IS THE EARTH IN DANGER?
UNIT 6. IS THE EARTH IN DANGER?
READING
Ex.1 p.92
1. typhoon
2. flood
3. drought
4. famine
5. earthquake
6. forest fire
7. tornado
8. volcano eruption
9. tsunami
Ex. З p.94
1. C
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. C
6. A
7. B
8. C
Ex.4 p.94
1. D
2. B
3. A
4. E
5. C
Ex.5a p.95
1. A tornado is one of the names of cyclonic storm that forms over the ocean. It is caused by evaporated water that coined from the ocean.. Typhoon is another name for it.
2. Hailstorms are rain drops that have formed together into ice.
3. Floods are the result of prolonged rainfall from a storm, rapid melting of large amounts of snow, or rivers which rise up their levels of water.
4. An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from a sudden release of stored energy that radiates seismic waves. It shows itself by a shaking
5. An avalanche is a slide of a large snow (or rock) mass down a mountainside. It is one of the major dangers faced in the mountains in winter.
6. A tsunami is a wave of water caused by the displacement of a body of water. It can be caused by undersea earthquakes or by meteorological phenomena.
7. A heat wave is a hazard characterized by heat which is considered extreme and unusual in the area in which it occurs.
8. A landslide is a closely related to an avalanche, but instead of occurring with snow, it occurs involving actual elements of the ground, including rocks, trees, parts of houses etc., which may happen to be swept up. It can be caused by an earthquake or a volcanic eruption.
9. A blizzard is a severe winter storm condition characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy blowing snow.
16. A hurricane is a natural disaster resulting from a thunderstorm. It is a violent, rotating column of air, which can blow at speeds between 48 and 50 km/h and possibly higher. It can occur one at a time or can occur along lines occupying large areas.
11.
12. A drought is defined as an acute shortage of water and crop failure. It is an abnormally dry period when there is not enough water to support water needs.
13. A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire burning in wild land areas. Common causes include lightning and drought but they may also be started by human carelessness.
VOCABULARY
Ex.1 p.97
1. Carelessness is often the cause of fires.
2. The cause of the accident is still not known.
3. What is the cause of lightning?
4. Scientists attribute changes in the weather to natural reason.
5. The cause of earthquakes is the heat inside the earth.
6. Never stay away from school without good reason.
7. There is no reason to suppose he will forget.
8. What was the reason for your refusal to go there?
Ex.2 p.97
Land movement disasters: avalanches; earthquakes; landslides; volcanic eruption.
Water disasters: tsunamis; Hoods; hailstorms.
Weather disasters: blizzards; hurricanes; heat waves; fires; ice storms; tornadoes; droughts.
Ex.3 p.97
The airport in Quito was closed yesterday because of the damage that volcanic ash could cause to flights. The ash thrown up by the volcano Guagua Pichineha could also cause serious damage to agriculture. It might make breathing difficult for people and animals. At one moment, it looked as if the volcano might erupt slowly. This slow eruption could last for months or even years. The mayor of Quito said: ‘We must learn to live next to this volcano. What else can we do? There is 10 per cent chance that it will be a long calm eruption. People should wear special masks when they go outside. We will continue to keep an eye on the situation, and we will inform the public of any other measures they should take.’
GRAMMAR
Ex.1 p.98
If we didn’t want to pollute the air, we would drive electric cars. If we didn’t want to cut out the forests, we would use less paper. If we created special parks for animals, we would teach hunters it’s wrong to kill animals.
If we drove electric cars, we would have less air pollution.
If we used less paper, we could avoid deforestation.
If we created special parks for animals, we could save lots of animals wouldn’t disappear.
If we taught hunters it’s wrong to kill animals, lots of animals wouldn’t disappear.
If we didn’t cut out forests, our environment would be much less polluted.
Ex.2 p.98
If the cities had more trees/green areas, people would have more oxygen.
If the authorities improved public transport, people wouldn’t buy so many cars.
If people used bicycles, the cities would be less polluted.
If people recycled things, there wouldn’t be so much rubbish everywhere.
If the authorities created more parks, the children could be able to play safety.
Ex.3 p.98
What would you do if you didn’t have (had) an exam the next day?
What would you do if you wasn’t (was) offered a job in Australia?
What would you do if you didn’t wake up (woke up) and see (saw) a snake in your bedroom?
What would you do if you didn’t meet (met) your friend of childhood?
What would you do if you didn’t get (got) too much change friary a shop assistant?
What would you do if you didn’t see (saw) somebody stealing something in a shop?
What would you do if you didn’t borrow (borrowed) a friend’s car and broke one of the lights?
