I-08 ALP

GETTING READY FOR A DISASTER: LIMA MAY HAVE A SERIOUS QUAKE

Get together in groups of three students. Read this case. Exchange opinions about the situations
then propose actions to do for the Jimenezs family. In order to do that, organize your ideas in
separated paragraphs (introduction, body and conclusion).
This is the situation
Lima has several places where the houses are not so well-build to resist serious earthquakes.
According to INDECI, the earthquake silence that our city has had for more than 40 years makes
the INDECI experts think about the possibility of an earthquake strike which is could reach 8 to 9
degrees on the Richter Scale in the surroundings or the proximities of our capital city.
In this opportunity, you have to help Mario Jimenez and his family. They live in Carabayllo. They
are Mario 45, Margie 37, Helen 5 and Manuel 4. Their house is made of modern material such as
bricks, iron sticks, cement and the like. However, since they are a young family with two children,
they need to prioritize their expenses satisfy their basic necessities. Mario is a businessman who
has a metal-mechanic factory in these prosperous Lima North area, although, he has to see his
business economy as well his familys economy.
His house in not finished, so there are things to be completed. The house has walls, but some of
them have columns, so the other walls need five more columns. Each one costs 200 soles. Then the
house doesnt have a roof. It costs 5000 soles. The INDECI recommends that houses need to be
built properly.
Additionally, his house has only a polished floor, but it does not have a finishes-and-touches floor
for in the living room. The other spaces in the house have ceramic floors. They have not decided to
have a floor of parquet in the living room. It costs 2500 soles (material and workmanship). The
other alternative is to have ceramic floor there. It costs 4000 soles (material and workmanship),
but it is much more elegant than a parquet floor. According to INDECI, the floors that are not so
slippery are adequate in cases of earthquakes. The family does not know which one of these floors
is more slippery. After they find out this information, they have to decide which floor is more
convenient for them.
Moreover, the INDECI has proposed a series of preparations to be ready in case of an earthquake.
This family knows that the Survival backpack is essential. There you need to have the necessary
supplies in case the authorities cannot provide the population with food or fresh water. This pack
costs certain amount of soles because it contains canned food (S/ 80), bottled water (S/. 10), a
portable radio (S/. 60), 4 AA batteries (S/. 15 all), three flash lights (S/. 36 all), and a First-Aid
kit (S/ 50 all). The other items have been bought. As you can see, the family has not the pack
completed.
The INDECI also asks families to located safe areas in the house and to know how to evacuate he
house in case of an earthquake. The signals cost 200 soles and the manual drill for evacuation
cases such as earthquakes costs 10 soles.
Besides, the spaces in the house are finished, but the distribution of the furniture makes it difficult
to move around the living room. His wife wants to do it herself, but they have the chance to hire an
interior design expert who can arrange the furniture in a much more organized form. This expert
charges 3500 for his service.

Now, Marios business has a lucky break this month. A group of Chinese businessman have seen on
the Internet his work and visited in Peru. Consequently, they have signed a contract that represents a
nice sum of money for his company. His company has received in advance 10000 dollars. After he
balanced the budget, his company has a profit of 5000 dollars. His wife has noticed about that
situation and has demanded to give her a total amount of 15000 soles to do to all the necessary
things, which you have read lines above, in order to prepare themselves and their house in case of
an earthquake strike. Mario has given her the sum of 10000 soles because it is what he can take as
part of the companys profit without affecting the administration since the company has obligations
as taxes to pay or salaries, to pay for the suppliers service and other obligations.
In your groups, you have to write about which things this family needs to prioritize in order to be
prepared for an earthquake strike, so you can present what this family needs to spend their money
on. Then support these decisions with facts and reasons and give specific examples, too. Remember
that their expenses to be ready for an earthquake are certain amount and the money the head of the
family gave his wife is only 10000 soles, so decide which things can be bought and develop.
LOOK AT THE GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY GUIDE BELOW

