1.Read the text about tornadoes. (Прочитать текст о торнадо). The USA – tornado country
Do you know the American story and film The Wizard of Oz? It is about a girl from Kansas, called Dorothy, whom is caught by a tornado and is taken to a magical world. (1)
A tornado, or ‘twister’, is a strong, dangerous column of air that is in contact with the ground and a cloud at the same time. Most tornadoes have wind speeds below 177km/h. they travel for a few kilometers and then disappear. (2) ___ They can be 3 km wide and they can stay on the ground for more than 100 km. These twisters are the most dangerous. (3) ___
Tornadoes can happen anywhere in the world, but they are very frequent in the United States. There is tornado weather in all of the American states, but there is one area that has more tornadoes than any other. (4) ___ The area is flat and lies between two mountain ranges. Warm air from Mexico can therefore travel north and meet cold air coming south from Canada. (5) ___
Texas has the most tornadoes. Between 1950 and 2000, 5500tornadoes hit this US state. (6) ___ However, the worst period of tornado weather of all didn’t just affect Texas. The 3 and 4 April 1974 will always be remembered in American history, because in just 16 hours there were 148 tornadoes in 13 states. Some of them were huge and travelled for 60 km.
330 people were killed and 5500 were injured across America. (7) ___ So many tornadoes in such a short time is a very rare occurrence, but scientists say that it will definitely happen again. Next time, though, they promise that the USA will be better prepared.

2.Read the text again. Some parts of the text have been removed. Complete the text by deciding which sentence (A-H) fits each gap (1-7). There is one sentence that you do not need. Вставить в пропуски (1-7) предложения (A-H).
A But some can have wind speeds of 480 km/h.
B But in reality, tornadoes aren’t quite so kind.
C The tornado was gone 15 or 20 seconds later.
D It is this mixture of warm, wet air and cold, dry air that causes tornadoes.
E It is called ‘Tornado Alley’ and it covers most of Texas, Kansas and Nebraska.
F It was the biggest and most dangerous tornado outbreak ever.
G They can pick up houses, cars, animals and people, and drop them away.
H This is an average of 110 tornadoes every year.

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