Floods are second only to fire as the most common of all natural disasters. They occur almost everywhere in the world, resulting in widespread damage and even death. Consequently, scientists have long tried to perfect their ability to predict floods. There are a number of conditions, from deep snow on the ground to human error, that cause flooding.
When deep snow melts it creates a large amount of water. Although deep snow alone rarely causes floods, when it occurs together with heavy rain and sudden warmer weather it can lead to serious flooding. Melting snow also contributes to high water levels in rivers and streams. Heavy rains will result in the rivers overflowing and flooding the surrounding land.
Rivers that are covered in ice can also lead to flooding. When ice begins to melt, the surface of the ice cracks and breaks into large pieces. These pieces of ice move and float down the river. Broken ice dams are not the only dam problems that can cause flooding. When a large human-made dam breaks or fails to hold the water collected behind it, the results can be devastating. Dams contain such huge amounts of water behind them that when sudden breaks occur, the destructive force of the water is like a great tidal wave. Unleashed dam waters can travel tens of kilometres, cover the ground in metres of mud and debris, and drown and crush everything and creature in their path.
Although scientists cannot always predict exactly when floods will occur, they do know a great deal about when floods are likely, or probably, going to occur. Deep snow, ice-covered rivers, and weak dams are all strong conditions for potential flooding. Hopefully, this knowledge of why floods happen can help us reduce the damage they cause.
Floods … .
are not caused by people
never cause serious damage or deaths
come after fires among natural disasters
never have bad results
are the biggest natural disaster
According to the text, causes of floods are
large lakes and bad roads
people’s deaths and human error
melting snow and heavy rains
drought and dam
typhoon and earthquake
The most common natural disaster
strong wind
heavy rain
flood
fire
earthquake
The false statement
Scientists can help to reduce the damage
Heavy rains will result in the lakes overflowing and flooding the neighbourhood
Floods can result in terrible consequences
Scientists have tried to predict floods
Waters can travel some kilometres
A broken human-made dam is compared to … .
a tidal wave
warmer weather
a broken ice dam
overflowing
a tsunami
Adamis
a line of water that rises up on the surface of a sea, lake or river
a situation in which water from a river or heavy rain covers large areas of land
a way from one place to another that people can walk along
physical strength , violence or energy
a wall built across a river to create a lake or to help to produce electricity
The way unleashed dam waters can travel
cover the ground in metres of mud and debris
all the mentioned ways
drown everything and creature
crush everything and creature
they can travel some kilometres
Strong conditions for potential flooding
all of them
none of them
ice-covered rivers
weak dams
deep snow
The true statement
Sudden rise of temperature can’t cause floods
People are not responsible for floods
Deep snow alone never causes floods
Consequences of floods can be upsetting
Icy rivers don’t cause flooding either
The main idea of the text is … .
to inform the reader about flooding