VI. Seasons and weather
Focus Vocabulary
nature – природа to burst into leaf – зазеленеть earth – земля ray – луч mild – умеренный, тихий meadow – луг, низина cloudless – безоблачный to scorch – обжигать oppressed – подавленный stack – стог hay – сено overcast – затянутый облаками storm – гроза, буря thunder – гром |
hail – град glittering – блестящий crop – урожай orchard – фруктовый сад branch – ветка ash – пепел, зола to glimmer – мерцать gloomy – темный, мрачный dreary – тоскливый, печальный to sparkle – искриться snowy – снежный severe – суровый blizzard – пурга wind – ветер |
Seasons
The year is divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Spring is the season of hope and happiness. In spring nature awakens from her long winter sleep. The trees are bursting into leaf, the earth is warmed by the rays of the sun and the weather gets gradually milder. The fields and the meadows are covered with fresh green grass. The woods and forests are filled with the songs of the birds. The sky is blue and cloudless. At night millions of stars shine in the darkness.
Summer is the hottest season of the year. The bright sunshine scorches the earth. Not a single cloud is in the sky. It is pleasant to get out of town where no one is so oppressed with the heat and wander around woods, hills and valleys. The fields are green and shorn – here and there big stacks of hay are seen. Though the weather is mainly hot in summer, sometimes the sky can be overcast with heavy clouds and there are storms with thunder and even hail.
But on moves the earth in its race round the sun. The days are becoming shorter, the sun rays are loosing their glittering force and autumn, one of the most picturesque seasons, is approaching. Autumn brings with it the harvest-time, when the crops are gathered in and fruit is picked in the orchards. The days get shorter and the nights longer. The trees turn yellow and red, leaves begin to fall from the trees, and the ground is beautifully covered with them. The sky is grey almost all the time and very often in rains. After autumn comes winter.
Winter is the season of black and white. The coloures are washed away from the trees leaving naked branches black while snow is covering the earth. The snow covers the fences and hedges so that they no longer mark the road over the plain. The clouds are gray like ashes. The red sun flashes through the gray clouds on the windows and they glimmer red. But the pictures of winter are not always gloomy and dreary. The sun in winter can shine from a clear blue sky and the snow sparkles then under it like a jewels.
Winter is not the same everywhere of course. In Serbia for instance and North Canada winter is usually snowy, severe, cold and long lasting. The temperature can fall as low as 50 degrees Centigrade. Blizzards rage for days covering vast areas with a thick layer of snow. On the shores of the Black Sea, on the contrary, winter only means rains and winds. It never snows there.
It can hardly be denied that each season of the year possesses its own charm and has its own beauty and significance to man.
Say which of the statements are true. Correct the false ones.
The year is divided into four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall.
In spring the weather gets gradually colder.
Summer is the shortest season of the year.
The weather can be sometimes stormy in summer.
Autumn brings with it colourful scenery and harvest-time.
Rain is the most typical thing in winter.
Winters are usually cold and severe in Canada and Serbia.
Choose between “thunder”, “lightning” or “storm”
A flash of _____lit up the whole sky.
They could here_____rumbling in the distance.
A flash of_____was immediately followed by a clap of_____.
We were caught in a_____I'd never experienced before.
We are in for a big_____. The sky is covered with dark clouds. There was the first flash of_____just now.
Make an outline of the text consisting of 5-8 sentences and retell the text according to it.