LISTENING
Ex.1 p.99
1. earthquake
2. fire
3. flood
4. drought
5. avalanche
Ex.2 p.99
1. flood
2. hurricane
3. draught
Ex.3 p.99
1. The water in the rivers rose higher and higher and there was the danger of floods.
2. Hurricanes are very strong winds that come from the sea.
3. Hurricane Andrew killed 15 people in Florida and destroyed thousands of buildings.
4. It was in the west of Africa, The winds changed directions and the sea did not receive the rain for six years.
5. People and animals died because there wasn’t enough water.
Ex.4 p.99
1. T
2. F
3. F
4. T
SPEAKING
Ex.1 p.100
1. Yes, I have. I have heard and read about tsunami. A tsunami is a wave of water caused by the displacement of a body of water. It can be caused by undersea earthquakes or by meteorological phenomena.
2. No, I haven’t. I haven’t ever experienced a disaster.
3. Yes, I can. For example, a tsunami, a volcanic eruption, a drought, a blizzard, an avalanche, an earthquake, a flood, a tornado, a hailstorm, a hurricane, a fire.
4. I think that smoking is dangerous not only for nature, but very perilous for people’s he>
5. There were two floods in Transcarpathia – in 1999 and in 2001. It is possible to clearly define natural and man-made causes of these floods. The natural factor was dominating since an entire month’s worth of precipitation fell in one day.
USE YOUR ENGLISH
Ex.2 p.101
If we didn’t want to have air pollution, the concentration of smoke in the air should be controlled.
If people didn’t leave litter in the street, there wouldn’t be land pollution.
If we didn’t stop killing animal’s, there wouldn’t be disruption.
If we didn’t want a global warming, the number of cars shouldn’t be reduced.
Ex.3 p.102
A. Fire (9)
B. Typhoon (3)
C. Earthquake (5)
D. Tidal wave (10)
F. Volcano (7)
E. Drought (6)
G. Sandstorm (8)
H. Landslide (1)
I. Flood (4)
J. Famine (2)
Ex.4a p.103
A. Tropical Storms
B. Eruptions
C. Floods
D. Typhoons
Ex.4b p.104
These short newspaper notes discuss about natural disasters such as tropical storms, eruptions, floods and typhoons. Practically every day I hear this similar information in news. Different natural disasters destroy houses and buildings. People and animals die.
We must defend the environment.
Ex.8 p.102
I have experienced severe winter storms, including blizzards, ice storms, and cold down to -40 F and below. I have experienced Pacific typhoons, monsoons, Gulf of Mexico hurricanes, heavy rain, thunderstorms, hail, extreme heat, windstorms, dust storms and drought.
I have not (nor do I wish to) experienced a tornado.
While I have experienced both high and low temperatures, I have not experienced the most extreme examples of either. I have not been to Northern Greenland, Fairbanks, Alaska, Siberia, Antarctica, or Death Valley or the Sahara.
WRITING
Ex.1b p.105
Education
Education is very important in our life. An educated person is one who knows a lot about many things. He always tries to learn, find out, and discover more about the world around him. He get knowledge at school from books, magazines, from TV educational programs. The pupils can get deeper knowledge in different optional courses in different subjects and school offers these opportunities. They can deepen and improve their knowledge by attending different optional courses in different subjects. The result of the educative process is the capacity for further education. Nowadays the students of secondary schools have opportunities to continue their education by entering, gymnasiums, lyceums, colleges.
But the road to learning is not easy. There is no royal road to learning. To be successful in studies one must work heard. It’s for you to decide to learn and make progress or not to learn lose your time. The role of foreign languages is also increasing today. Thanks to the knowledge of foreign languages one can read books, magazines in the original, talk to foreigners, translate various technical articles. Moreover, joint ventures which have recently appeared in our country need specialists with profound knowledge of foreign languages like English, German or French. To know foreign languages is absolute necessary for every educated person, for good specialists. Our country is transferring to a market economy. Research and innovations should improve living, working conditions of our people. That is why it is so important to be persistent in students. A language that came from nowhere to conquer the world… The movement of English around the world began with the pioneering voyages to the Americas and Asia, continued with the 19th century colonial developments in Africa and the South Pacific, and took a significant further step when it was adopted in the 20th century as a official or semiofficial language by many newly-independent states.
Communication Technologies
Today, it’s much easier to communicate with others than it was just a decade ago. We can send and receive messages instantly with a number of new technologies. ‘Phis has improved our lives
In many ways by allowing us to become more interconnected and knowledgeable about the world.
