Have you ever heard of the greenhouse effect and global warming? What do you know about them?
Exercise 1
Insert prepositions where necessary.
WHY IS IT RAINING? SNOWING? HAILING?
4 Clouds are made ____ water droplets. But what causes ____ these droplets ____ rain, snow, or hail ____ ____ us? The water droplets that make ____ clouds are extremely tiny - so tiny that even the gentlest air currents will keep them floating ____ the sky. What causes these droplets ____ fall ____ a cloud?
Much rain begins ____ a cloud as bits ____ ice, not drops ____ water. The upper parts ____ a very tall cumulonimbus, or thundercloud, are cold enough ____ water vapor to freeze and form tiny ice crystals. Like seeds, these crystals grow ____ the cloud. As more water vapor condenses ____ the seeds, they grow bigger. When the crystals grow, little pellets ____ ice are formed. When the pellets become too heavy for air currents ____ hold up, they fall. As they fall ____ ____ the tall cloud, the pellets pass ____ warmer air. The warm air melts them and they turn ____ tiny raindrops. As they fall, the tiny raindrops bump ____ each other and form bigger drops. The average raindrop has about a million times as much water as a tiny water droplet ____ a cloud.
Can it rain if a cloud is too warm ____ ice crystals to form? Only if the cloud is ____ the ocean. The droplets that form clouds always condense ____ microscopic particles in the air. Seed crystals must be formed ____ clouds before it rains. When it is warm, ice crystals can’t form, but clouds that are ____ or very ____ the ocean make a different kind ____ seed. This time, the seeds ____ the raindrops are tiny crystals ____ salt ____ the ocean. Water droplets soon condense ____ the salt crystals. The water droplets bump ____ each other and form bigger drops.
Before long the drops are big enough and heavy enough ____ fall as rain.
What happens when the air both high ____ the sky and close ____ the ground is very cold? The tiny ice crystals that form ____ clouds do not melt and turn ____ rain. Instead, they become crystals ____ ice. As they fall ____ the cloud, they gather more ice crystals and grow bigger. By the time they reach the bottom ____ the cloud, they have beautiful, intricate ____ shapes. Can you guess what these are? Snowflakes!
Exercise 2
Translate into English.
- Мені здається, цей дощ ніколи не скінчиться. Ллє як із вiдра. Цей дощ iде вже третій день.
- Так, погода сьогодні справді огидна і мерзотна. Справжній потоп. Ще ніколи в житті не бачив такої зливи. Я потрапив під дощ і промок до нитки.
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- Сподіваюсь, погода покращиться до вечора.
- Небо затягнулось важкими сірими хмарами. Якби це був грозовий дощ, то він би був коротким. Правду кажучи, я боюсь грому і блискавки, мені жахливо сидіти одному вдома під час блискавки.
- Годі тобі скаржитись на погоду. Як кажуть, поганої погоди не буває, буває лише поганий одяг.
& Reading
Read the information about the natural phenomena and answer the questions below.
Monsoons are regional, seasonal winds that affect large parts of the globe. During the summer, these winds contain water vapor and can bring heavy rains. They blow across Southeast Asia, India, Pakistan, China, Japan, Australia, parts of Africa, and the southwestern United States. Some of the world’s most heavily populated countries lie in monsoon areas. In parts of Bangladesh, the summer monsoon can dump as much as 1,107 centimeters of rain – more than ten times the average annual rainfall for the United States. Farmers depend on the summer monsoon for rain to water the crops.
The strongest monsoon is in southern and eastern Asia. It’s caused by seasonal temperature differences between the surfaces of the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the land surface of central Asia.
In winter, the land is colder than the ocean. Therefore, the air pressure over central Asia is higher than the air pressure over the ocean. Cool, dry air blows to the southwest from Asia to the Indian Ocean, crossing India and all of southern Asia on its way. This wind is called the winter monsoon.
Tornadoes are powerful storms that move over land in narrow paths. Their winds are so strong they can pick up houses or smash factories. Tornadoes affect relatively small areas, but their fierce winds devastate almost everything in their path. The winds flatten buildings and hurl objects at speeds so great that straw driven by the force of a tornado’s wind can penetrate wood. These winds can also pick up huge objects such as trains. Some of these objects are crushed, and others are simply carried away.
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The eye of the tornado is very calm, but it, too, can cause damage. No one had ever been in the eye of a tornado and looked up its funnel until 1928, when a Kansas farmer looked up from the door of his storm cellar just as a tornado passed over. “Everything was as still as death”, he reported. “There was a strong gassy odor, and I felt as if I could not breathe”. He said the eye was about 15-35 meters (about 15-100 feet) in diameter and formed a funnel at least a kilometer (about one-half mile) high.