GRAMMAR GUIDE
1) If . . . had Vp.p. (Past perfect) . . . , . . . would have Vp.p. (Past modal) . . . ( )
2) If . . . hadnt Vp.p. (Past Perfect) . . . , . . . wouldnt have Vp.p. (Past modal) . . . ( )
Use this grammar feature when you refer to unreal conditional sentences IN THE PAST. It
means you have to talk about the events that happened or didnt happen in the past, but you
express a contrary-to-the reality conditional sentence. This feature is useful when you write about
a disaster that happened in the past and you want to talk about the things people would or
wouldnt have done to avoid serious negative consequences before the disaster. LOOK AT THE
EXAMPLE:
Before the earthquake stroke, the citizens did not prepare absolutely anything to face an
earthquake. The disaster happened. After that, people did not have anything to eat. If they had
prepared a program to store food and water in case of an emergency, they wouldnt have
suffered from lack of food and fresh water (2).
3) If . . . were . . . , . . . would verb . . . ( )
4) If . . . werent . . . , . . . wouldnt verb . . . ( )
5) If . . . Simple Past . . . , . . . would verb . . . ( )
6) If . . . Simple Past (negative) . . . , . . . wouldnt verb . . . ( )
Use this grammar feature when you refer to unreal situations IN THE PRESENT. It means that
you write about the present things people would do in order to prevent negative consequences if a
disaster happened. LOOK AT THE EXAMPLE:
There was something like 10,000 houses that were destroyed by the tsunami. The government is
running a program to prepare people in case of a repeated event like this. People learn how to
react i9n case of a possible big tidal wave. If a tsunami occurred again, people would go to
high places to avoid the big waves (5).
7) . . . told the reporters, . . . exact words . . . ( )
8) . . . said/announced/mentioned, . . . exact words . . . ( )
Use direct speech to mention the exact words of experts or authorities that are related to prevent
negative consequences in possible disasters. Use a reporting verb such as said / told /
announced / mention in past tense:
The director of The Civil Defense Office told the reporters, We made a plan to teach
people what they have to do in cases of emergencies. (7)
9) . . . told the reporters . . . reported speech . . . ( )
10) . . . said . . . reported speech ( )
Use reported speech to mention the indirect words of experts or authorities that are related to
prevent negative consequences in possible disasters. Use reporting verbs said / told /
announced / mention in past tense:
The Civil Defense Office head mentioned that they had made a plan to teach people what
they had to do in cases of emergencies. (10)

USE AS MANY AS POSSIBLE GRAMMAR FEATURES. IF ALL, BETTER!

VOCABULARY GUIDE
Use adequate vocabulary for your level in I-08. Write as many new words as possible on your
project paper. You have to decide WHICH VOCABULARY ITEMS TO BE USED. The more
you use the better!
A) _________________________
B) evacuation

H)
.

jeopardize

I) __________________________

C) _________________________

J) __________________________

D) take into consideration .

K) _________________________

E) _________________________

L) __________________________

F)

walking through

G) _________________________

M) __________________________
N) __________________________

IMPORTANT: Use the BLUE WORDS from UNIT 12, on pages 140, 141, 145 and the words
from the READING on page 146. The use of the GRAMMAR features and VOCABULARY is
obligatory.
LOOK AT THIS EXAMPLE NEXT PAGE

I-08 ALP
NUMBERS & NAMES:
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GETTING READY FOR A DISASTER: LIMA MAY HAVE A SERIOUS QUAKE
This paragraph is for the introduction. You have to write some background information about
the topic. Then you are going to write about what you have to develop in the body of the
presentation, so you have to prepare a good thesis statement that contains the topic in itself and
the controlling idea of the total presentation.
This paragraph is for the first body paragraph. It contains the topic sentence that controls the
first supporting idea that you want to develop in this part. Then you have to expand, develop,
explain, or demonstrate what the topic sentence presents in this body paragraph. You have to
write about it using facts and reasons (facts are realities that demonstrate something while
reasons are the explanation of these realities). After that, present specific examples which are
based on the facts and reasons you have written so that your presentation demonstration,
explanation, expansion or development can be well-supported.
This paragraph is for the second body paragraph. It contains the topic sentence that controls
the second supporting idea that you want to develop in this part. Then you have to expand,
develop, explain, or demonstrate what the topic sentence presents in this body paragraph. You
have to write about it using facts and reasons (facts are realities that demonstrate something
while reasons are the explanation of these realities). After that, present specific examples which
are based on the facts and reasons you have written so that your presentation demonstration,
explanation, expansion or development can be well-supported.
Do the same with the other body paragraphs because each one of these body paragraphs has to
be structured in the same way as the first and second body paragraphs are organized.
After you finished all the body paragraphs, then you have to prepare the concluding paragraph
This is the paragraph for the concluding part. Begin this paragraph with a transition word or
phrase such as In conclusion, . . . / To sum up, . . . and others. Then write a summary of the
main points presented in the body paragraphs or a restatement of the thesis statement. Add a
brief extra comment or a brief recommendation if possible.
Feel free to ask me for help or clarification at time in or outside class.
Your teacher.