Objective Proficiency p 24. Sandy Packs a Wallop. Extra Listening

Hurricane Sandy is approaching the US East Coast. It is bringing with it 1________ of water and 2___________ winds. Millions of people are in its 3__________

As strange as it may seem, New York and Washington are quiet while nervous residents 4_________ the warning to stay 5____________.

In a week there are elections and the hurricane sends the US presidential contest for a 6__________. They don't want to play politics in the storm.

Hurricane Sandy is 7________/ __________ on the East Coast. Nine States, 8__________ from North Carolina to Connecticut, have declared a state of emergency. The cities in this area are usually 9_________. Now they have been brought to a 10____________. In Manhattan there is a 11_________ which is 12___________ from a 13______________ building.

It's a Monday morning in Manhattan 14______________any other. New York is supposed to never sleep, but today it is 15___________ quiet awaiting the storm. The subway is 16___________ and even Wall Street is not 17__________. The water is already rising in the 18__________/ ________ of Manhattan in the evacuation 19_________. 

"We're used to coming down here and the water being calm and much much lower and now it's way up over the 20________ already and the storm hasn't even gotten here"

The impact of the hurricane is beginning to be felt. High winds and 21__________ waves along the East Coast. The morning news left Americans in no doubt about the coming storm 22____________.

Storm preparations 23_________/ ___________/ _________ campaigning for next week's presidential election.

"The centre of the storm is going to hit landfall sometime this evening but because of the nature of the storm we are certain that this is going to be a slow moving process through a wide 24___________ of the country"

This family in Brooklyn are leaving nothing to 25____________ as they prepare for the storm to do its worst.

"If we get a lot of water in the backyard here, it could 26_________ over that 27____________ so we are going to 28____________ that when we are done filling up the water here. We have a ton of food upstairs, most of it is 29__________________."

Airports up and down the east coast are closed. This is a once in a generation storm with the potential to kill and 30___________. Millions of Americans are 31_____________ for the full impact.

The wind is really 32__________/ ___________, and so is the rain. The water is beginning to rise. You can see the storm 33___________ and this is before the hurricane has 34_____________/ ______________ and before the 35____________/ ______________, which is due tonight. That's also because of the full moon. So there is a 36___________/ ___________ of events. Will it bring massive 37____________? Will it bring power 38___________? Most of the people are indoors 39__________ down.

The worst case 40___________ is that there will be flooding in the 41_____________ coastal areas. The hurricane may cause massive 42_____________ to the city so people are really on the 43___________ of their seats.

Just moments ago there were people 44__________ along the edge of the river. Maybe because the worst of the storm is not 45_________ us yet. However, it is dangerous. Even the car was 46___________ from side to side. Therefore only the 47_____________, the dog walkers and the most dedicated storm 48____________ are out at the moment.

The coast of New Jersey has been bearing the 49____________ of Sandy since this morning. This is why there has been a 50________________ evacuation. Some people delayed evacuating and now they are 51___________ on the island.

KEY

Pack something (such as a storm) to have something. E.g. A storm packing 75 mph winds swept across the area last night.

Wallop: /ˈwɒləp/ a heavy powerful hit. Sp. Golpazo. E.g. Hurricane Sandy packs a wallop.

1. walls

2. ferocious (/fəˈrəʊʃəs/ very aggressive or violent; very strong. E.g. a ferocious beast/attack/storm) 

3. path 

4. heed (heed somebody/something to pay careful attention to somebody's advice or warning. Take notice of. Sp. hacer caso. E.g. If only they had heeded his warnings!Calls for more legislation to protect tenants were not heeded.) 

5. indoors 

6. loop (a shape like a curve or circle made by a line curving right round and crossing itself. E.g. The road went in a huge loop around the lake.) 

7. bearing down (bear down on somebody/something to move quickly towards somebody/something in a determined or threatening way).

8. stretching

9. bustling (/ˈbʌslɪŋ/ full of people moving about in a busy way. E.g. a bustling city. The market was bustling with life.)

10. standstill (/ˈstændstɪl/ a situation in which all activity or movement has stopped. Halt. E.g. The security alert brought the airport to a standstill. Traffic in the northbound lane is at a complete standstill.)

