Text comprehension and grammar

1. “I used to be a fisherman” says Manuel Felipez, with a sad smile, as he scrubs fuel oil of his doorstep. “But we have not
been able to take the boats out since the sinking of the prestige, and we don’t know when we’ll be able to sail again.
The windows of his house and others in the little town of Caion are dirty with fat drops of oil. Tar covers the walkways and
stains the benches where people used to enjoy the sun. Along the yellow sands that used to be an immaculate beach full of
tourists, municipal workers and volunteers, wearing face masks and green rubber suits, rake fresh oil spills into heaps to be
collected by a bulldozer.
Among the crowd that has gathered to watch them, many are weeping. The army has been sent to help.
The Prestige, a 26-year-old single-hull tanker carrying about 20 million gallons of fuel oil split in two and sank in November
2002, bringing death and destruction to sea creatures and ruin to the coastal communities of Galicia.
The fishermen were the first victims of the Prestige disaster. Their family-owned boats sustained towns and villages along
the coast. But others are hurting too. The marisqueros, the men and women that made their living from clams, cockles and
mussels have also been hit.
Mari-Carmen Lista, a marisquero, was sitting in her car, close to tears. “I come every day – today I come to cry. You can see,
this is a disaster. This is all we have,” she said pointing to the sea. “If we don’t have it, what can we do?”.
Paco, who owns a restaurant, asks the same question. The oil leaking meant the removal of the blue flag awards from all of
Spain’s northen Atlantic beaches. And if no tourists come in the summer, all commerce is going to suffer.
The question that Manuel, Mari-Carmen and Paco are all asking is – why did this happen?
Environmentalists, and politicians point to the dangers of the use of old single-hull vessels, much more vulnerable to cracks,
already targeted by EU rules. This was the second oil tanker disaster off Europe’s Atlantic coast in recent years: in December
1999, the tanker Erika also split in two, polluting large sections of the French coastline. Now, the European commission are
making an effort to ban all single-hulled vessels from the European seas.
“These older vessels are ticking time bombs which shouldn’t be allowed to carry toxic cargoes or sail near pristine
coastlines”, comments an European Union spokesperson.
It may be too late for Galicia, but it is time to protect our sea and all those who depend on it.
Meanwhile; Manuel Felipez sees his future clearly. “It’s black – like the oil.” Time will cure everything. The problem is how
much time.
1 – What do the following words refer to in the text?
a) his (l. 2)
b) where (l. 5)
c) that (l. 6)
d) their (l. 14)
e) their (l. 16)
f) she (l. 19)
g) who (l. 21)
h) this (l. 24)
i) it (l. 34)
2 – Find synonims for the fowloing words/expressions from the text:
a) scrubs
b) stains
c) immaculate
d) heaps
e) weeping
f) tanker
g) sank
h) sustained
i) close to tears
j) targeted
3 – Find in the text words that mean the same as:
1. joined together
2. broke
3. perfectly clean
4. crying
4 – Rewrite the following expressions from the text, making all the changes you should need but keeping their original
meaning:
a) “used to be an immaculate beach full of tourists” (l. 6)
b) “Their family-owned boats sustained towns and villages” (l. 14,15)
c) “others are hurting too” (l. 15)
d) “men and women who earned their living from clams” (l. 16)
5 – The boats of Caion are “family-owned”. Many adjectives in English are similar compounds formed by combinations
of nouns and adjectives and present or past participles, nouns and adjectives or adjectives and nouns. Below you’ll find
three columns. Combine the elements of the three columns so as to obtain meaningful compound adjectives+noun
expressions. Follow the example.
1
1
5
10
15
20
25
1st
TIME WORDS
Tar – a thick, black, sticky substance like the one used to pave roads
To rake – to use a tool to remove something from the ground
Single-hull – a ship where the part floats on water (the hull) has only one layer (as opposed to the saffer double-hull)
Vessel – large boat or ship

2. Sea
Part
Teacher
Absent
Record
Time
Last
World
Top
secret
training
famous
consuming
time
faring
minded
breaking
minute
report
people
job
decision
task
scientist
race
college
girl
6 – Mr. Felipe says that his future is “black – like the oil”. The colour black is here associated with depression. Colours
are often used in English idioms and collocations (two words that when together mean more than the sum of the parts:
ex.: disk drive). Read the idioms and collocations below and confirm their meaning in the dictionary. Then, choose the
right one from the box below to complete the sentences:
a) It is not clear if the captain of the Prestige has broken the law: it is _________________________ and it is up to the judge to decide.
b) All European countries should ___________________________ single-hull vessels. They are too dangerous.
c) The priest told the congregation that their boats would soon be sailing again. They knew he was
__________________________________ but they felt a little better.
d) When he knew of the Prestige disaster, the mayor _______________________________; he was so angry that he almost had a heart
attack.
e) The whole town ___________________________; people stay at home at night and the shops and cafés are empty.
f) The soldiers are doing their best but they are a little _____________________. This is a complex task and we needed experienced
people in this type of operation.
7 – Find evidence for the following statements:
1. The Prestige was a very old tanker.
2. The Prestige disaster brought misery to a lot of fisherman.
3. Their houses were affected by the tanker spill.
8 – Complete the sentences according to the text:
1. It was impossible for the fishermen to take the boats out……………
2. Not only fishermen…………………..
3. A lot of fish and other sea creatures ……………
4. In what concerns the tourists, the fishermen ………..
9 – Below you will find some answers that were given to a journalist covering the Prestige disaster. Please read them
and write down the appropriate questions, keeping to the gist of the text:
a) Manuel: No, I haven’t. I don’t know when it will be safe to go back.
b) Manuel: Ah, it used to be such a beautiful beach… always full of people and animation.
c) Mari-Carmen: I think this was a complete disaster that will ruin us all.
d) Paco: If that happens, I’ll have to close down my restaurant and sack all my workers. It will be a tragedy.
e) E.U. spokesperson: They should be banned from carrying toxic cargoes.
10 – Now, please answer the following questions about the text using your own words as much as possible:
b) Mr. Felipez said that he “used to be a fisherman”. Why is he so unsure about the way he describes his profession?
c) People gather to watch the clean-up operation take place. How do you think they feel when they stand there and
why?
d) According to the text, others beside the fishermen were hurt by the Prestige disaster. Who are they and how are
they being affected?
e) The spokesperson for the European Union describes the single-hull tankers as “ticking time bombs”. What does
he mean?
f) In the last paragraph of the article we read that “Time will cure everything.” Is this true of these type of ecological
disasters? Why does the recovery take so long?
10 – rewrite the following sentences as suggested bellow:
1. The beach hasn’t been cleaned yet. People can’t lie on it.
Unless…….
2. A lot of people are helping them. However, they feel desperate.
Although……
3. The situation got better. The army helped them.
If……..
4. Most oil tankers are very old. However, they still carry toxic cargoes.
In spite of …….
11 – Comment on the following statement: “Man has shown that he is unable to behave responsibly towards nature”.
Write about 150 words.
2
To blacklist – to see red – to feel blue – to tell e white lie – to be green – a grey area