A decade ago, the only way for people to communicate with each other was meeting face to face or writing letters. However, people living or working in different countries might be unable to meet each other. Sending a letter might take them four or five days to receive. In the way of being delivered, many letters were lost or misplaced. Moreover, it cost lots of money for traveling and sending letters if people lived too far from others.
Nowadays, we are happy with the advance of new technologies such as email, cellular phones and beepers. People can talk with each other through mobile phones, chat through the Internet and leave a massage through e-mail or beeper if someone is not at home. Technology has indeed created an effective way for people to keep in touch with one another.
In addition to this, new technologies like television and the Internet helps us get information quicker and easier. If an earthquake occurs in Japan, French people will hear about this news only few hours later. Moreover, people can read books or download music songs, movies, games, software, and pictures throughout the network. It is quite easy and cheap as some Internet web-sites are free for accessing.
In conclusion, thanks to technology, people from all corners of the world are able to communicate with each other quickly and easily. It has changed our life for the better. In the coming year, we may hope to see an even greater number of new technologies are invented.
Media
The media plays a central role in Britain’s daily life, informing and educating, questioning and challenging – and of course – entertaining. In recent years the availability of more radio frequencies, together with satellite, cable and microwave transmissions, lias already made a greater number of local, national and international services possible. The transition from analogue to digital transmission technology is now expanding this capacity enormously. The Internet is providing, increasingly, an additional medium for information, entertainment and communication.
Environment
The world environment means simply what is around us. Some people live in towns, other in the country. There are a lot of ecological problems. The most serious ecological problems are: noise from cars and buses; destruction of wildlife and countryside beauty; shortage of natural resources; the growth of population; pollution in its many forms. For example, water pollution: water is everywhere, but there is no ocean or sea which is not used as a dump. Many rivers and lakes are poisoned too. Fish and reptiles can’t live in them. People can’t drink this water. So we have to clean the water environment. But it is not the only problem with pollution. Another problem is air pollution. Air pollution influents the he>
Food
Fast-food is really popular food all over the world. Almost every city in the world has a fast-food cafe. The most famous fast-food cafe is Macdonals’. It was founded in the 70ies of the 20th century in the USA. People really life think food. But Americans especially
Are fond of it. Two/thirds Americans eat in fast-food cafes every day. I think that is why most of them are overweight. Fast-food really leads to obesity. There are three reasons why people life this food. The first reason is that this food is very tasty food. The second one is it’s cheapness and the third reason is a very quick satisfaction of you hunger. But everything is not so good. Fasfood is very harmful food. Also there are many carcinogens in fast-food especially in French frieze and grilled chicken. I think that many people know about that but still visit those cafes. I am totally against fast-food especially for children. It is a pity but children like this food so much. I think parents must take care about them apd ban it for their kids.
Travelling
Millions people all over the world spend their holidays travelling. They travel to see other countries and continents, modern cities and the ruins of ancient towns, they travel to enjoy picturesque places or just for a change of scene. Its always interesting to discover new things and different ways of life, to meet different people, to try different food, to listen to different music.
Those who live in the country like to go to a big city and spend their time visiting museums and art galleries, looking at shop windows and dining at exotic restaurants. City residents usually like a quiet holiday by the sea and in the mountains with nothing to do but walk and bathe and lay in the sun. Most travelers and holiday-makers take a camera with them and take pictures of everything that interest them – the sights of a city, old churches and castles, views of mountains, lakes, valleys, plains, waterfalls, forests, different kinds of trees, flowers and plants, animals and birds. Later, perhaps years later, they will be reminded by the photos of the happy time they had.
People travel by train, by plane, by ship or boat and by car. All means of travel have their advantages and disadvantage’s. And people choose one according to their plans and preferences. The fastest way of travelling – is travelling by plane, but in mv opinion the most comfortable is travelling by ship and the cheapest is travelling on foot.
If we are fond of travelling, we see and learn a lot of things that we can never see or learn at home, though we may read about them in books and newspapers and see pictures of them on TV.
The best way to study geography is to travel and the best way to get to know and understand the people is to meet them in their own homes.
Sport
Sport is an important part of every person’s life. It helps people to keep fit, he>
Ex.3a p.105
My Future Plans
When you leave school you understand that the time to choose your future profession has come. It’s not an easy task to make the right choice of a job. I have known for a long time that leaving school is the beginning of my independent life, the beginning of a far more serious examination of my abilities and character.
I have asked myself a lot of times: “What do I want to be when I leave school?” A few years ago it was difficult for me to give a definite answer. As the years passed I changed my mind a lot of times about which science or field of industry to specialize in. It was difficult to make up my mind and choose one of the hundreds jobs to which I might be better studied.