Little can be done to avoid property damage in a tornado, but taking precautions can save lives. In 1935, the same twister hit the Texas towns of San Anselmo and Waco. More than 560 people were injured and 125 people lost their lives.
Tornado warnings don’t come very far in advance, and they sometimes don’t come at all. The path of a tornado can reduce one house to splinters and leave the one next door untouched. Tornadoes are most likely to form in the presence of thunderstorms with heavy rain or hail. As the warm, humid air is forced upward within a cumulonimbus cloud, more warm air rushes in to replace the air that was forced upward. The air that rushed in is also forced upward, and in some instances it begins to rotate. This rotating air extends beneath the cloud and may touch down toward the surface. Tornadoes can last a few minutes or as long as a few hours. They can move over the surface anywhere from 40 to 96 kilomerters (25 to 60 miles) per hour, and they follow very unpredictable paths.
When a tornado has been spotted, you must take precautions immediately. The following chart tells you what to do.
Tornado Safety Procedures
If you’re at home:
j Open the windows slightly, then get away from them.
j Go to a storm cellar if you have one, or go to a cellar and stay underneath a staircase, mattress, or heavy piece of furniture, such as a table.
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j Don’t go a into a mobile home. Find shelter in a strong building.
If you’re away from home:
j Get away from the street.
j Try to find a building to enter, but stay away from windows and doors.
j If you can’t find a building, lie in a ditch and cover your head with your hands.
j If you’re at school, go to an inside hallway on the lowest floor, bend over and place your handson your head.
Hurricanes are the cyclonic storms that cause the most widespread destruction. They are also known as typhoons in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, and willy-willies in Australia. The wind speeds are usually 120 to 240 kilometers (75 to 150 miles) per hour; however, unlike tornadoes, hurricanes may be hundreds of kilometers in diameter and last for several days. They can travel hundreds or thousands of kilometers. Hurricane Gilbert, for example, formed in a low-pressure system off the coast of Africa and traveled to the United States. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo devastated areas of Puerto Rico and other areas in the Carribbean and traveled to the southeastern United States and destroyed areas of Charleston, South Carolina.
If you ever receive warning that a hurricane may strike your area, begin to take precautions. It’s important to follow the advice of the authorities. Sometimes you may be told to leave the area before the storm hits. Many people have died because they ignored such warnings. If you are not advised to leave the area, use the precautions listed below.
The center of the hurricane is the area known as the eye. Within the eye the air begins to sink because of an area of low-pressure. The air within the eye is quite calm. The eye of the hurricane can be 20-200 kilometers across. When the eye passes over an area, the wind speed drops and the sky may be clear and sunny. When the eye passes, fierce winds and heavy rainfall begin to pound the land and water again.
When hurricanes pass over coastal areas, the winds cause terrible destruction. Savage winds can uproot trees and level buildings. What the wind does not harm may be washed away by the high waves that develop due to high winds. These waves may be as high as 12 meters. Flooding may result from the heavy rain and waves, with sometimes as much as 30 centimeters of water falling in a few hours.
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4A hurricane can release as much energy as 400 20-megaton H-bombs every second.
Hurricane Precautions
j Tape or board up all windows. Flying debris and wind pressure can break windows.
j Secure outdoor objects that might be blown away – such as outdoor furniture, potted plants – or bring them inside.
j Be sure to have plenty of canned foods, medical supplies, and fresh water at hand. Shipping and receiving such items may become difficult if a storm hits.
j Leave all low-lying coastal areas, because they are likely to be swept by high tides and storm waves.
j Stay at home if it’s on sturdy, high ground. If not, then go to the appropriate shelter.
j Beware of the eye of the hurricane. It may produce a lull for a few minutes to half an hour. At the other side of the eye, winds can again rise very quickly.
I.
1.What is a monsoon? Where can it be?
2.How does the monsoon influence the rain?
3.Where do the strongest monsoons occur?
4.Do you know any difference between summer and winter monsoons?
II.
1.What is a tornado? How strong is it?
2.What damage can a tornado cause?
3.Is the eye of the tornado investigated? What does it look like?
4.What is a tornado accompanied with?
5.How exactly does the funnel of wind develop?
6.Which precautions can be taken to save your life or avoid any great damage if a tornado is expected in your area (if you are at home/if you are out of home)?
