Objectives:
• to revise and enrich students' vocabulary on the topic
• to practise extensive and intensive reading
• to improve learners' skills for listening and comperension
Warm up
What do you think about the weather in England?
Listen to a short story about the weather. Say whether you have
understood it.
FINE WEATHER IN LONDON
The English have many sayings, one of which is "As clear as London
on a foggy day". The general opinion is that London has fog or rain, or
both every day of the year but on the day that I came it was fine and warm, the
sun was shining brightly and there were no clouds in the sky. The next day was
just as beautiful; a slight wind was blowing and you could smell the spring in
the air. I went for a walk and I didn't think of taking my umbrella with me.
They say I was lucky. Yet I do not understand why Enghshmen speak about the
weather so often.
Introducing the Topic
Vocabulary
A) Keywords:
Weather — погода
Bad (fine) weather — погана (добра) погода
Beastly (nasty, wretched) weather — дуже
погана погода
Damp (raw, moist, wet) weather — сира погода
Dull weather — похмура погода
Fair weather — ясна погода
Fine weather for young ducks — жарт, дощова погода
Foggy (misty, hazy)weather — туманна погода
Lovely weather — чудова погода
Severe (cold) weather — холодна погода
Sudden change in the weather — різка зміна погоди
Sultry weather — дуже жарка, спекотна погода
Sunny weather — сонячна погода
Unsettled weather — нестійка погода
Weather becomes (gets) cold — стає холодніше
Weather forecast — прогноз погоди
В)
Proverbs and expressions. Try to give Ukrainian
variants of these proverbs and expressions.
Like a bolt from the blue sky — как гром
среди ясного неба; как снег на голову; откуда ни возьмись.
A cloud on one's happiness — омрачённое счастье.
Every cloud has a silver lining — поел. Нет худа без добра.
If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun — поел. Чем
ночь темней, тем ярче звёзды.
One cloud is enough to ecUpse the sun — поел. Одно облако может заслонить
солнце.
То be under the a cloud — 1)
в плачевном состоянии; в тяжёлом положении; 2) в немилости, под сомнением.
Foggy ideas — туманные идеи.
Listening
ENGLISH WEATHER
The English people say: "There is no cUmate in England, there's
only weather". Weather in England is very changeable. A fine morning can
change into a wet afternoon and evening. And a nasty morning can change into a
fine afternoon. That's why it is natural for the English to use the comparison
as "changeable as the weather" of a person who often changes his mood
or opinion about something.
The English say that they have three variants of weather: when it rains
in the morning, when it rains in the afternoon or when it rains all day long.
British people talk about the weather in England more than anywhere in
the world. That's because the weather there changes very quickly. When two
Englishmen meet, their first words will be "How are you?" and after
the reply "Very well, thank you; how are you?" the next remark is
almost certain to be about the weather. When they go abroad the English often
surprise people of other nationaUties by this tendency to talk about the
weather, a topic of conversation that other people do not find so interesting.
The best time of the year in England is spring (of course, it rains in
spring too). The two worst months of the year are January and February, They
are cold, damp and unpleasant. The best place in the world then is at home by
the fire.
Summer months are rather cold and there can be a lot of rainy days. So
most people, who look forward to summer holidays, plan to go abroad for summer,
to France or somewhere on the continent.
The most unpleasant aspects of English weather is fog and smog.
Answer the questions.
1. The weather in England is very changeable, isn't it?
2. What comparison do English use when they want to describe a person
whose mood and opinion changes very often?
3. How often does it rain in England?
4. The weather is favourite conversational topic in England, isn't it?
Do you find this topic of conversation interesting?
5. What is the best time of the year in England?
5. What do you know about London fogs?
6. What kind of weather do you like best of all?
7. Where do you get the weather forecast from? Do you always believe it?
Reading
Cloze test
Every eighth word in the text is omitted. Try to guess it.
This is how the English writer Jerome K. Jerome makes fun of the Englishmen's
universal "interest" in the weather:
"I wanted to write about something absolutely_(new), something that
nobody else had ever written_(or) talked about before. I spent many days _(trying) to think
of something of this kind_(and) I couldn't.
When I asked for advice,_(they) advised me to write about the weather. _(And) since that
time I was able to_(think) of nothing else but the weather.
It_(certainly) is a very, very, very bad weather._(It) is so now, at the
time when_(I) am writing, and if it isn't unpleasant_(when) you read this, it
soon will be.
_(It) always is
wretched weather, according to us._(In) summer we say
it's too hot, in_(winter) that it's too cold, in spring and_(autumn) it is bad
because it is neither_(hot) nor cold. If it is fine, we_(say) the country is
ruined because it doesn't_(rain); if it rains, we wish for fine_ (weather). If
December passes without snow we want_(to) know what has become of our
good_(old) winters, and when it snows we are_(again) not happy, We'll never be
happy until_(each) man makes his own weather, and keeps_(it) to himself.
Relaxation
Comment on the jokes.
1. A traveller 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
always rains".
"No, sir", said the shepherd, "the weather in Scotland is
not so bad; it doesn't always rain, it snows sometimes".
2. "Is this a healthy climate?" asked a stranger of a native
of a certain region in 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 the bed".
"That is wonderful", explained the stranger. "How long
have you been here?"
"I was born here".
Reading
Read he text, find the most important information and make up dialogues
using this information.
The weather in Great Britain changes very often and it is, of course,
quite important. It plays a big role in the lives of the British people. Every
daily newspaper publishes a weather forecast.
The longest night of the year is on December 22, when it is dark for
about 17 hours. Although December 22 is the middle of winter, the coldest
months of the year are often January and February. The shortest night is about
June 21, when it's dark for a little less than 7 hours; the following months,
July and August, are often the warmest.
Although spring can be wet, windy or both, the weather is getting warmer
then and there are more sunny days. In fact, there can be as much sunshine in
spring as there is sunshine in summer, and May is quite often a lovely warm
month in many parts of Britain. The weather in summer can be sunny and
pleasant, even hot, but it can rain in summer too as at any time of the year.
With trees in the woods and in the parks changing colour, the autumn can be a
beautiful season. It's a time when the weather changes too, but there are days
when it's still pleasant to be outside.
When winter arrives snow is possible and is fairy common on high ground
and on the north. Winter is also the season when storms and high winds are most
frequent.
Speaking
Work in pairs.
The students make up dialogues using he information they received in the
text.
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