2268

21.A … is an open space for a fire in the wall of a room.

22.An … is a comfortable chair with sides on which you can rest your arms.

11. Complete the sentences by filling in the correct word from the box in Ex. 10.

1.An old man asleep sitting in an … and reading his newspaper.

2.Don’t just leave your dirty plates in the … and don’t leave the tap running.

3.Each room I've stayed in has a cracked … in the bathroom.

4.Once opened, this product should be kept in the … .

5.Put this magazine and the cup on the … in front of the sofa.

6.She always sits at the … while she comb her hair in the morning.

7.She could see the rain in the light of the street … .

8.The … ’s boiled! Do you want some tea?

9.The dog jumped onto the … and smudged the cover.

10.We don’t do much in the evenings except watch … .

11.You can find everything you need for your summer holidays in your …: a swimming costume, a skirt, two T- shirts and jeans.

12.What’s your favourite room? Why? Draw its plan. Let your partner guess what objects are in your room.

E.g. Is there a sofa in your room? – Yes, there is.

13.Describe the room of your partner.

14.Do you live in a flat or in a house? Do you rent it? Do you have any problems? What problems can happen between flatmates? Brainstorm ideas with the class about these issues:

housework money TV music

bathroom telephone friends food

15. Before you start reading:

Explain the words in bold and then suggest synonyms for the highlighted words in Ex.17.

16. Complete the sentences with a word from the box.

tenant deposit furnished advance landlord share

1.A …….. is a person who has the use of a house, flat, etc., subject to the payment of rent.

2.A …….. is money given in part payment or as security.

3.In ……... means beforehand.

4.To ……… is to join with others in the use of something.

5.A man who owns property is called a ………

6.…….. means provided with furniture, carpets, etc.

17. Complete the following text with the words from Ex. 16.

When I was a student, my girlfriend and I decided to (1……..) a flat. We didn’t have any stuff of our own, so we tried to find a nice (2……..) flat. We soon found somewhere that we both liked and we decided to take it. It was in a nice location and the house was really charming outside. Inside, the flat is modern and comfortable. It has two rooms and a kitchen with all modern equipment.

We had to pay a (3……..) of $500 and one month’s rent in (4……..) – a total of $1000. We were lucky because the previous (5……..) had left the place really clean and tidy. So we moved in the next day.

Our (6……..) said we could paint the rooms if we wanted to. So I painted mine bright red!

18. In small groups, design your dream home and garden. Plan your ideal home:

where the house is;

the number of rooms;

upstairs and downstairs;

the furniture;

24

the colours;

the garden;

any pets.

Include information about the rooms, décor, furniture, equipment, facilities, location and staff. Use your imagination! Draw a plan of the house and label it. Prepare a short presentation to the class. Do some illustrations or print out some images from the Internet. Have a class vote for the best house.

19. Has your house got brick walls, glass windows, a roof and a front door? Read about these houses. They haven’t!

Aslak lives in the North of Canada. Sometimes he lives in a normal north Canadian house. But he is a hunter, and he often goes on long hunting trips. Then he makes an igloo out of the snow and the windows out of ice. It doesn’t have a front door – it has a tunnel instead.

Coober Pedy in South Australia is very hot. Sometimes the temperature there is over 50 degrees Celsius. That’s where Janet lives. You can’t see her house because she lives underground. It’s not so hot there. She has a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom but no windows, no roof, and the walls are rock!

Hashim lives in Malaysia. His house is above the ground, not on it. It’s got windows but there isn’t any glass in them. Malaysia is a very hot country and Malaysians like the air to blow through their houses.

Is your house typical of your country? Describe it!

20. Project task. Use the Internet or encyclopedias to search for “weird houses” e.g. igloo, clay-walled hut, cave, caravan, etc. Bring a printout and description to the next class. Prepare a short presentation.

25

WEATHER

1.When would you expect to see a rainbow? Role-play the dialogue.

- What’s the weather like in Omsk?

- Lovely! It’s 28 degrees and sunny! And what was the weather like in Washington? - It was rather hot, about 25 degrees.

2.Match the words and the pictures (pic. 11a – 11r):

Pic. 11a ____________ Pic. 11b ____________ Pic. 11c ____________

Pic. 11d ___________ Pic. 11e ____________ Pic. 11f ____________

Pic. 11g ____________ Pic. 11h ____________ Pic. 11i ____________

26

6. Put the following adjectives into the correct pattern below:

lovely miserable beautiful horrible fabulous glorious terrible foul

What ………/………/………/………weather! It hasn’t stopped raining all day. What ………/………/………/………weather! Let’s go down to the beach!