III.
1.What is a hurricane? How is it called in different countries?
2.Name well-known hurricanes.
3.Is it important to leave the area if a hurricane is expected?
4.Why is the air within the eye of the hurricane calm?
5.Which features does the eye of the hurricane have?
6.What damage can a hurricane cause?
7.Which precautions should be taken if you are sure the hurricane is approaching?
Exercise 3
Provide the part of the word combination.
| __________ vapour | rotating ___________ |
| an average __________ rainfall | to ___________ slightly |
| ___________ surface | a _________ home |
| ________ pressure | a ____________ storm |
| to cause _________ | a kilometer in _________ |
| ________ cellar | to _________ the advice |
| ________ odor | coastal __________ |
| __________ damage | to ________ ________ by the wave |
| the ________ of the tornado | medical _________ |
| to force ________ | a storm _________ |
| a ________ cloud | __________ shelter |
| an _______ path | flying _________ |
Exercise 4
Translate into English.
Погода
Погода - це атмосферні умови, наприклад, дощ, сніг чи похмуре небо, протягом короткого проміжку часу в тому чи іншому місці.
Погода залежить від переміщення повітряних мас навколо земної кулі. Клімат даної місцевості є не що інше, як усереднені погодні умови за великий період часу.
Погода може змінитися за лічені години, але для зміни клімату потрібні роки й роки.
Куди і як переміщуються повітряні маси, залежить від таких фактори, як відстань від екватора, а також наявність на їх шляху гір та морів. Коли повітряні маси, що рухаються з боку моря, проходять через високогір’я, вони охолоджуються, і вода, яка в них міститься, випадає у вигляді дощу. Якщо повітряні потоки рухаються з центра континенту, вони не насичені водою і несуть з собою суху погоду. Якщо ж вони, проходячи через зону тропіків, застоюються над водною поверхнею, то перенасичуються вологою і перегріваються, що призводить до ураганів.
Зміна погодних умов відбувається циклічно. У багатьох регіонах погода влітку тепліша, ніж узимку, оскільки протягом тривалих жарких днів Земля отримує більше сонячної енергії. В Південно-Східній Азії в період мусонів з Індійського океану дмуть теплі, вологі вітри, приносячи з собою щедрі дощі. Приблизно кожні 10 років спостерігається явище, яке отримало назву Ель-Ніньйо: температура води в південно-східній частині Тихого океану ледь підвищується, що призводить до зміни напрямку руху повітряних потоків. А це може викликати посуху, жорстокі урагани й завдати серйозних економічних збитків.
 Listening
Listen to the recording and decide which of these is the best summary of the weather report.
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1.There will be a hurricane, but only in Spain and France.
2.There won’t be a hurricane, and it will only be windy in Spain and France.
3.There won’t be a hurricane, but it will be very windy especially in Spain and France.
Listening
| Listen to the second weather report. This was broadcast after the report in the previous excercise. Why do y o u think the weather forecaster in the first report b ecame famous? |
Read the summary below. Then listen to the recoring again and complete the gaps.
‘Hurricane-force winds battered much of ___1___ England in the small hours. At least ___2___ people have died and many more were ___3___, hit by falling ___4___ and massonry toppled in the ___5___. Power ___6___ have been disrupted and large sections of the ___7___ network were left out of action. Our reporters have been assessing the scale of the ___8___ and the ___9___. We begin with the ___10___ from the south coast.’
| Listening
Listen to the reports from Southampton and London.
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U How do the reporters introduce themselves?
U What has been torn off in Southampton?
U What partially collapsed?
U What happened overnight in the emergency centeres?
U How many people were killed in London?
U How fast were the winds?
U How did the man in Croydon die?
Exercise 5
Your mother is coming to visit you. She likes to travel light. She asks you what sort of weather is going to be in the forthcoming fortnight. Find the available information in the newspaper, make a call to the Meteorological Center, discuss it with your groupmates and then telephone to your mother.
Exercise 6
Translate into English
Пори року, чи сезони, позначаються на всьому нашому житті. Від них залежать строки сівби і збирання врожаю, і те, який одяг ми носимо, що їмо, скільки енергії витрачаємо на обігрів та освітлення житла, і навіть як ми почуваємося. Зміна пір року зумовлена нахилом земної осі під час річної подорожі Землі навколо Сонця.
