(Level: Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate / B1 to B2 / ** to ***)
Before watching:
You are going to watch a Sky News report focusing on the chaos in southern Britain caused by one of the strongest storms in a decade.
The storm named St Jude (after one of the twelve apostles, patron saint of lost causes) as it was battering Britain on his feast day (i.e.28th October) claimed several lives and cut a path of destruction.
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| A fallen tree in north London Photo from The Guardian |
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| Newhaven, East Sussex Photo from The Guardian |
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| Newhaven, East Sussex Map from eng.wikipedia.org |
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| Newhaven, during the search for 14-year-old Dylan swept out to sea Photo from Metro News |
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| Double-decker bus blown over in Suffolk Photo from The BBC |
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| Suffolk Map from eng.wikipedia.org |
The following words and notes could be useful:
A grammar school: a type of secondary school at which more academic subjects (*) are studied than at [...] comprehensive schools (**). Most British towns used to have at least one grammar school, which children could enter only if they passed an examination at the age of eleven. Many people thought that this system was unfair, and by the end of the 20th century most local authorities had changed to the comprehensive system. Some of Britain's older grammar schools became independent schools (***) (Source: the Oxford Guide to British and American Culture, OUP, 2005)
(*) e.g. English, maths, sciences, foreign languages, history, geography...
(**) Comprehensive school = a large state secondary school for boys and girls of all abilities aged 11 or over. Comprehensive schools were introduced in the 1960s to replace the system of dividing children between more academic grammar schools and less academic secondary modern schools.
(Source: ibid.)
(***) Independent school = a school that does not receive money from the state and charges fees for teaching and other services [...]. Public schools are, in most of Britain, independent schools and despite their name, are not part of the state education system. [...]. (Source: ibid.)
a stroke of misfortune: something unhappy happening quite unexpectedly coup de malchance
>< a stroke of luck / fortune
to set off (e.g. an explosion): to cause (an explosion) déclencher une explosion
to sift through...: to examine... passer ... en revue / examiner...
the rubble: the debris les décombres
a (gas / water...) main: a principal pipe une conduite (de gaz / d'eau...)
a freak accident: a highly unusual accident accident insolite; hors du commun
the blast: the explosion explosion / déflagration
swirls: twisting or swirling movements in the water tourbillons
to wobble in and out of...: to rock slightly and be a bit unsteady as a result
(See BBC footage showing planes wobbling) subir des oscillations / turbulences à l'arrivée ou
au décollage
Planes wobbling on arrival in Heathrow
a runway: the surface which aircraft take off from and which they land on piste de décollage / d'atterrissage
to topple over: to overturn se retourner / se renverser
the Cabinet Office: a British government department that is responsible for the administrative work of the Cabinet (*) [...].
(*) In Britain, the Cabinet is a committee responsible for deciding government policy and for coordinating the work of government departments. It consists of about 20 ministers chosen by the Prime Minister and meets for a few hours each week at Downing Street. [...].
(Source: the Oxford Guide to British and American Culture, OUP, 2005)
a crane: a tall machine with a long arm used by builders for lifting and moving heavy objects grue
While watching:
Watch the report and answer the questions in French:
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You can also watch the video on the BBC site:
Conséquences
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1. 4 personnes sont mortes
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Victime 1 :
qui ? Circonstances du décès ?
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Victimes
2 et 3 : qui ? Circonstances
de leur décès ?
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Victime 4 :
qui? Circonstances du
décès ?
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2. Des dizaines de milliers de foyers…
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3. Les trains…
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4. A l’aéroport d’Heathrow…
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5. Un bus…
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6. Une grue
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7. On a déclenché 17 phases d’alerte de crues, dont 15 dans le sud-ouest de l’Angleterre.
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When you are finished, you can check your answers:
Conséquences
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1. 4 personnes sont mortes
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Victime 1 :
Bethanay Freeman - une jeune lycéenne de 17 ans, surprise
dans son sommeil dans sa caravane par la chute d’un arbre (Note : les
parents occupaient la caravane voisine et n’ont rien pu faire pour elle)…
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Victimes
2 et 3 : un homme d’une quarantaine d’années et une femme retrouvés morts
dans les décombres de maisons qui se sont effondrées après une
explosion consécutive à la rupture d’une conduite de gaz causée par la chute
d’un arbre.
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Victime 4 :
Donal Drohan, père de trois enfants, piégé dans sa voiture par la chute d’un
arbre.
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2. Des dizaines de milliers de foyers privés d’électricité
après que des câbles électriques aient été arrachés (notamment par la chute d’arbres)
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3. Les trains, dans leur grande majorité, ont été
annulés. On estime à 200 les arbres tombés sur les voies …
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4. A l’aéroport d’Heathrow, 130 vols ont dû être annulés…
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5. Un bus a été projeté hors de la route par une rafale
et s’est retourné dans un champ ; le chauffeur et quelques passagers ont
été blessés.
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6. Une grue s’est pliée et écrasée sur le toit d’un
bâtiment gouvernemental (le Cabinet Office) à Londres
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7. On a déclenché 17 phases d’alerte de crues, dont 15 dans le sud-ouest de l’Angleterre.
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| Girl crushed in bed by tree Photo from Mail online |
Unfortunately, there was also another victim: 14-year-old Dylan Alkins, now almost certainly dead after being swept out to sea while playing last Saturday at the shore with friends, hours before the height of the storm.
If you want to know more about these tragic events, you can read the following article from the Daily Mail (Mail Online):