7. Look at the photo of Siberia (pic. 12). What’s the weather like? Do you like living in Siberia? Why/Why not?

Pic. 12

8. Read what Victor says about the weather in Siberia. Put one of these adverbs in each sentence: always even never normally often sometimes still usually

Here in the most parts of Siberia the winter is ___________1) very long and freezing! Rain turns to snow in November and the snow doesn’t _____________2) disappear until May. The temperature is ____________3) about - 25 degrees centigrade, but it’s ______________4) much colder. When it’s – 35 degrees children can’t go to school, but adults __________5) go to work! We wear a lot of warm clothes: socks and boots, sweaters, hats, and fur coats. All the houses have central heating so it’s __________6) cold inside. In winter, we close all the windows to stop the wind from getting in, and we don’t open them again until spring.

In spring it’s a little warmer, but it rains a lot, and we hardly ever see the sun. The weather is terrible and there are a lot of huge puddles. When the temperatures fall below zero the roads become icy. In summer it’s __________7) about 25 degrees, but the weather’s very changeable. One day it’s 30 and the next day it’s chilly – about 10. A day can

start warm and dry but end cool and humid. People say that the weather was _________8) colder in the past. They think it changed after Chernobyl.

9.Find the words in the text that mean:

 extremely cold.

 producing a pleasant feeling of coldness.  moderately hot.

 moist, damp.

 causing or feeling cool or moderately cold.

10.Use these words to complete the sentences:

1.It’s absolutely ………out. I’d put a coat on if I were you.

2.We’ve had lovely sunshine. It’s been so ………I’ve been on the beach every day.

3.I was on holiday in Thailand last month. It was so ………all the time. My clothes were always wet. Thank goodness the hotel had air-conditioning.

4.It was pretty hot down at the beach but there was a lovely ………breeze.

5.It’s a bit ………in here. I think I’ll put the heating on.

11. Is it true or false? In Siberia

 In winter drivers have to take extra-care.

28

In spring you’d better take a raincoat or an umbrella when you go for a walk.

In summer you can catch a cold.

12. Match the words:

1) strong; 2) pouring with; 3) icy; 4) cloudless; 5) weather; a) rain; b) sky; c) wind; d) forecast; e) roads.

13. Read the weather forecast and write your own one for the next two days.

Weather: England and Wales will start cloudy without breaks of rain. However, brighter, showery weather already over Scotland and Northern Ireland will slowly spread south and east throughout the day. The showers will be heaviest and most frequent in the north, falling as sleet or snow over hills and mountains, with drifting occurring in places. It will feel cold in the blustery and strong westerly wind. "Daily Express"

14. Role-play the following anecdotes.

1.A traveler in Scotland was caught in the rain and, wet to the skin, he took shelter in a shepherd’s hut. “Your country is very fine,” said the traveler to the shepherd, “but there are often storms and it rains always.”

“No, sir,” said the shepherd, “the weather in Scotland is not so bad; it does not always rain, it snows sometimes.”

2.-Why, Tommy, why do you have your umbrella open? It isn’t raining.

-Well, you see, when it rains, Dad always takes the umbrella. I get it only when we have fine weather.

3.-What do we see over our heads in fine weather? -The blue sky, sir.

-And when it rains? -An umbrella, sir.

4.MOTHER: Get up, you lazy boy. See, the sun is up and you are still in bed. BOY: Yes, but the sun goes to bed at six o’clock, and I go to bed at nine.

5.“How did you find the weather in London?” asked the friend of the returned traveler.

“You don’t have to find the weather in London,” replied the traveler. “It bumps into you at every corner.”

6.A local forecaster of the weather was so often wrong in his predictions that he became the laughing stock of the community. He, therefore, asked headquarters to transfer him to another station. A brief correspondence ensued. “Why,” asked headquarters, “do you wish to be transferred?”

“Because,” the forecaster promptly replied, “the climate doesn’t agree with me.”

7.“Is this a healthy climate?” asked a stranger of a native of a certain region in the West.

“It sure is,” replied the native. “When I came here I couldn’t utter a word; I had scarcely a hair on my head. I hadn’t the strength to walk across the room, and I had to be lifted from my bed.”

“That is wonderful,” exclaimed the stranger. “How long have you been here?” “I was born here.”