НАХИЛ ЗЕМНОЇ ОСІ
Земля постійно обертається, причому вісь її обертання нахилена під кутом 23,5градуса до площини навколосонячної орбіти, отже частину року Північний полюс обернений до Сонця. В цей час полудневе сонце тут наближається до зеніту, дні довгі й теплі - стоїть літо. Водночас Південний полюс віддалений від Сонця, і там стоїть зима.
ДНІ СОНЦЕСТОЯННЯ
Під час руху Землі навколо Сонця її вісь орієнтована в тому самому напрямі, так що через шість місяців Північний полюс відвертається від Сонця. Тепер у Північну півкулю приходить зима, а в Південну – літо. У Північній півкулі найдовший день (день літнього сонцестояння) настає 21 червня, а найкоротший (день зимового сонцестояння) – 21 грудня. А в Південній півкулі найдовший день 21 грудня, а найкоротший – 21 червня.
ДНІ РІВНОДЕННЯ
Рівно на половину шляху Землі від одного дня сонцестояння до другого припадають дні рівнодення. 21 березня і 23 вересня обидва кінці земної вісі спрямовані в бік Сонця, так що тривалість дня і ночі збігається. 21 березня в Північну півкулю приходить весна, а в Південну – осінь. І, навпаки, 23 вересня в Північній півкулі настає осінь, а на південь від екватора – весна.
— Speaking
Have you ever heard of the greenhouse effect and global warming? What do you know about them?
Listening
First read the following summary and underline the correct words by guessing. Then, listen to the text and find out if your guesses were correct.
The world climate is in 1) trouble/chaos. Global warming is an undeniable 2) fact/event. Optimists foresee 3) colder/milder winters. In every dry areas, a rise in temperatures would worsen 4) rainfall/droughts.
Insurance companies want governments to regulate emissions of greenhouse 5) chemicals/gases. The oceans act like a storage 6) heater/tank. The south east of 7) England/France is tilting into the sea. Warmer weather could mean more algae in reservoirs and 8) canals/lakes. This could lead to 9) stomach/brain related illnesses. Fierce storms could lead to 10) mental/health problems.
& Reading
You are going to read a magazine article about global warming. Eight paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from paragraphs A-1 the one which fits gap (1-6). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).
What’s up with the Weather?
The world climate is in chaos. Freak weather conditions have been so common recently that even the most hard-bitten cynics suspect that something odd is going on.
| 0 | C |
In December 1995, climatologists form the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) all agreed that global warming is an undeniable fact.
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Optimists foresee milder winters and record harvests for farmers. They believe that the severity of storms will reduce due to the stabilizing of differences between the equator and the poles.
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In a warmer world, extremes of wet and dry will intensify. In very dry regions where there is little water anyway, an increase in temperatures would worsen droughts and increase desertification – especially in the interiors of continents where rainfall will become very rare. In areas where high levels of rainfall are normal, such as in coastal and mountainous regions, increased water vapour, and hence fiercer rainfall, should be expected.
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As a result of this, insurance companies are panicking. Many are trying to persuade governments to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases.
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Professor Parry, a member of the IPCC, states that there really isn’t very much we can do to stop global warming happening. “Even if we could dramatically reduce industrial emission, the atmosphere would continue to heat up for another 50 years – because the oceans act like a vast storage, holding on to heat delaying the warming of the air about us.”
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Some scientists, however, fear that the Flood Barrier may be overwhelmed because the geological structure of Britain means that the south east of England is actually tilting into the sea. This, with the rising sea levels, means that the high-tide level of the River Thames in central London is set to rise by rate of 75 centimeters a century.
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The rest of us won’t get off lightly though. Warmer weather is likely to increase the amount of algae in reservoirs and lakes. This will make water treatment and purification more difficult and there will probably be an increase in stomach-and intestine-related illnesses. Fierce storms could also bring about health problems.