11. crane (/kreɪn/ a tall machine with a long arm, used to lift and move building materials and other heavy objects)

12. dangling (dangle /ˈdæŋɡl/ to hang or swing freely. Sp. colgar. E.g. A single light bulb dangled from the ceiling. His legs dangled over the side of the boat.) 

13. sixty-five-storey (storey a level of a building; a floor. The upper/lower storey of the house. A single-storey/ two-storey building. 

14. unlike 

15. eerily /ˈɪərəli/ (eerie strange, mysterious and frightening. E.g. I found the silence underwater really eerie.)

16. shut 

17 trading 

18 southern tip 

19 zone

20 banks 

21 crashing 

22 severity /sɪˈverəti/ 

23 take precedence over (precedence: /ˈpresɪdəns/ precedence (over somebody/something) the condition of being more important than somebody else and therefore coming or being dealt with first. Priority. She had to learn that her wishes did not take precedence over other people's needs. The speakers came on to the platform in order of precedence (= the most important one first). Environmental concerns must be given precedence over commercial interest. 

24. swathe (/sweɪð /, Br /swɒθ/, Am /swɑːθ/ a large strip or area of something. Sp. franja. E.g. The mountains rose above a swathe of thick cloud). 

25. chance (the way that some things happen without any cause that you can see or understand. Sp. azar. E.g. We'll plan everything very carefully and leave nothing to chance). 

26. lap (if water laps something or laps against something, it moves against it gently with a soft sound. E.g. The waves lapped gently against the rocks. The sound of the sea lapping the shore).  

27. sill (a narrow shelf below a window/door, either inside or outside. E.g. Place the plants on a sunny windowsill).

28. sandbag (sandbag something to put sandbags in or around something as protection against floods or explosions) 

29. non-perishable (unlikely to decay or go bad quickly.E.g. non-perishable goods/foods)

30 flatten (flatten something to destroy or knock down a building, tree, etc. Sp. arrasar. E.g. Most of the factory was flattened by the explosion).

31 braced ( brace somebody/yourself (for something)| brace somebody/yourself (to do something) to prepare somebody/yourself for something difficult or unpleasant that is going to happen. Sp. prepararse. E.g. UN troops are braced for more violence. They are bracing themselves for a long legal battle.

32. picking up (get stronger. E.g. The wind is picking up now.) 

33. surge (surge (of something) a sudden, strong forward or upward movement. Sp.. ola, oleada, oleaje. E.g. a tidal surge. A surge of people poured through the gates). 

34. made landfall 

35. high tide (E.g. the ebb and flow of the tide. The tide is in/out. Is the tide coming in or going out?)

36. weird confluence 

Weird: /wɪəd/

Confluence: / ˈkɒnfluəns/ the fact of two or more things becoming one. E.g. a confluence of social factors. 

37. flooding 

38. outages (outage /ˈaʊtɪdʒ/ a period of time when the supply of electricity, etc. is not working. Sp apagón. E.g. a power outage.

39. hunkering (hunker down: to prepare yourself to stay somewhere, keep an opinion, etc. for a long time. Sp. resguardarse, acomodarse).

40. scenario (The worst-case scenario (= the worst possible thing that could happen) would be for the factory to be closed down).

41. low-lying (not high, and usually fairly flat. E.g. There will be fog in low-lying areas.) 

42. disruption /dɪsˈrʌpʃn/ 

43. edges (on the edge of your seat: very excited and giving your full attention to something. E.g. The game had the crowd on the edge of their seats. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what happened next). 

44. strolling (stroll to walk somewhere in a slow relaxed way. E.g. People were strolling along the beach.)

45. upon (almost) upon you if something in the future is almost upon you, it is going to arrive or happen very soon. E.g. The summer season was almost upon them again. 

46. rocking (moving from side to side)

47. foolhardy /ˈfuːlhɑːdi/ taking unnecessary risks. Reckless. Sp. Imprudente. E.g. It would be foolhardy to sail in weather like this. 

48. chasers 
(Storm chasing is broadly defined as the pursuit of any severe weather condition, regardless of motive, which can be curiosity, adventure, scientific exploration, or for news professions/media coverage)

49. brunt (bear, take, etc. the brunt of something to receive the main force of something unpleasant. Sp. sufrir. E.g. Schools will bear the brunt of cuts in government spending). 

50. mandatory 

51. stuck