Seasons

There are four seasons in a year and three months in every season.

Spring, summer, autumn and winter are the four seasons. March, April and May are the spring months; June, July and August are the summer months; September, October and November are the autumn months; December, January and February are the winter months.

In spring the days become longer and the nights shorter. Bright spring sunshine melts snow in the fields and in the streets, and iced sheets on the rivers and lakes. It gets warmer. The temperature rises. Nature wakes up. Trees begin to bud and soon tiny green leaves appear. Meadows and valleys grow green again, flowers begin blooming. Forests are full of snowdrops and mercuries. It sometimes rains heavily, but spring rains are warm and pleasant. Though we often have thunderstorms in May, the weather is the finest. Fruit trees begin blossoming. Farmers till the soil and sow the seed. Meanwhile a new crop shoots up, and if there are no sharp frosts at night, nature looks full of promise, and wheat fields are bright because of blue cornflowers and red poppies. Spring flowers! Lilacs unfold their pale hearts. Wild daffodils shine in the sun – soft, slim, yellow, starry. Hyacinths almost get lost in the herbs; among them stand tulips – red bubbles of dark wine; yellow, more cup-like; large partly-colored gold and red, noble and sombre. Birds return from the south. Nightingales, swallows, cuckoos and other birds come back from Italy and Africa and build their nests singing their merry songs.

It’s no wonder that a lot of people prefer summer to any other season. In summer the days are the longest and the nights are the shortest. People spend their free time at the seaside and on river banks. They swim, bathe and lie in the sun. It is very warm and sometimes even hot. On some days the temperature rises to 30-35 degrees above zero Celsius. If heat gets too oppressive, we can go to the forest or to the mountains and pick mushrooms and berries, gather flowers, in short, rest well. There are plenty of berries, which are ripe and are good for the old and the young. The hot sun ripens wheat and fruit, and farmers get ready for the harvest. And what pleasure can compare with that of watching the glorious sunrise and sunset! Clouds? Rain? Well, well, it isn’t always cloudy, and there is no such a thing as perpetual rain.

At the beginning of autumn it is still warm and nice. Of course, there are some drawbacks. The days are shorter and the nights are longer, for instance. The weather also leaves much to be desired. November rains, fogs and mist, and sleet are not pleasant things. But is there anything more beautiful than Indian summer? There are a lot of apples, grapes, pears, apricots, plums, peaches and berries which get ripe and may be pickled. And for the sake of these we are ready to put up with some discomforts.

When autumn is over, winter sets in. The days are short and the nights are long. It is often cold and it sometimes freezes hard. Cold winds blow from the north. It often snows. The temperature is below zero, it may drop to 30 degrees below zero Celsius. There is much snow on the roads. It’s windy and frosty. It is the season of snowstorms, ice, frozen rivers and ponds, slippery streets. But those who adore winter don’t mind it at all. Just think of skating on the ice, or skiing in the countryside, and sledging. In snowy weather tobogganing is children’s favourite pastime. Winter has its own peculiar interest and beauty, and there is no reason to be bored to death when there are interesting books, movies, theatres and concerts. Of course, if winter is severe, one must take care not to get frost-bitten.

2

Discuss the following questions.

1. What kind of weather do you prefer?

2. What is the weather like (spring, summer, autumn and winter) in your home town? What is the average temperature?

3. Are there four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) in your country? Do you know countries where there are only two seasons (rainy and dry)?

4. Would you agree to live without one of the seasons? Why?

5. Do you feel better when it is cold or hot?

6. Which season to your mind has more advantages than disadvantages?

7. Which is the best season for a holiday?

8. What kind of weather do most people like / dislike? Why?

9. What are your favourite summer / spring / winter / autumn activities?

10. Which flowers do you like best? Why? What do they remind you? Do any sweet memories come to your mind when you recall these flowers?

11. Name birds which you know always migrate for the winter period / always stay in this country for winter.

3

Put the adjectives below in the column with the noun they are associated with.

abundant rising blazing beastly dense

warm sultry wonderful continental wintry

fitful subtropical fragrant cloudy violent

rainy foggy starlit nice leaden

falling fair below zero dark crisp

sunny windy grey chilly close

Air Sky Fog

Sun Wind Rain

Temperature Weather Climate

4

Here are some common weather words. Form adjectives by adding –y or in some other way.

noun	adjective	noun	adjective
sun		wind
cloud		ice
fog		rain
heat		humidity
cold		warmth
strength		mud

5

Give the antonyms to the following words.

Sunny Unsettled Scorching Continuous

Grey Dry Warm Falling

6

Give the synonyms to the following words.

Fine Thick Stifling Sharp Changeable

Falling Cloudy Nasty Steady Wet

7

Arrange these weather words in order from the coldest to the hottest.

cold --- cool --- freezing --- hot --- mild --- scorching --- frosty --- warm --- chilly --- catch-cold --- sultry.

8

Divide these weather words into two columns (good and bad weather).

gloomy --- misty --- fair --- dismal --- marvelous --- catch-cold --- clear --- bright

--- windy --- frosty --- drizzling --- dull --- lovely --- dusty.

9

Each of these pairs of words has a similar meaning, but one word in each pair is stronger. Make up sentences with these words.