| A | It seems as though these serious and urgent predictions are already coming true. Recently, Hurricane Andrew cost American insurance companies$16, 5 billion and insures worldwide have concluded that the greenhouse effect could bankrupt them. |
| B | World temperatures are forecast to rise by 1,8 to 6,3°C by the year 2100 but no one is certain what its eventual effects will be. Consequently, a number of theories have been developed. |
| C | Most scientists’ fears are focused on the heavily populated south coast of England. Increased coastal development means that flooding would be catastrophic. The value of the coastal land between Bognor Regis and Bournemouth was recently estimated at $ 5,745 million. |
| D | In old urban areas, most storm drainage systems are combined with the sewage system. “Flash flood” storms are therefore likely to send waves of untreated sewage into the watercourse. “We have to face the fact” - says Professor Parry – “that climate change is inevitable – and possibly it will be very unpleasant.” |
| E | The most innovative country in this respect is Spain. In the last three years it has been at the forefront in promoting the use of alternative energy forms – including tidal and hydro-electric power. |
| F | On New Year’s Day of this year, for example, Mexico City had its first snowfall in twenty years; monsoons in India, Bangladesh and Nepal stranded nearly two million people in June, and last year’s Caribbean storms were the worst for sixty years. Scientists are now convinced that world’s climate has been changed by mankind. |
| G | Pessimists on the other hand predict a rise in sea levels of 15 to 96 centimeters – meaning that many low-lying islands like those in the Pacific and Caribbean will be totally submerged. |
| H | At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, nations promised to cut their carbon emissions drastically by the year 2000, although the only country that looks on target is Sweden. The other nations seem to be counting on solutions like solar power to come to the rescue. |
| I | In Britain, the threat of flooding is being taken very seriously. The Thames Flood Barrier was built to protect London from the rising sea level. |
Exercise 1
Look at the following words in bold in the text and try to explain them:
cynics, undeniable, foresee, record, harvests, stabilizing, poles, extremes, droughts, continents, vapour, regulate, greenhouse gases, vast, tilting, algae, reservoirs, purification, intestine-related
Exercise 2
Fill in the appropriate word(s) from the list below:
desertification, odd, freak, severity, intensify, coastal, emissions, overwhelmed, equator, solar, watercourse, tidal wave, innovative, monsoon
1. The …………… of the winter caused many farmers to lose their crops. (harshness)
2. The storm began to ……………… so we had to run for cover. (become stronger)
3. It was demanded that industry should reduce its ……………. of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. (release)
4. Singapore is only 1° north of the ………….. . (imaginary line round the centre of the earth)
5. ………. is taking place in Northern Africa due to lack of rainfall. (a change of land into desert)
6. In India the ……………….. often brings very bad flooding. (period of heavy rain)
7. A tidal wave completely flooded the …………………. area and left many people homeless. (seashore)
8. It was ……………………. that she was wearing a fur coat on such a warm day. (strange)
9. The storm was so strong that the ………………….. filled almost immediately. (drainage channel for water)
10. He is a very ………………….. chef who is always thinking up new recipes. (original)
11. The dam burst and many villages below were ……………… with flood water. (not able to cope)
12. Due to ………………….. weather conditions, we had snow in May. (extreme unusual)
13. Following the earthquake there was a(n) …………….. that destroyed the whole village. (massive wave)
14. In hot countries it’s economical to heat water using …………………… power. (sun)
Exercise 3
Find the odd word out.
| 1 monsoon, rain, drought, drizzle | 4 hot, boiling, scorching, chilly |
| 2 breeze, shower, wind, draught | 5 hail, snow, lightning, sleet |
| 3 smoke, mist, fog, vapour |
Exercise 4
Explain the following WEATHER related idioms, then make sentences using them.
under the weather, make heavy weather of, weather the storm, a storm in a teacup, as right as rain, come rain or shine, for a rainy day, chase rainbows, put the wind up sb
Exercise 5
Fill in appropriate word(s) from the list below. Use the word(s) only once.
Flood Barrier, drainage, industrial, mountainous, predictions, to face, bankrupt, global, geological, high-tide, target, hard-bitten, urban, heavily, to regulate
| 1 ……………………populated | 9 ……….………………systems |
| 2 ………………will come true | 10 ………………………...the fact |
| 3 …………………….warming | 11 ………………………...regions |
| 4 ………………………...areas | 12 …………………………...level |
| 5 to be on ……………………. | 13 to go …………………………. |
| 6 …………………….structure | 14 ……………………purification |
| 7 ……………………….cynics | 15 The Thames ………………….. |
| 8 ……………………emissions | 16 ……………………..conditions |
Exercise 6
Complete the table using the words from the list below.
boiling, rain, fog, drizzle, storm, ice, heatwave, smog, blizzard, downpour, sunshine, gust, freezing, flood, sleet, dry, torrential rain, chilly, breeze, snowdrift, frost, snowflake, gale, hurricane, warm, hail, draught, drought, cyclone, monsoon
| Hot weather | |
| Cold weather | |
| Misty weather | |
| Windy weather | |
| Wet weather |
Exercise 7
Choose the correct item.
| 1 I’ll help my father ……………. the wheat on the farm. | |||
| A harvest | B pick | C produce | D stock |
| 2 Our garden was in a complete …………. after the storm. | |||
| A chaos | B disorder | C mess | D havoc |
| 3 There are often accidents when there is thick ………………. | |||
| A mist | B vapour | C steam | D fog |
| 4 The ………… of exhaust gases from cars pollute the city. | |||
| A outings | B outlets | C emissions | D omissions |
| 5 The helicopter couldn’t take off due to ………… winds. | |||
| A wild | B furious | C savage | D strong |
PART 4
WHEATHER WISDOM
& Reading
Read the text and answer the questions below.
