Read the text and analyse the language peculiarities. Do exercises to remember them.
The English weather on the whole is not exceptionally good. It’s very damp, we have a lot of rain. Our weather is very changeable: a fine morning may change into a wet afternoon and evening.
Conversely, a miserable morning may give place to a glorious afternoon.
The English summer is usually disappointing. We expect during winter to have two or three months of extremely good weather, sunshine and hot weather, hot enough to bathe, to go to the sea. But summer months are often cool, there is always plenty of rain. Planning summer holidays is not easy because you can never depend on the weather. One year June may be hot and sunny and July and August rainy, another year it might be the other way round. So many people who look forward to the summer holidays, if they can afford it, go abroad for their holidays, though there are so many lovely beaches on the English coast.
The English winter is not cold. The temperature seldom falls below 3 – 4 degrees. The usual temperature is about zero. The air is frequently damp and foggy. It often rains and it seldom snows. The snow melts very quickly.
Autumn is the season of foggy, windy days. A spell of sunny weather in October is called an Indian Summer.
Spring is a warm and beautiful season. Spring flowers start to bloom from February. The weather in spring however, is changeable, and even if the sky is blue without a single cloud in the morning there is no guarantee that it may not rain within a short time. It is always wise to take a mac or an umbrella.
No conversation ever starts in England without a comment on the weather. It is almost a formality like shaking hands. “How do you do?”, “Nice day today, isn’t it?”, “Isn’t it hot today?”, “Isn’t it a beastly day?”, “Shocking weather, isn’t it?” – these remarks are often used when speaking about the weather.
EXERCISES
1. Use the correct forms of the verbs “rain” and “snow”:
1. It ___ again today. It ___ almost every day.
2. We didn’t go to the country on the weekend because it ___ all day long.
3. ___ it ___ when you left home? – Yes, it ___ heavily.
4. – When ___ it last ___? – Two weeks ago.
5. Take an umbrella. It ___.
6. It often ___ last winter, ___ it?
7. ___ it still ___? – Yes, it is.
8. ___ it ___ on Monday morning? – No, it ___.
9. It often ___ here at this time of the year, ___?
2. Answer the questions:
What do you think the weather will be like tomorrow? on Sunday? in June? in July? in autumn? next week?
e.g. I think it’ll be hot next week.
Prompts: cool, sunny, rainy, warm, lovely, fine, damp, foggy, windy, cold, wet.
3. Translate into English (self check):
1. Возможно, что завтра будет дождь. Пожалуй. Дождь идет каждый день. Октябрь всегда здесь очень сырой.
2. Вчера шел сильный дождь и было очень холодно.
3. В прошлом месяце часто шел снег, а в этом месяце часто идут дожди.
4. Обычно в июле здесь тепло, но нынешний июль прохладный.
5. – Когда в последний раз шел снег?
– В пятницу.
6. Я с нетерпением жду лета. Я и моя сестра едем на юг.
7. – Вчера шел снег?
– Да, но он быстро растаял.
8. На небе ни облачка. Думаю, что дождя сегодня не будет.