Passage with vocab words..

i have a short passage with vocab words which my son has wrote( grade 4). Can anyone review for correction.
the vocab words are: treacherous,altered,plunged,smolder ,discouraged,drudgery, skeptically, scoff

(( A few years ago , a treacherous earthquake has happened in my city which destroyed almost the entire area. All buildings collapsed, car crashed, all the area was altered. Glasses, flames, stones were everywhere.People flew in the air and plunged to the ground. Fire covered most of the place, it continued to smolder after the fireman's efforts. I was really discouraged. The drudgery is not worth staying in the city.))

Many of the vocabulary words are used incorrectly. Treacherous doesn't refer to an act of nature, although an act of nature may cause treacherous conditions. It is often used when referring to a person.

A few years ago , a treacherous earthquake has happened in my city which destroyed almost the entire area.

A few years ago an earthquake occurred in my hometown. It destroyed almost the entire area.


All buildings collapsed, car crashed, all the area was altered.


All the buildings collapsed, and cars crashed. The entire area was altered. [Above it says that the area was destroyed. Now it was altered. Which is it? Also, if all the buildings collapsed, how can the writer (or anyone else) continue to live there?]

Glasses, flames, stones were everywhere.People flew in the air and plunged to the ground.

Glass, flames and stones were everywhere. People flew in the air and fell to the ground. (I assume the reference is to broken glass. The word "glasses" refers to something else entirely. The word "plunged" is used incorrectly. If something flies up, it falls down. If something is pushed down with force, it plunges down.)

Fire covered most of the place, it continued to smolder after the fireman's efforts.

The fire continued to smolder even after the fireman's efforts.
(It is stated above that flames were everywhere. This first part of the sentence repeats that. )

I was really discouraged.

Discouraged is a very weak term to use when referring to the event described here.

The drudgery is not worth staying in the city.))

Drudgery is not mentioned in the paragraph and is used incorrectly.

I'm sorry to be so critical, but your son has a poor understanding of most of the vocabulary words. I can't see how scoff and skeptically could fit in the passage. These words don't suit the subject matter. I think all the words would work better if the passage was about something related to people--maybe a disagreement.


can you also help him in using skeptically, scoff in the passage
thank you