WEATHER AND MOOD
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, observed in the 4th century BC that “whoever wishes to pursue the science of medicine must first investigate the seasons of the year and what occurs in them.”
People who suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) are depressed, predisposed to overeat and need a great deal of sleep. The disorder is linked directly to the amount of light travelling through the optic nerve. The acronym first hit the headlines in the early ‘80s. Many SAD sufferers have been successfully treated using light therapy.
Countries in the higher altitudes (including Sweden, Finland, Alaska, Iceland) often suffer psychological problems through lack of sunlight, with high rates of suicide, depression and alcoholism. The inhabitants of the world’s most nothernly city - Tromso, Norway - have to endure two months in darkness. The result is bio-rhythmic confusion: many people can’t sleep, feel as if they have jet lag, put on weight. Local winds such as le Mistral can have effect on mood. Le Mistral is a strong, dry, cold wind that blows through the Rhone Valley and the South of France to the Mediterranean. Symptoms include tiredness, headaches, insomnia, bad temper.
From “BBC English”
P What kind of symptoms were mentioned in the text?
P What kind of diseases were mentioned in the text?
P What kinds of treatment were mentioned in the text?
P Which reasons for certain illnesses were mentioned?
— Speaking
MOODS
Here are some of the most common adjectives we use to describe the way we feel. Each one has a clue with it, to help you understand the mood, and to allow you to test yourself later. Some of the clues contain useful phrases about the weather. Have you ever had a year like this? Read on.
JAN
| 1 7 10 16 23 31 | Another year gone never to return. I suppose none of us is getting any younger. To think nearly half the world is white with snow today. The snow never seems as white as it used to be. Oh, for the spring! Love Story on TV again tonight – super! | melancholic pensive thoughtful nostalgic full of longing sentimental |
FEB
| 3 7 12 13 21 27 | Another grey, cloudy day. Yet another day of drizzle and fog. Heavy storms and a few sunny periods. Everyone got a rise in salary except me! Why, oh why can’t I seem to do things right? Another series of repeats on telly – oh no! | bored miserable moody resentful frustrated fed up |
MAR
| 4 9 14 17 24 30 | Showers and rainbows. Umbrella and parasol? Who am I? What am I? Can I? Could I? Dare I? Oh, sit still, will you! I think the rain is going to ease off! | confused uncertain introspective unsure of oneself restless hopeful |
APR
| 2 5 8 9 16 25 | Sleet and biting winds. Frosty mornings and icy roads. You won’t have any fingernails left. OK, OK, don’t bite my head off! I heard a cockoo. Did you hear it? The sun’s coming out. | edgy touchy nervous irritable alert cheerful |
MAY
| 1 6 11 19 22 26 | I think it’s going to clear up. I’ve booked the holiday, so you can’t say no. Just six more weeks and we’ll be there. How about a ten-mile walk tomorrow? Oh, I loved it! Adored it! Fantastic! You mean I’ve really won the Best Office Boy title? | optimistic positive excited active enthusiastic thrilled |
JUN
| 5 13 16 19 24 28 | UK Best Office Boy Competition? No problem! Not a breath of wind. A cool breeze, a cloudless sky. I could lie here forever. It’s too hot to move. Oh yes, this is the life! | confident calm refreshed relaxed idle/lazy content |
JUL
| 1 4 7 10 18 28 | She smiled at me! She actually smiled at me! She said she’d come to dinner! Now I know how the winner must have felt. Jumping for joy! Pinch me to let me know I’m not dreaming. Paradise must be like this. | exhilarated elated triumphant on top of the world up in the clouds ecstatic |
AUG
| 2 6 9 14 19 24 | I know I don’t know you, but still you can marry me! It’s so close and heavy today, no air at all. Sticky, thundery heat. No energy, no emotion. She’s gone. I’ve got nothing left. And it was going to be so good! | wild/rash weary drained exhausted empty disappointed |
SEP
| 1 4 11 18 24 29 | And she was so, so nice. That’s the last holiday romance I’ll ever have! The days are closing in. It’s going to be a long hard winter. Why bother? Why care? I just don’t understand. | heart-broken disillusioned gloomy depressed disheartened bewildered |
OCT
| 2 8 12 17 24 30 | An overcast sky. Why did you have to mention her name? The rain’s set in for the day. Why are there no new people to meet? I don’t want any new faces round here, thank you! Hailstorms and icy winds. | dejected easily upset distressed lonely hostile bitter |
