This document provides information about extreme weather such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and storms. It includes definitions of these weather events and compares tornadoes and hurricanes. The document also describes a listening exercise about a man who films storm chasing tours for a living and his wife who accompanies him. Additional exercises practice forming negatives and questions from statements and classifying ways to politely say "no" in English.

1. 1B Unusual Pastimes
1

2. Before Listening
Read the advertisement and answer the
following questions.
1. How long is the tour?
2. How regularly did Mark see tornadoes?
3. What do you think a twister is?
4. Would you like to go on this tour? Why or why
not?
3

3. Answers
1. Six days
2. Five out of six days
3. Another word for a tornado
4

4. Language notes
1. “Tornado alley” = an alley in a very narrow street in a town, so
tornado alley is a way of saying a narrow strip of territory where
tornadoes are likely to happen
2. A hurricane = a violent storm with very strong winds, especially
in the western Atlantic Ocean
3. A gale = an extremely strong wind
4. A storm = very bad weather with strong winds and rain, and
often thunder and lightning
5. A tornado = a violent storm with very strong winds that move in
a circle. There is often also a long cloud that is narrower at the
bottom than the top.
6. A twister (slang) (synonym of ‘tornado’) = a violent storm with
very strong winds that move in circles
5

5. Tornado
6

6. Hurricane
7

7. Gale
8

8. Tornado VS Hurricane
Tornado Hurricane
• typically no more than a few
hundred feet wide
• last no more than a few
minutes
• typically hundreds of miles in
diametre
• can last for days or even weeks
9

9. Listening
Ex 2
1. in an airport longue/ to New York
2. thinking- storm-chasers must be crazy
3. making film about it for tour company
Ex.3
1. for years
2. because she married an American
3. by experts
4. when he was on holiday a couple of years
5. involves creating promotional footage about storm-chasing
6. that got picked up and thrown in the air
10

10. After Listening
Ex-4
Work in pairs. Discuss the questions.
1. How common is extreme weather in your
area?
2. What can you remember about the last big
storm you witnessed?
11

11. Grammar: Negatives & Questions
Ex. 1 Make the verbs in bold negative.
1. hasn’t seen
2. hasn’t been chasing
3. doesn’t know
4. isn’t
5. wouldn’t like
6. hadn’t liked
7. won’t be
12

12. Ex. 2 & 3 (answers)
1. have
2. are
3. Have
4. - ; Did
5. Are (or Were)
6. Is
7. -
8. Does
Qs 4 & 7 do not need an auxiliary because they
are subject questions. (The question word is the
subject of the verb.)
14

13. Ex. 4 (answers)
1. How long have you been doing it?
2. When do you usually do it?
3. Who do you do it with?
4. How did you get into it?
5. Who started you off?
6. What aspect (of it) interests you the most?
7. What’s the best way to get started?
8. Would you recommend it to a friend?
15

14. Functional Language
Ex-1
1. I’m afraid not
2. Not really
3. Not exactly
4. Possibly not
5. Not to my knowledge
6. Certainly not
7. No way!
8. You must be joking
16

15. Classification of the ways of “saying no”
1. A very definite, strong and firm no (possibly rude)
You must be joking! No way! Certainly not! I don’t
see why I should!
2. Saying no, but less than a 100% no. A no answer,
but not definite or firm
Not really. Not exactly. Possibly not.
3. Polite: apologizing as you say no
I’m afraid not. I’d love to but I can’t.
4. Saying that you think the answer is no, but you
may be wrong
Not to my knowledge.
17

16. Ex.2
a. 8
b. 6, 7
c. 1
d. 2, 3
e. 6, 7
f. 2, 3
g. 5
h. 4
18