Today's weather and my attitude to it

Weather Poems

Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Or whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather

Whatever the weather

Whether we like it or not.

*****

Spring is green

Summer is bright

Autumn is yellow

Winter is white

*****

What Makes Weather?

What makes weather?

Do you know?

What makes rain,

and sleet,

and snow?

What makes summer warm and breezy?

What makes winter cold and sneezy?

What makes autumn crisp and keen?

What makes spring so warm and green?

I know, I know

what makes weather!

Lots of things that work together:

Wind and water,

earth's rotation,

bring the seasons

to each nation.

So now we all know

what makes weather-

lots of things that

work together!

by Helen H. Moore

THE SEASONS OF THE YEAR

There are four seasons in the year: winter, spring, summer and autumn. Each of them lasts three months. Every season is beautiful in its own way¹. When spring comes nature awakens from its long winter sleep. The days become longer and the nights become shorter. The air is fresh, the sky is blue and cloudless, and the sun shines brightly. The trees are in full blossom. The days are warm and everything is full of life and joy. All kinds of plants and flowers come out. The birds return from the South and build their nests.

Spring is followed by summer. The weather gets still warmer and sometimes very hot, espe­cially in July. Sometimes there are storms with thunder² and lightning³. The gardens are gay with flowers all summer months.

In summer many people have holidays and vacations. They spend much time on the sea­shores, river beaches, in the forests and in the mountains. It's a good time to swim, to pick mushrooms, berries, flowers, go fishing and boat­ing and become sunburnt⁴.

Autumn begins in September. The days be­come shorter and nights longer. The sky is often cloudy. This is mostly a rainy season. The leaves turn yellow, red and brown and fall to the ground. Most birds fly away to warm countries. The farm­ers begin to harvest⁵ what they sowed in spring. But there are some sunny days in late September that is called Indian summer⁶.

But gradually it gets colder and colder. The landscape becomes very dull. Nature slowly falls asleep. In winter the sun sets early and rises late. The days are the shortest and the nights are the long­est. The rivers and lakes are frozen over. The sky is grey, the sun shines but doesn't give warmth. Every­thing is covered with snow. The weather gets frosty. Sometimes it is very cold, about 20-25 degrees be­low zero. Winter is a good time for sport.

As for me, I like all seasons, but best of all I like spring.

Vocabulary

1. its own way — по-своєму 4. to become sunburnt — загоріти

2. thunder — грім 5. harvest — збирати врожай

3. lightning — блискавка 6. Indian summer — «бабине літо»

Questions

1. How many seasons are there in a year?

2. Why do we like spring very much?

3. Is summer the best season for tourism?

4. Do you like late autumn? Why?

5. What is the weather like in winter?

TODAY'S WEATHER AND MY ATTITUDE TO IT

"Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it". Some people think these words belong to Mark Twain, but no one is quite sure. However, we can see it is a joke, because it is hardly possible to do anything about the weather.

Why are we so worried about our weather? The answer is that we cannot accept¹ the fact that we have a terrible climate in our zone. It's not quite surprising when people take much notice of the weather reports in newspapers, on radio and television. For a start, no one really understands what they mean when the forecasters² use words like "depression"³ and "anti-cyclone".⁴ And anyway, we never believe what they say will happen. We also like to be surprised.

According to the weather forecast which I've heard on the radio report in the morning, it will be cloudy today with rain in places. I'm sure that in an hour it'll start drizzling⁵ and it will go on till night. I don't like such weather. I like the warmth and heat in summer. But some­times the heat⁶ may be oppressive, because of great number of mosquitoes and flies.⁷ In summer I like to see a bright sun, a blue sky without any clouds and without possible show­ers.⁸ It's awfully dull when it's drizzling from early morning till late at night. I like a gentle wind⁹ but not a hard one which blows the hats off¹⁰ the people and brings cold air.

The main thing I don't like about the weather is its unpredictability¹¹ and ability to change quite suddenly and at the wrong mo­ment. When, for example, we are going to go to the beach but the clouds promise rain and soon it is raining cats and dogs, there are puddles¹² everywhere. But in a spell¹³ the strong wind begins to lessen¹⁴ in force and nasty-looking clouds¹⁵ disappear and a lovely rainbow¹⁶ ap­pears in the blue sky. We aren't able to see a single drop of rain in a moment.

It's a true saying that after rain or cloud comes fair¹⁷ weather, but let me confess that every weather is beautiful and attractive in its own way. I completely agree with the words of one famous poet who said, "I see no reason to speak in praise of any season".

Vocabulary

1. accept — миритися 10. to blow off — здувати

2. forecasters — синоптики 11. unpredictability - непередбачуваність

3. depression — пригнічений стан 12. puddles — калюжі

4. anti-cyclone — антициклон 13. in a spell — через деякий час

5. start drizzling — починати накрапати 14. lessen — зменшуватись

6. heat — спека 15. nasty-looking clouds — похмурі хмари

7. mosquitoes and flies — комарі та мухи 16. rainbow — веселка

8. shower — злива 17. fair — чистий, світлий

9. gentle wind — легкий вітер

Questions

1. The weather is a favourite conversational topic in England, isn't it?

2. Do you find this topic of conversation interesting? Why?

3. What kind of weather do you like the best?

4. Where do you get the weather forecast from? Do you believe it?

5. Do you know the weather forecast for tomorrow?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qi9AtVqfok&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFlgePf9VU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wKoRdQ_JN8

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29