t watched on , the crowd dreamt in.
6) We bought our tickets and five minutes later the train arrived.
7) I’m sorry, I wasn’t opened . I rushed about work.