The Seasons and the Weather

There are four seasons in a year: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Every season lasts about three months.

Winter usually begins in December and ends in March. It is cold in winter and it often snows. There is much snow on the ground. It gets dark early in the evening. It gets light late in the morning. In winter we have the shortest days and the longest nights. It is difficult and unpleasant to get up early in the morning in winter because it is dark and cold.

But winter is a good time for sports. In winter we can go in for such kinds of sport as skating and skiing. It is very pleasant to go skiing in the country on a bright sunny day. At the end of winter the sun begins to shine as brightly as in spring, but it is not so warm as in spring yet.

Spring comes at the end of March. The sun begins to shine more brightly, the days become longer and the first spring flowers appear everywhere. Everything is so fresh and so beautiful, even the people look younger. Everybody enjoys the beginning of spring. Most people say that spring is the best season of the year.

At the beginning of spring-it is still cold. but at the end of it, it gets much warmer. Sometimes it rains. Of course in spring it is much warmer than in winter but it is not so warm as in summer.

Summer is the warmest season of the year. It begins in June and ends in August. In summer it gets light early in the morning and it gets dark late in the evening. In summer we have the longest days and the shortest nights. It often rains but the rain is warm and does not last long. Most people have their holidays in summer and spend a lot of time in the open air. It is not pleasant to stay in town in summer, and most people leave town for the country. We can swim and bathe, we can play tennis and football. We enjoy our holi­days if the weather is fine.

After summer comes autumn. Autumn is a beautiful sea­son. Many people say that autumn is the most beautiful season of the year. Autumn is very beautiful at the beginning when it is still warm and the trees are getting yellow and red. They look so beautiful. There are a lot of brown, yellow and red leaves everywhere on the ground. Little by little the days become shorter and the nights become longer. It gets colder and colder. In October and November it often rains. Sometimes it even snows, it gets windy. There appear dark clouds in the sky. Of course it is not so cold as in winter yet, but we know that winter is coming. It is more pleasant to stay inside than to be outside. Some people say that this is the worst time of the year.

Exercise 8. Read and translate into Ukrainian

To stay inside, a beautiful season, a lot of leaves, on the ground, the last autumn month, the winter sun, fresh air, kinds of sport, of course, to live in the country, to go to the country, country life, town life, to leave town for the country, to go skating, a dark night, to enjoy the book, to shine brightly, late in the morning, warm weather, little by little, to look younger, cloudy weather, in the sky, dark clouds, to be outside, to change for the better.

Exercise 9. Answer the questions

1. How many seasons are there in a year?

2. What are they?

3. When does winter begin?

4. Is it warm or cold in summer?

5. Are the days long or short in winter?

6. What is the shortest winter day?

7. When does it often snow?

8. What is the ground covered with in winter?

9. What kinds of winter sports do you know?

10. What kinds of winter sports do you go in for?

11. Is it as cold in spring as in winter?

12. What are summer months?

13. Where do people spend more time in summer?

14. What kinds of summer sports are you fond of?

15. What does the weather like in autumn?

16. When do we have the shortest days and the longest nights?

17. What seasons do you like best of all? Say why?

Exercise 10. Read the text. Describe “Indian summer” in English and say why so many people think that autumn is the best season of the year?

Words to the text:

to hide – ховатися

moist – сира, волога

dull- похмура

attractive – привабливий

as a matter of fact – фактично

drizzle – мрячити

to fade away – вянути

frost – мороз

remind – нагадувати

reverse – зворотний

harvest – врожай

The weather changes with the change of the season. Consider autumn, for example. In autumn the sky is often cloudy, the sun hides behind the clouds and then appears again. Its rays have already lost their strength and the sun is not so bright now as it was in summer. The air is moist. Days get shorter and the nights longer. As autumn is a rainy season, the weather is mostly dull. And, of course, it is not attractive. As a matter of fact, I don't like rain of any kind, even if it just drizzles. But there is a spell of sunny weather in late September, which we call Indian summer, when the sun shines brightly, the sky is rather cloudless and there is a carpet of multicoloured leaves on the ground. It is really golden autumn, as the poets have sung it. But in any case, nature begins to fade away. Later the frost will cover the ground at night and remind us about winter coming. As for me, I am not fond of autumn, but there are a lot of people trying to look at the reverse side of the medal. Strange as it may seem, they prefer autumn to any other season. As they say, it is the time of harvest, tasty fruits and vegetables, the time of beautiful golden leaves, the time when nature is very attractive. But many men — many minds.