I asked a lot of questions myself to make the right choice: what sort of life do I want to lead? For example, do I want to live in the country or in town? Is leisure time of great importance to me? Is the size of my salary important? Do I want to put down roots or travel widely? What sort of work do I want to do? For example, do I like working alone or with others? Does teaching people appeal to me? Do I want to be an organizer of other people’s activities? As for me. I have made up my mind to be a manager. My choice of this occupation didn’t come as a sudden Hash. I think that nowadays this profession is of great need and importance to our country. It is my aim to be a qualified specialist and to serve the interests of my country. To be a well-prepared manager I should have some important qualities: great persistence, sociability, considerable knowledge, and, of course, knowledge of foreign languages.
That is why I want to enter Linguistic University. I think that there I can get good knowledge to become a good specialist. And of course I want to learn languages better, because to my mind every educated person should know a foreign language. I always remember these famous words: ‘He, who doesn’t know a foreign language, doesn’t know his own language.’
My Kind of Holiday
Last summer, my group and I spent our holiday on the Vung Tau Beach. This is one of the beautiful beaches in Viet Nam.
It took us two hours to get there. We concentrated at a bus station. At 5 a. m. we started our trip by bus. >
We arranged our bags and after that we swum in the blue sea. The weather was very nice. The golden light was spreading on the white sand. The tiny waves were crashing onto the beach.
It is suitable for swimming. After swimming, we started to build sandcastles, listened to the sounds of the waves, felt the s>
In the afternoon, we rode around on the road from the back to the front of the beach by double-bicycles. There was a wonderful sight:
The sea on one side and the mountains on the other. It really made me forget everything to and relax. And then, we decided to climb to the Tao Phung mountain. Sightseeing is as beautiful as the other places. So we took many photographs. The Standing God’s shoulder is great. We could see the mountains, houses and the wide sea. When we were climbing down the mountain, we bought some souvenirs for our friends.
The day went by so fast. I wanted to stay there longer but we had to come back to work the day after. The trip was short but it had a strong impression on me. My friends and I have many memories of that day. We came back to Bien Hoa city and felt comfortable after a good holiday.
Computer in Our Life
Computer studies are a subject in many schools. Many young people have personal computers. Ninety-six per cent of them are males of all ages. All of them spend an average of twenty hours per week on home computers. The majority of the adults also use computers at work. In three hundred computer owners, so-called computer – addicts, spend almost all his time using computers. All the computer addicts are very educated. They have been interested in science and technology from a very early age and they are usually very shy people who like being alone. A survey in a school showed that fewer girls are interested in computers because girls are less likely to have a computer. Even if they have one, they use them less frequently than boys. Possibly it is because we think of computers as something to do with math and science, which are traditionally subjects. Possibly it is because most of the computer teachers are men. who give the girls less attention. Possibly parents think it is less important for girls to have computer skills. Computer addicts love debugging, develop programs and love learning programming languages. They learnt to communicate with other users through computer networks and the people they met in school and work, think of them as experts who could help and advise when they had problems with their machines. A few spend their time ‘backing and one addict left a message on a computer of Buckingham House. Very few computer addicts play computer games, but many people use a computer exclusively for games.
Ex.4a p.105
School
Education is the main people’s we>
School is one of our most significant institutions. School teaches reading, writing, the use of mathematics and other basic skills needed in everyday life. It increases people’s knowledge of the world and themselves and helps them understand the rapid changes that take place in modern society. In schools pupils learn their responsibilities and rights as citizens, improve their ability to think critically, and develop such basic values as truth, justice and equality.
People throughout the world attend schools, but the quality of schools varies among countries. Today most of countries have well-developed educational systems and I’d like to mention that Belarus is among these countries. It embraces 11,000 educational establishments. The republic guarantees its citizens the right to universal secondary education and creates means for further professional education. It tries to preserve the democratic character of education paying much attention to common human values, developing independent critical thinking instead of simple perception of information. But in spite of it. education in our country faces various problems nowadays.
It seems to me that the greatest problem for a school today is that all subjects are compulsory and pupils have no opportunity to choose the subjects they want to learn deep. Thousands of pupils have to spend a lot of time sitting and thinking over the subjects they don’t like, don’t need or don’t understand. It usually drives them mad and they start hating this or that subject or become indifferent to it. So if I were a Minister of education I would organize education in another way. In my opinion, some subjects should be optional so that children could choose their favourite ones out of the formal curriculum. 1 think that such education is better and more effective.
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. ‘Nature’ refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general It ranges in scale from the subatomic to the cosmic.
