London in the Sea?

An   intermediate level English resource ~
Environment.

Many parts of London will be under water by 2060, if nothing is done to protect them.

      London on the Thames, yes; but London in the Sea? No thank you!  Yet this could  happen before 2060,   - if unless because steps are taken quite quickly, to prevent it.
   As a result of global  - hotting heating warming the sea level around the south east corner of England is expected to   - arise raise rise by 54 cms in just half a century! And  - sciences scientists scientifics now say that many parts of London will be at serious risk from flooding by the sea   - within for after 50 years.
   It's not all of London that is in danger; just some parts to the east of the city. And they won't be under water  - some much all the time; just when there are very   - high highly height tides.
    The low-lying suburbs beside the Thames in the  - Last East Easter End of London are already protected from   - high highly height tides by a massive barrier that   - stretch stretching stretches right across the river; but more defences will be   - needed need needing along the banks of the Thames to protect a larger   - arena aria area to the north of the river, and further east.  And no-one really   - know knew knows if the existing Thames Barrier will  actually  be enough to protect London, even in 2050.
   The Thames barrier was opened in 1982.   - While During Meanwhile the first ten years of its life, it was   - close closed closing on average, just once a year. Some years it was   - never ever even closed at all.   - From Between While 2000 and 2013, it was closed an average of   - almost always already six times a year; and in the year 2013-2014, it was closed 50 times.... in twelve - hours days months . The level of the sea is getting steadily   - high highest higher that is certain.
   Other towns and low lying areas in the east of England are facing similar problems; and it will take a lot of time, and cost a lot of money, to protect them.
   Of course, there have always been occasional very high tides. A thousand years ago, there were big floods around London; and in 1953, before the Thames Barrier was built, over 300 people lost their lives in "the big flood";  but today the dangers are bigger. There are more people, more roads, more infrastructure. In the past, people did not build in places where there was a risk of flooding. Today, in southeast England, land is so expensive, that people build everywhere – even in places that are liable to be flooded.  
  Scientists also say that climate change is going to lead to warmer and drier summers in the south east of England. This will cause major changes in vegetation, and several species of native wildlife will not be able to survive. Wet in winter, hot in summer: is that going to be London in fifty years' time ?
   London faces big problems in the next fifty years; but London is a rich city, which can pay to build the protections that will be needed. London's difficulties are likely to be be very small, compared to the problems that will be faced in some of the world's poorer counties, like Bangla Desh.
  

WORD GUIDE
steps : measures, actions - prevent : stop - half a century : 50 years - to flood: to cover the land with water - tides: the rise and fall of the ocean -  suburb: exterior part of a city - bank of a river: the side of a river - average : medium - steady : regular, constant -  infrastructure : buildings, roads, services -  are liable to be : will perhaps be - species: variety, sort


Missing words - answers.
The full text, with the correct answers, can be found in the answers section of A Background to English, the new paperback  "best of" B1-B2 intermediate texts from Linguapress.
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Student Worksheet

London in the Sea

Replace all the missing prepositions in this extract from the article.  You will need to use the following prepositions
across   along   around   as   at   before   beside   by   by  by    from  from     of   of    on  in   in    to    under    within

  

   

For answers

   For teachers:

Grammar: expressing the future. This text has lots of examples showing how we can express future time in English.  Most of these involve the use of the future tense with will, which is used in the active and the passive, and in affirmative and negative phrases; but there are other ways  of expressing the future too, including the use of going to... Note how the modal verb could expresses future time in the first sentence; and in the second paragraph the expression is expected to also expresses an action in the future.
  Even expressions like are liable to and are likely to express future possibility, though use a present tense to do so.
  For a full overview about expressing the future, see A Descriptive Grammar of English, part 1.3

Pair work: sketches. It is 2050, and large parts of eastern London are under water. Have pupils, working in pairs, imagine an interview between a  journalist and Mayor of London.

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Revised from a shorter item originally published in Freeway, the Intermediate level English newsmagazine.
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