Thousands Evacuated In Germany Due To WWII Bombs

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

• evacuate: to leave a dangerous area; to find a safe zone
• personnel: people working for a specific organization or operation
• displace: to cause people to have to leave their usual place or position
• nursing home: a home where elderly people live and receive care and service
• defuse: to make an explosive device ineffective (also deactivate)
• disposal: the process of putting something in the garbage

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Thousands Evacuated in Germany Due to WWII Bombs

45,000 residents in Koblenz Germany were evacuated over the weekend after two  bombs were discovered in the Rhine River. The bombs came into view after  because the water level had dropped to a record low. Approximately 2500 emergency personnel were called in to help in the operation that displaced half of the city’s. Volunteers helped to evacuate two hospitals and several nursing homes. Both bombs were successfully defused without incident and  were allowed to return home on Sunday evening. Officials say that despite the serious danger of these explosives, residents in this city are used to bomb scares. Last year, three members of a German bomb-disposal squad were killed trying to deactivate a  in Gottingen.

Comprehension Questions

1. Why were so many people evacuated?
2. What did volunteers do?
3. What similar event happened last year?

Discussion Question: What type of person would choose to work in a bomb-disposal squad? What required skills and personality traits would a job like this require? Do you personally know anyone who would qualify for this line of work?

hide Answers

Thousands Evacuated in Germany Due to WWII Bombs 
45,000 residents in Koblenz Germany were evacuated over the weekend after two World War II bombs were discovered in the Rhine River. The bombs came into view after 65 years because the water level had dropped to a record low. Approximately 2500 emergency personnel were called in to help in the operation that displaced half of the city’s population. Volunteers helped to evacuate two hospitals and several nursing homes. Both bombs were successfully defused without incident and residents were allowed to return home on Sunday evening. Officials say that despite the serious danger of these explosives, residents in this city are used to bomb scares. Last year, three members of a German bomb-disposal squad were killed trying to deactivate a war bomb in Gottingen.

1. So many people were evacuated because bombs found in the Rhine River needed to be defused.
2. Volunteers helped evacuate people in hospitals and nursing homes.
3. Last year, three members of a German bomb-disposal squad were killed while trying to deactivate a war bomb in Gottingen.