8.“It was so cold where we were,” boasted the Arctic explorer, “that the candle froze and we couldn’t blow it out.” “That’s nothing,” said his rival. “Where we were the words came out of our mouths in pieces of ice, and we had to fry them to see what we were talking about.”

9.An American and a Scotchman were discussing the cold experienced in winter in the north of Scotland.

“Why, it’s nothing at all compared to the cold we have in the United States,” said the American. “I can recollect one winter when a sheep, jumping from a hillock into a field, became suddenly frozen on the way, and stuck in the air like a mass of ice.”

“But, man,” exclaimed the Scotchman, “the law of gravity wouldn’t allow that.” “I know that,” replied the American, “but the law of gravity was frozen, too.” 10. - What is the weather like?

- It’s so cloudy I can’t see.

15. Study the following dialogue. Underline the correct word to complete each sentence. The first one has been done for you.

STUDENT FROM SIBERIA: Oh! The heat/hot is just awful! I’m being roasted alive by this sun/moon. STUDENT FROM AFRICA: But it’s not so hot!

STUDENT FROM SIBERIA: Suppose you will laugh at me, but I love the cold/coldest. I’ve lived all my life in Siberia, and although the winters/winds are severe, they are exhilarating.

STUDENT FROM EGYPT: Is it really so coldest/cold there?

STUDENT FROM SIBERIA: Not to me, of course. I’m used to it, and can bear the cold very well, whereas I can’t stand the heat. Where I live it’s never very hot. You sleep/see, we’re exposed to the cold north wind, and snow. STUDENT FROM FRANCE: That’s so. I remember enough of my chemistry/geography to know that. You have extremes in summer and winter temperatures which we of Western Europe haven’t got.

STUDENT FROM CRIMEA: Now, we, on the southern shore/shoe of the White/Black Sea, have an exceptionally warm climate, because there we are protected from the northern winds by mountains. It’s like the Mediterranean/

29

Meditirranean climate, with a maximum of rainfall/snowfall in winter and a minimum in summer. That just suits me; I don’t mind the heat at all. How about you?

STUDENT FROM EGYPT: I don’t mind/kind it either. Not a bit. On the contrary, I enjoy it.

STUDENT FROM THE FAR NORTH: Well, no wonder, the greater part of Africa is within the tropics/topics. We all like the climate we are accustomed to.

STUDENT FROM EGYPT: Of course, I fully agree with you. But the scorching heat of the Desert of Subaru/Sahara is too much even for me. Where I live, however, on the Mediterranean, close to the bank of Nile, it is simply wonderful. You would call it hot, no doubt, but there are cool breezes/freezes from the sea, - at least we consider them cool.

STUDENT FROM THE FAR NORTH: There is much mixture/moisture, isn’t there?

STUDENT FROM EGYPT: Oh, yes, and because of that the soil is remarkably fertile/versatile. You should see the luxuriant vegetation/vegetables! You have never seen the like of it. You must all come and visit us!

16. Circle in the text the synonyms to the words in italics.

1. I can’t stand the heat. 2. We are separated from the warm southerly winds by mountains. 3. We have a great amount of rainfall in winter, and a small amount in summer. 4. I don’t object to the heat at all. 5. This climate is just what I like. 6. And what is your opinion? 7. We get used to our own climate and like it. 8. I have the same opinion as you. 9. I’ve never seen anything like this luxuriant vegetation.

17.Compose short dialogues (about climate) between: 1) an inhabitant of Siberia and a guest from Cuba;

2) a student from the Crimea and a student from California; 3) an inhabitant of Georgia and a guest from Romania;

4) a student from Latvia and a guest from England.

18.Read the following letter from a London student.

April 28th, 2009

Dear Helen,

I have just come back from Russia. Every one of us had such a wonderful time, and learned so much about your country and people!

You promised to come in the autumn, and so I’ll be expecting you. If you could manage to pay us a visit in the spring, or even in the winter, it would be so much better. I don’t say it will be cold in November; not at all. You know that our climate is much milder than yours, on the whole. I must admit that sometimes I shivered with cold in Moscow and in St. Petersburg. In the Crimea it was more pleasant, of course. I think the climate of London is about the same as that of the Crimea and the south of Russia. But London has a more even climate than either of these places.

All the same, whenever you come, you will be welcome. We’ll make a trip to Ireland, where the climate is just perfect. I often spend my summer holidays there. You know Ireland is called “The Emerald Isle” because the grass is green there almost all the year round.

Well, anyway, in spite of the fact that a London fog, especially in November, is as thick as pea-soup; it’s worth seeing!