1) fog / mist 2) cold / freezing 3) cool / cold

4) rain / drizzle 5) breeze / wind 6) hot / sultry

7) chilly / catch-cold 8) rain / downpour 9) snowstorm / blizzard

10

Match the words from the left-hand column with appropriate definition from the right-hand column. Choose any item and describe your attitude to it.

a) hurricane	1. heavy snowfall with strong wind
b) sleet	2. continuous period of dry weather
c) thunderstorm	3. melting dirty snow
d) flood	4. falling snow with rain
e) hoar-frost	5. frozen raindrops falling from the sky
f) snowstorm	6. great quantity of water in a place that is usually dry
g) thaw	7. violent windstorm
h) slush	8. white frost, frozen dew on grass, leaves
i) hail	9. snow and ice begin to melt
j) drought	10. thunder and lightning usually with heavy rain

11

True or false? If a sentence is false, write a true sentence about the weather.

1. It often pours in the desert. False: It never pours in the desert.

2. It can get very chilly in the desert at night.

3. Thunder makes a noise.

4. Lightning can kill people.

5. A shower is a light breeze.

6. A spell of hot weather may end in a thunderstorm.

7. When it is humid, the air is very dry.

8. Below 32 F / 0 C water turns to ice.

9. Drought is a long period of rain.

10. When it’s foggy, you need sunglasses.

12

Fill in the missing words from the list below.

Words to fill in:

to blossom --- to hide --- to fade away --- to rise --- to cover --- to bud ---

to prefer --- to appear --- to drizzle --- to sow --- to melt --- to go up;

oppressive --- overcast --- sunny --- attractive --- changeable --- pale --- dull -- tiny --- golden --- (the) healthiest --- brightly;

soil --- flood --- harvest --- fruit --- advent --- a spell --- blades --- icicles ---snowflakes --- out-of-doors.

1. In autumn the sky is often ____________, the sun ____________ behind the clouds and then ____________ again.

2. As autumn is a rainy season, the weather is mostly ____________, and, of course, it is not ____________.

3. I don’t like rain of any kind, even if it just ____________.

4. Nature begins ____________ in autumn.

5. Strange as it may seem, people ____________ autumn to any other season.

6. It is the time of ____________, tasty ____________ and vegetables, the time of beautiful ___________ leaves, the time when nature is very ____________.

7. People consider winter to be the ____________ season.

8. In winter the sun doesn’t shine ____________, its rays are ____________, it sets early and ____________ late.

9. Large ____________ slowly fall to the ground, streets and fields are ____________ with ice.

10. ____________ glitter in the sun in winter.

11. But children enjoy being ____________.

12. By the end of winter the temperature ___________ and snow begins ___________.

13. Rivers are in ____________ in spring.

14. Trees begin ____________ and soon ____________ green leaves appear.

15. Thin new ____________ of grass come up, fruit trees begin ____________.

16. Farmers till the ____________ and ____________ the seed.

17. We all welcome the ____________ of spring.

18. In fact, heat is sometimes ____________ in summer.

19. The weather is ____________ in summer. It may rain and then be hot.

20. There is a ____________ of sunny weather in September.

13

Tell what kind of day is probably based on the sentences below. There may be more than one good answer.

1. Watch out for sunburn.

2. Don’t step in the puddles of water!

3. You can’t see ten feet in front of you!

4. Walk carefully so you don’t slip.

5. Leave your sweater at home today.

6. It’s a good day for some ice cream.

7. Wear a sweater.

8. Wear your rain boots.

9. Wear your snow boots.

10.Wear your windbreaker.

14

What types of weather are good and bad for doing these things?

1. You want to plant flowers in the garden.

2. You would like to have an evening barbecue.

3. You are going out in a small sailing boat.

4. You want to spend a day of sightseeing in a big city.

5. Your children want to make a snowman.

6. You want to suntan.

7. You want to study English at home.

15

Find the mistakes and correct them.

1. Tomorrow the weather will be hot and humidity.

2. The roads was icy after the storm.

3. There were no clouds on the sky.

4. The temperature today is rise.

5. There were a cool, pleasant breeze this afternoon.

6. How is the weather?

7. It’s rains.

8. It warms.

9. There are four months in every season.

10. In summer the days are longest and the nights are shortest.

11. Sometimes it rains cats and mice.

12. The sky is often claudy.

13. “Fell”, by the way, is the name of autumn in American English.

14. In winter the days are shorter then the nights.

16

Describe the best and the worst seasons according to your liking.

Best Season

Months: _________________________________________________________

Weather: _________________________________________________________

What happens: ____________________________________________________

Worst Season

Months: __________________________________________________________

Weather: __________________________________________________________

What happens: _____________________________________________________

17

Make up a dialogue using the phrases from your vocabulary.

Abundant rain Hard frost Abominable weather Wintry sun Fitful wind White snowflakes Skiing and skating Crisp air

Stifling air Scorching sun Sultry-hot Violent wind Tender breeze Windsurfing A spell of charming weather Beastly weather

18

State everything connected with weather.

3 positive adjectives 4 negative adjectives

5 “hot” adjectives 2 “cold” verbs

7 nouns 4 “wet” adjectives 3 adverbs

Jokes