READING 6
Meet the
B1+ B1 +
Helena Suarez agrees. 'There's something about getting so near to nature that helps you to understand the complete power it has over us. But at the same time, there's great beauty.'
storm chasers
Like many storm chasers, Suarez's main interest is photography, and her office walls are covered with images of storms. 'The way the light changes is really interesting for a photographer,' she says. 'Sometimes you get these absolutely enormous clouds that can almost completely stop the sun getting through. I was in one once, and the hail that came out of it was just amazing – pieces of ice the size of tennis balls dropping down from the sky. When I showed friends my photos, they didn't believe they were real!' It all sounds pretty dangerous, but the storm chasers I spoke to insist that it's safe. Although three experienced storm chasers were killed in 2013 by a tornado that grew and changed direction ver y suddenly, deaths from the hobby are rare.
With the west coast of America expecting one of the worst storms it has ever seen, most people are either moving to a safer part of the country or doing everything they can to prepare their homes – covering windows, putting garden furniture inside, creating a 'safe room' and making sure they have enough food and water to last for several days. For most of us, the idea of a storm this bad is frightening. All we want to do is shut ourselves away in a safe place and wait until it's over. But for a small group of people – storm chasers, as they are known – this is an opportunity to do what they love best, which is to get as close as possible to all that bad weather. weather. 'I started storm chasing about five years ago,' says Philip Monk, an attorney from Dallas. 'There's really nothing like it. When you're close to a storm, you're using all your senses – there's the wind on your skin, the smell of the earth, the strange atmosphere in the air, the sound of the wind and the rain, the amazing shapes and colors of the clouds.' 1
Usually both hurricanes (large areas of strong wind and storm) and tornadoes (columns of fast-turning wind) are fairly slow to move, so it's possible to get close enough to see them clearly while staying out of danger. In fact, the biggest risk is not from the storms themselves, but from driving in heavy rain and wind that can be blowing at over 100 miles an hour. And driving is something that storm chasers do a lot of. 'My wife thinks I'm crazy,' says Monk. 'I'll jump out of bed at 3am and drive a thousand miles if there's a good chance of seeing a tornado. I can easily spend ten hours getting there and ten hours getting back, just to watch a storm that's over in a couple of hours.' Monk and others like him clearly think that storm chasing is worth the effort. However, if you are thinking of joining them when the latest hurricane hits town, government advice is against it. Stay indoors and keep the radio on, they say. And if you get instructions to leave, do so immediately!
3
Read the text quickly and choose the correct answer.
What is the article about?
2
A
people who try to stop storms
B
machines that tell you where a storm is going to move
C
people who try to go to the places where storms are happening
Choose the best summary of the article. A
When there is a bad storm, most people want to get away, or stay inside and protect themselves and their homes. They think it's silly for storm chasers to put themselves in danger. However, storm chasers say their hobby isn't really very dangero dangerous. us.
B
Storm chasers are willing to make a big effort to get close to storms. They love to see, hear and feel the force of nature. However, the government advises us to stay inside, or to go to a different area if a bad storm comes.
C
Storm chasers love to get close to storms and think that everyone should have the experience of seeing, hearing and feeling the force of nature. However, you should always listen to the radio and take government advice.
Match the sentence halves to make sentences about the article. 1
There are many things you can do to
A
realise the effect that nature can have on us.
2
Philip Monk likes the way
B
his body experiences storms.
3
Storms can make you
C
don't usually move very fast.
4
For a photographer, the changing light
travell a long way to to see storms. storms. D trave E
is the most dangerous part of storm chasing.
5
Helena Suarez's friends thought
6
Driving in extreme weather conditions
F
is an attractive part of storm chasing.
7
Hurricanes and tornadoes
G
prepare for a bad storm.
8
Storm chasers often have to
H
her pictures of hail were a trick.
Skills Boost B1+ READING 6 © Richmond 2014 Photocopiable