When a fog appears suddenly, the traffic gets hopelessly disorganized, the streets lamps are lighted even in broad daylight, fog signals are heard on the Thames and the trains are out of schedule.

But never mind; after all, it’s not so bad as I’m painting it. Anyhow, it will be a great experience for you and we’ll go sightseeing together. I’ll show you everything worth seeing in and about London.

Give my love to your mother. Your friend,

Sam.

19. Study the rules of writing letters a) Envelope

RETURN ADDRESS

ADDRESS

Name and surname

30

Number and name of the street

Name of the town

Post code/ Zip code

Country

b) What a letter looks like

SENDER’S ADDRESS

DATE

SALUTATION

BODY OF THE LETTER

COMPLIMENTERY CLOSE

SIGNATURE

c) How to begin a letter

Thank you for your letter, which arrived yesterday. Thanks for your letter. It was good to hear from you. It was very kind of you to write.

Forgive me not writing earlier, but… I’m sorry for not writing for so long. How are things with you and your family?

d) How to end a letter

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. I hope we’ll see each other very soon.

Have a good time and write often. Take good care of yourself. Best regards.

Please give my love to everyone.

20. Complete the letter.

Box No 653

57 Regent St.

London 76888

(1) _______________

(2)____________ Jane,

(3) ___________ for your (4) _________. It was good to (5) ______________ from you.

All is well with me here in London. The weather is fine. It is not raining. The sun is shining brightly. It has been a very hot summer here in London, and autumn has not arrived yet.

Have a good time and (6) _______________ often. Please (7) ________________ my love to everyone.

(8) ________________, Mike

21.Write a letter to your friend in London. Include a description of the climate in your region.

22.Be ready to discuss some interesting facts about nature and climate. Student A, B, C, …, you are geographers (you will have to prepare a short presentation concerning the climate). Student D, F, G, …, you

31

are tourist agents (you will advertise your tours using the information presented by the geographers). The information below can be helpful.

1.In the Strait of Gibraltar the strong winds, the light winds, the foggy winds, nearly always blow from the west or from the east. Because of the mountains, the winds scarcely ever blow from the north or south at sea level, though they quite often do so at heights above the mountains tops. For this reason the airport at Gibraltar needs to have only one runway, which lies from east to west; aircraft can then land and take off facing the wind.

2.In the equatorial belt, on either side of the Amazon River, there are dense tropical forests, where giant trees spring up and grow so close together that they no branches except at the top. The struggle is not for moisture, of which there is much at all seasons, but for light and air.

3.Water retains heat longer than the land. The temperature of the air over and near the sea is more uniform than that over the land, while the climate near the sea is subject to less extremes of temperature.

4.The higher the land, the rarer the air and the lower the temperature.

5.Dog-days are the hottest days of the summer. They cover a period of 40 days, from July 3d to August 11th, when Sirius, or the dog-star, rises and sets with the sun. The ancient superstition was that this star exercised a direct influence on dogs.

6.Sometimes the clouds are so low in the mountains that an airplane pilot can see only the tops of high mountains. When it is raining in the valleys, it may be snowing higher up in the mountains. The nights are cold in the mountains; in the valleys it may be stifling hot.

7.The beautiful colour effect, which we call a rainbow, is visible to the observer when he stands with his back to the sun and faces a rain shower. A rainbow is caused by the refraction and reflection of sunlight in minute water droplets in the air. From high in the air it would be possible to see a rainbow as a complete circle. From the ground the most that can be seen is a semi-circle when the sun is just on the horizon; the higher the sun is, the smaller the arc of the rainbow.

8.There are no thunder-storms and lightning in Polar Regions because the clouds all freeze too quickly.

9.Sunday, in ancient times, was the day on which the sun was worshipped. The first Sunday law, establishing Sunday a rest day, was made by Constantine the Great (Roman emperor from 323 A. D.) in 321 A. D., in which it was decreed that all should rest from their labours upon “the day of the sun”.

10.February, when first introduced into the Roman calendar, about 713 B. C., was the last month of the year and preceded January. It was not until 450 B. C. that it became the second month.

11.In the old Roman calendar, March (named after Mars, the god of war) was the first month. May, named after the goddess Maia, was the third month. September was the 7th month; the name was changed several times by different emperors, but none of the new names survived for long. October was the 8th month. November was the 9th; but from

713B. C., when January and February were added, it became the 11th month. December was originally the 10th month.

12.The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox, in September. It rises for several nights running about the same time, and yields an unusual series of moonlight nights.

32