XII. Reading and Comprehension

Read and translate the text.

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 in 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 is the worst time of the year.

What is the weather like today?

What weather are we having today? - Яка сьогодні погода?

It is raining (snowing).

It is freezing hard.

It is going to rain (to snow).

It is getting warmer (colder).

The weather is fine (bad, warm, cold, rainy, sunny, coldly, windy)

It is warm (cold) today.

It is raining hard (fast).

It looks like rain – Схоже на дощ.

It is cloudly today. - Сьогодні пасмурно

What a lovely day! – Який гарний день .

It keeps fine. - Стоїть хороша погода/

The weather is going to change for the better (worse).

Read the poem by Robert Burns

The flowery Spring leads sunny Summer,

And yellow Autumn presses near,

Then in his turn cmes gloomy Winter,

Fill smiling Spring again appear.