NOV
| 1 2 8 15 16 17 | Redundant, maybe? And thrown out of my flat? All alone. To be or not to be? Nextdoor’s music is really getting on my nerves! It’s brightening up. I don’t believe it. It can’t be true. I don’t know what to say! Come on, let’s fly to Paris for breakfast. | insecure suicidal easily annoyed astonished/ amazed overwhelmed light-headed |
DEC
| 6 9 12 18 24 31 | Fancy dress parties and drinks round at our place. Snowball fights. I must be the happiest man alive. Skating on frozen puddles and falling over laughing. Champagne bubbles and laughter. I haven’t done so badly this year after all! | sociable playful over the moon frivolous merry self-satisfied |
— Speaking
J Nobody denies that the weather affects the person’s mood, consequently behavior having either a negative or a positive impact on them. Analyze your friends’ conduct and share your observations on the subject with the other groupmates.
& Reading
Read the text and say which other weather clues you know.
WEATHER WISDOM
Some people watch ants for weather clues. Anytime you see ants industriously building huge mounds around their holes, prepare for rain. About two hours before a downpour, all kinds of ants - but especially large black and red ants - will break up their caravans, scurry into their nests, and begin building dams around the ant hill. These mounds, which are sometimes several inches in height, prevent rainwater from running into the ant hills.
Bees give weather clues, too. They are usually active several hours before a rain, but as the humidity increases, they return to their hives. Some American Indians say that the longer the increased activity lasts, the longer the rain will be.
Other insects are also good humidity indicators. Butterflies usually flit from flower to flower all day long. When they suddenly disappear and can be found hiding on tree trunks or on the underside of leaves, they are seeking shelter to protect their fragile wings from a hard rain.
Fireflies fly very low when there is a high relative humidity. But an old saying states: “When fireflies are about in large numbers, the weather will be fair for the next three days”.
And if you hear lots of locusts singing, you can be sure the air is dry, because locusts sing only when it is hot and dry. Frogs croak when the air pressure falls. Before rain sheep’s wool uncurls.
Plants are also handy humidity indicators. They are affected in different ways. Just before a rain many flowers - like the daisy, dandelion and tulip - close their blossoms, and clover plants draw their leaves together. It is believed that the absorption of moisture from the air causes a change in the leaf stalk, making the leaves turn over. It may be that the rough underside of the leaf can absorb rain better than the smooth topside.
Almost everyone knows what humidity does to hair. Curly hair gets curlier and straight hair gets limp. The reason is that hair absorbs moisture from damp air. Straight hair actually gets longer. A Swiss geologist used this fact to invent the first hydrometer. In 1783 Horace Benedict de Saussure fastened some human hair to a needle. The hair expanded when the air was moist and contracted when the air was dry, moving the needle across a numbered scale. His instrument is called a hair hydrometer and is still used by meteorologists.
Some people are very sensitive to humidity. People who have arthritis are, in a sense, “living hydrometers”. High humidity causes the fluids in their tissues and joints to increase, making movement difficult and painful. That is why many older people say, “It’s going to rain. I can feel it by my bones”. They actually can.
By learning to read weather signs, you can get a few hours advance warning if a storm is heading your way. It may keep you from getting your new shoes ruined in the rain, from having a family picnic spoiled, or your garden beaten down by a storm. If you are backpacking, camping, boating, or doing similar outdoor activities it might even save your life.
Exercise 1
Completethe sentences.
If ants ………………. , prepare for rain.
If frogs ………………. , prepare for rain.
If straight hair ………………. , prepare for rain.
If curly hair ………………. , prepare for rain.
If sheep ………………. , prepare for rain.
If butterflies ………………. , prepare for rain.
If locusts ………………. , prepare for rain.
If fireflies ………………. , prepare for rain.
If bees ………………. , prepare for rain.
If flowers ………………. , prepare for rain.
Exercise 2
Use the word given to form the word that fits in the space provided.
