English by Radio

EARTHQUAKES
Presenter

Hi there! Im Ms. Grammar, your host for this weeks E-Club. Whether
youre listening in the classroom, at home, or elsewhere, we hope you
enjoy the next few minutes in our company at E-Club the radio show
that helps you learn English through everyday conversations of a
typical Filipino family, the Santoses.
This weeks programme is about Earthquakes. And for our grammar
lesson, we will practice using Adjectives.
Today, 11 year-old Alice Santos has learned about earthquakes. In
class, she learned what causes earthquakes, what happens during an
earthquake, and how people protect themselves from earthquakes.
After class, Alice goes home and tells her mother and sister, Isabel
about what she has learned. Lets listen!

Alice & Isabel

Hi Mum, were home!

Mum

Hi girls! How was school today?

Alice

It was great! I learned all about Earthquakes!

Mum

Earthquakes! Oooh tell me about them.

Alice

Earthquakes are caused by the breaking up of rocks in the earths

crust.

Isabel

Whats the earths crust, Ate Alice?

Alice

The earths crust is the uppermost part of the earth, between the hot
centre and the surface. What we are standing on now is the surface of
the earths crust.

Mum

So what happens to the earths crust after an earthquake?

Alice

Well, depending on how strong the earthquake is, great cracks appear
in the ground and roads and railway lines may be destroyed.

Isabel

Thats scary.

Alice

I know! There can be other disasters, too, like avalanches, mudslides,

mudflows and fires!

Mum

Yes, those natural calamities can cause a lot of harm.

Alice

But dont worry mum, we also learned how people can measure
earthquakes so they can predict when that will happen.

Isabel

How do you they do that?

Alice

Scientists use seismographs, which are instruments that measure the

strength of Earths tremors. That way they can predict when and
where earthquakes might happen and warn people in that area to be
ready.

Mum

Well thats good. I hope there wont be any around here!

Alice

Well, we have to stay alert. There are over one hundred thousand
earthquakes reported around the world every year!

Presenter

Alice certainly has learned a lot about earthquakes in school. Maybe

you have, too. Lets listen to the conversation again. But this time, try
to see if you can answer the following questions:
1. What causes earthquakes?
2. What is the earths crust?
3. What changes occur on the earths surface after an earthquake?
4. What other disasters may accompany or result from an
earthquake?
5. What are seismographs?
6. How many earthquakes occur every year throughout the world?

Presenter

Now lets see how many answers you were able to remember from
the dialogue. Lets listen to those questions and answers again,
together!
1. What causes earthquakes?
Earthquakes are caused by the breaking up of rocks in the earths
crust .
2. What is the earths crust?
The earths crust is the uppermost part of the earth, between the hot
centre and the surface.
3. What changes occur on the earths surface after an earthquake?
Depending on how strong the earthquake is, g reat cracks appear in
the ground and roads and railway lines may be destroyed.
4. What other disasters may accompany or result from an
earthquake?
There can be other disasters too like avalanches, mudslides, mudflows
and fires!
5. What are seismographs?
S cientists use seismographs which are instruments that measure the

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strength of Earths tremors.

6. How many earthquakes occur every year throughout the world?
There are over 100,000 earthquakes reported around the world
every year!
Presenter

Wow! More than 100,000 reported earthquakes every year! Thats

because the earths crust is continuously moving. Now lets you and I
move on to the grammar lesson for this week, which is to practice
describing something. If you remember, Alice mentioned that
scientists used seismographs. I am going to describe to you, what a
seismograph looks like. Listen carefully to see which adjectives I use.
A seismograph is an electronic device in a small, metal box with a
needle that moves up and down to measure the size of the earths
tremors.
To describe the seismograph, I said: electronic, small, metal, box, and
with a needle that moves up and down. When we describe things, we
often mention what it is made of (like electronic), its shape (box), its
size (small), its colour (metal), and its use (with a needle that moves up
and down to measure the size of the earths tremors).
Now for some practice, why dont you try this in class? Think about
how you can describe the following objects, or Nouns: Are you ready?
a pen a bicycle a spoon an airplane a ball soap
Describe what those objects are made of: the size, the shape, the
colour, and what its used for. You can share your descriptions with
your classmates and teacher.
Once more, here are those objects:
a pen a bicycle a spoon an airplane a ball soap
Have fun thinking of adjectives!

Presenter

Thats all for now! Well be back with another episode from the Santos
family next week. I hope you can join us again. Until then, this is Ms.
Grammar saying: Bye for now from all of us here on E-Club the
programme that helps you learn English!

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