Pre-reading questions:
- Do you know what a tsunami is?
- Do you know someone who has been affected by a tsunami?
- Can a tsunami be prevented? How?
A school in Miyagi prefecture was hit by the 2011 tsunami attack. The school opened to the public for the very first time. Vehicles swept in the 14-meter waves remain on the grounds of Miyagi Kesennuma Koyo High School. Debris are scattered all around the building.
I thought I had known what the disaster was like from news, but seeing a car sitting on the third floor taught me how powerful the tsunami was, said Satoshi Tanaka, a Kanagawa prefectural government official. The weekend session was the last opportunity to see the buildings before maintenance and clean-up work begins. The four-storey south building will open as a disaster monument in 2018.
Vocabulary:
swept – brush off, away
debris – waste; litter
scattered – spread
opportunity – chance
maintenance – the process of preserving something
Comprehension Questions:
- According to the article, what happened to Miyagi prefecture last 2011?
- How did the article describe the place?
- Where is the exact place of the weekend session?
- What did Satoshi Tanaka said after seeing the effects of the 2011 disaster?
- What will happen to the four-storey building in 2018?
Express Your Opinion:
- “Miyagi prefecture was hit by the 2011 tsunami attack.”
- “Seeing a car sitting on the third floor taught me how powerful the tsunami was..”
- “A disaster monument in 2018.”