Learning English

Tonga: Volcano and tsunami hit

A massive volcanic eruption and tsunami hit Tonga, an island nation in the Pacific ocean. At the moment it has been difficult to get news from Tonga due to the aftermath of these events.

New Zealand have sent a plane there to look at the damage. Charities and aid agencies are planning to help, with the fear that there is a lot of people without water or places to sleep.

Rob and Roy discuss this news story and teach you some related vocabulary so you can talk about it too.

ነቲ ቪድዮ ብምዕዛብ ነቲ ስራሕ ዕመምዎ

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The story

New Zealand has sent an Air Force plane to the island nation of Tonga to make an initial assessment of the damage caused by Saturday's massive volcanic eruption and tsunami. Communications there are mostly down.

The International Red Cross says it fears large scale devastation and is preparing relief operations for people who may now lack drinking water or shelter.

The aid agency Save the Children is also trying to provide assistance.

Key words and phrases

cut off
isolated; unable to be contacted

• When the storm damaged the phone lines, houses in the area were cut off.
• The snowstorm cut off contact with the village for several days.

step up
increase the intensity of something

• We need to step up our efforts to get this project finished on time.
• Security has been stepped up after a threat was made against the celebrity.

go dark
stop communications, especially for a long time

• After the recent advertising scandal, the company went dark and stopped using social media for a while.
• The secret agent was worried her cover had been blown and went dark.

To do

Try our quiz to see how well you've learned today's language.

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