Exercise 11. Agree or disagree using: Yes, it is right . No, it is not right

Example: 1. Autumn is a rainy season. – Yes, it’s right. Autumn is a rainy season.

2. September is the hottest month. – No, it is not right. September is not the hottest month, but it is still warm in September.

1. The sun is not so bright in autumn as in summer. 2. The night gets shorter in autumn. 3. In September the weather is sunny. 5. Indian summer comes in November. 6. Nature begins to fade away in autumn. 7. Many people prefer autumn to any other season. 8. The dullest autumn month is November. 9. Nature is always very attractive in autumn.

Exercise 12. Explain why the text ends with the proverb: many men – many minds

Exercise 13. Listen to the text. Answer the following questions:

1. When does it never snow?

2. What month is it now?

3. When is the longest night?

4. When is the shortest night?

It is winter now. There is a lot of snow on the ground in winter. It often snows in winter and it is snowing now. Sometimes it snows in spring and in autumn, but it never snows in summer.

In autumn it often rains. It often rains in spring too. Sometimes it rains even in winter. It is not raining now. It is snowing now. It is December now. The days are getting shorter and shorter and the nights are getting longer and longer. On the 22nd of December we have the longest night and the shortest day in a year. It gets dark

early and it gets light late. Beginning with January the days become - longer and longer. The nights get shorter and shorter. On the 22nd of June we have the longest days and the shortest nights in a year. In June it gets dark late, it gets light early. In June we have the longest days and the shortest nights in a year. In March, in early spring it is usually as cold as in winter but little by little it becomes warmer and warmer, etc.

Exercise 14. Read, dramatize and learn the dialogue by heart.

• What lovely weather we had last week. I hope it keeps dry and sunny this weak, too.

• Well, I wouldn’t be sure. Have you heard the forecast?

• No, I haven’t. What does it say?

• Occasional falls tomorrow morning, drizzle and more cloud later on, unsettled for the rest of the week.

• Oh, isn’t that awful? I do hope it clears up by Saturday.

• Why are you so eager?

• Don’t you remember? We are planning an outing for this week-end.

• Oh, yes. But we can go to the library instead. Don’t you remember?

• We have a seminar next Monday?

Words:

forecast – прогноз

occasional – час від часу

unsettled – перемінний

to clear up – прояснитись

outing – прогулянка

to be eager – дуже хотіти

Exercise 15. Speak with your friend:

1. Ask him/her what the weather is like today

2. Ask him/her which season he/she prefers. Ask him/her why.

Exercise 16. Make up dialogues using the following words and phrases:

What’s the weather like today?

It’s thawing (windy, hot, wet, fine, nasty, rainy, pleasant, unpleasant, cold)

Nice day today, isn’t it?

What wonderful weather!

I hope it will keep up.

It’s much colder /warmer today than yesterday.

It’s hot/cold for this time of the year.

There is a strong wind blowing from the north/west.

Winds bring changes.

One can never be certain about the weather.

Exercise 17. Look attentively at the picture “Floral Splendour” by John Haskins.

Tell us what you can see in the foreground on the left; in the foreground on the right; in the background on the left, in the background on the right.

Words and word combinations:

in the foreground – на передньому плані

in the background – на задньому плані

against the background – на фоні

in the middle of – посередині

in front of – перед

behind – позаду

flower bed – клумба

flowers:

phloxes – флокси

irises- іриси

dahlia – жоржини

asters – айстри

hollyhock – ружа

delphinium – дельфіній

roses – троянди

fir-tree – ялина

pine-tree - сосна

green hedge – зелена огорожа

lawn – газон

lawn mower – газонокосилка

white cottage – біла хатина

straw roof – соломяна криша

chimney – димар

I guess it is (summer, spring, autumn) because …

It might be July or August because …

I like this picture as I like (summer, flowers) …

I don’t like this picture as it is too bright or some other reason