Son: Hi, mom, what are we having for dinner tonight?

Mom: I haven’t started yet. Why, have you any requires?

Son: How about tsunami for a change—I don’t know what is, but I heard some Japanese people using the word on the bus the other day. Sounds like a food. Maybe it’s similar to sushi.

Mom: Nonsense. Tsunami comes from Japanese words meaning harbor and wave. If we had a tsunami, it would be the other way around, young man.

Son: Why? What is it?

Mom: I mean it may swallow you up. A tsunami is an enormous series of very powerful waves.

Son: Could you surf on them? That could be cool.

Mom: They’re not cool. They are very destructive. When they pound the shore of populated areas, they cause tremendous damage. They destroy everything in their path.

Son: What causes them?

Mom: I think they are caused by some sort of shock, like an earthquake, volcano, or landside that starts a chain reaction in the ocean.

Son: Do the waves get to big that they crush buildings?

Mom: Easily. They can be dozens of meters high. They toss cars and houses around as though they were children’s toys.

Son: Can you see them coming?

Mom: You can see them at quite a distance. But there’s not much you can do. In the open ocean they move at up to 800km per hour, but when it reaches the shore, the system slows down and the waves get bigger.

Son: How big?

Mom: They can reach 30 meters. Big enough to finish you off in one gulp.

1. What the son think a tsunami is?

2. What does Mom imply by saying, “If we had a tsunami, it would be the other way around”?

3. What does the son think surfing on tsunami waves would be like?

4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the cause of a tsunami?

5. How high can tsunami waves reach?

Keys: 1B 2.C 3.A 4.D 5.C

For Reference

1. In the open ocean they move at up to 800km per hour, but when it reaches the shore, the system slows down and the waves get bigger.

2. They can reach 30 meters. Big enough to finish you off in one gulp.