WEATHER PREDICTION
| Predicting the weather has always been (0) …..to our lives | Importance | 0 | important |
| since (1) … changes can seriously affect crops and therefore | Climate | 1 | |
| the (2) … of food. Today, forecasters use modern technology | Produce | 2 | |
| in order to increase their (3) … . Knowing what the weather | Accurate | 3 | |
| will be like is not only interesting to farmers, it is also relevant | |||
| to sports enthusiasts such as (4) … and people who live | Ski | 4 | |
| in (5) … areas. Despite improvements in forecasting, the | Mountain | 5 | |
| weather often remains (6) … and this has given forecasters | Predictable | 6 | |
| a bad reputation. However, the climate s often so (7) … that | Change | 7 | |
| even experts with latest (8) … find it impossible to make | Equip | 8 | |
| accurate forecasts. Until further (9) … are made in this field, it | Develop | 9 | |
| is likely that forecasters will be (10) … to be 100% certain of | Able | 10 | |
| tomorrow’s weather. |
PART 5
CLIMATE
& Reading
Read the text and in the chart below write down how the climate of Ukraine influences its soils, flora and fauna.
Climate of Ukraine
Climate, which includes the forces of erosion and affects the development of soils, flora, and fauna, is a major landscape-forming factor. The climate of Ukraine is temperate, cool, and semicontinental. It differs considerably from that of adjacent regions (the Central European climate of Poland, the East European continental climate of the Moscow region, and the subarid climate of the Caspian Lowland), and constitutes a transitional stage to the Mediterranean climate.
Precipitation and temperature vary inversely in Ukraine. A moisture surplus (compared to the amount necessary for secure crop production) is encountered only in the Carpathians and at the higher elevations of the Crimean mountains. In low-lying areas moisture decreases from north to south: northwestern and northern Ukraine receive an adequate amount; central Ukraine, a varying amount; and south-central Ukraine an inadequate amount. Dry conditions prevail in the northern Crimea, the Black Sea Lowland.
The zonation of moisture balance is reflected in the zonation of soils, natural vegetation (before it was cleared for farming), and wildlife. In northern and northwestern Ukraine gray soils developed on sandy fluvio-glacial deposits under a canopy of coniferous and mixed forests that provide a habitat for a fauna common to the Central European forests. The zone of unstable moisture conditions was conducive to the development, on a loess base, of gray forest soils under broadleaf groves (usually at higher elevations), typical chernozems under meadow steppe, and degraded chernozems under forests that had replaced meadows. Forest and grassland fauna intermingled in this transitional zone of forest-steppe. In the zone of moisture deficiency to the south of the forest-steppe a complex of common chernozems developed on a loess base and under a grassy meadow steppe. The dry Black Sea Lowland was covered with a narrow-leaved grassy steppe, which is associated with southern chernozems and chestnut soils. The fauna of both steppe zones was the typical fauna of the temperate grassland biome.
While moisture balance serves as the major controlling factor in the latitudinal zonation of soils, flora, and fauna, the increasing severity of winters from west to east limits the longitudinal distribution of plants, particularly of broadleaf tree species. Thus the yew is limited to the westernmost extreme of Ukraine, the hornbeam does not grow beyond the Poltava-Homel line in the east with its severe winter and shallow snow cover, marks the eastern limit of winter wheat. The increasing continentality of the climate towards the east, including the depth of ground freezing, results in corresponding modifications of the soil.
Mountains are characterized by a vertical zonation of climate, soils, vegetation, and fauna. Most species of the fauna inhabiting the Carpathian Mountains are common to the middle-European forests; those in the Crimean Mountains, a mixture of Mediterranean and endemic species.
From the standpoint of climate, flora, and fauna, Ukraine is unique. It is the only country in Europe with a predominantly meadow natural vegetation that merges gradually with the forest vegetation in the northwest, the steppe vegetation in the south and east, and the Mediterranean vegetation on the Black Sea shore.
| soils | flora | fauna | |
| Northern Ukraine | |||
| Southern Ukraine | |||
| Eastern Ukraine | |||
| Western Ukraine | |||
| Central Ukraine |
Exercise 1
Insert the prepositions.
the Mediterranean vegetation ___ the Black Sea shore, characterized ___ a vertical zonation, the increasing continentality ___ the climate ___ the east, typical chernozems ___ meadow steppe, conducive ___ the development, a habitat ___ a fauna, dry conditions prevail ___ the Black Sea Lowland, moisture decreases ___ north to south, transitional stage ___ the Mediterranean climate, the development ___ fauna, the forces ___ erosion.
Exercise 2
Translate into English.
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