The word nature is derived from the Latin word natural, or essential qualities, innate disposition’, and in ancient times, literally meant ‘birth’. Natural was a Latin translation of the Greek word ‘physic’, which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion. This usage was confirmed during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries. Within the various uses of the word today, ‘nature’ may refer to the general realm of various types of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects – the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth, and the matter and energy of which all these things are composed. It is often taken to mean the ‘natural environment’ or wilderness – wild animals, rocks, forest, beaches, and in general those things that have not been substantially >
Family
My family is not very big. just a typical family: Dad, Mom, me, my brother and sister and our cat. My Mummy is forty-one, she is a teacher of Spanish at the University. She is a born teacher. She has teaching abilities. My Dad is forty-two, he is a professional painter, he works for a design company. My parents both like their work very much.
My elder sister Natasha is nineteen, she goes to the University, she wants to be a teacher of history. She is fond of reading books on history and fiction.
My younger brother Igor is only six years old. he goes to the kindergarten. He is very funny, I like to spend my free time teaching him something. Igor likes to play with our cat.
My grandparents are retired. They like gardening. They spend a lot of their time in the garden. They grow vegetables and fruits.
We enjoy having fresh vegetables and green on our dinner table.
I love my family very much. We always help each other. Everyone in my family is my best friend.
Ex.5 p.107
Natural Disaster
Natural disasters or catastrophes can be controlled up to a point, and most of us often feel helpless before them. A natural disaster is an unexpected event such as a violent storm, flood, earthquake, lightning, landslides (masses of earth, rock, etc. falling down from above) the attack of locusts (winged insects attacking fields in very large numbers) and the spread of diseases from birds or animals (bird flu, etc.). When lightning strikes a moving ship, plane, building, or a number of people anywhere, it is considered to be a natural disaster.
We witnessed natural disasters one after another in 2004 and 2005. There was a series of massive Asian tsunamis in South – East Asia which were the result of earthquakes in the depths of oceans. They shook and moved islands, hit seacoasts and caused thousands of deaths and large-scale destruction. Then there were heavy floods and rainfall in Balochistan that caused a large number of deaths and extensive damage to dams, roads, and fields. In line with these disasters (calamities or catastrophes) was the earthquake of 2005 in our northern areas that caused, in a way uncountable (countless) deaths and massive destruction. Whole villages, towns and cities were wiped out and tens of thousands of people got killed or made homeless. The mighty storm that hit the US in 2005, names Katrina, was no less destructive.
Now the question arises: what can we do to protect ourselves from natural disasters of the above kind? Firstly, we should have advance warning systems for storms and floods. We can then make timely preparations to face them. Secondly, there is urgent need to start research on the changes under the surface of the earthquake predictions or forecasts.
When forecasts for earthquakes or natural disasters are not possible, we should use all the available resources to face them. The government and people should get together to help the affected people and countries. The UN and other world agencies can arrange and supervise the rehabilitation work. This did happen in the case of the tsunamis, Katrina, and our earthquake most prominently.
The world should set up disaster information centres in each of the five continents. The advanced countries should offer knowledge and resources to these centres for forecasts of all kinds of natural disasters. They should have arrangements of money, food, clothing, house building, and vehicles for ready help. Different countries should have information and assistance centres in all their provinces.
The developing countries like ours should attend to the education of all the people on the most modern lines. Educated and trained people can better face natural disasters intelligently and successfully.
Shopping
It’s difficult to imagine our life without shops. Every day we do shopping. There are different kinds of shops. They are butcher’s, baker’s, greengrocer’s where we buy meat, bread, different fruit and vegetables or clothing shops where different clothes can be bought. Nowadays super markets “and department stores are becoming more popular where people can reserve time and find a necessary good. Some people go to the market. As for me I prefer going to the market because I am a poor student but I have many friends who prefer the department store to a market. I’d like to tell you about my neighbor. Me prefers Department store in Kharkiv. Where there are many departments in it. The shop sells all kinds of goods for both men and women and it has many departments. In every department there is a good selection of goods. It takes a little time to buy a necessary thing. So all this goods are of good quality and so they are very expensive. My friend adores doing shopping in the department store. As for me f dislike this shop. The service is much to desire I think that shop assistant must help to choose good things because I have no much money I have to go to the market. On one hand market goods are cheaper on the other hand I am not sure in their quality. To tell the truth I don’t like to go shopping. My mother or grandmother does shopping in my family. They do their shopping at the market because meals are always fresh and not expensive here. They buy all necessary food, but sometimes I have gone to the shop if my relatives are very busy. I take a bag and go to the nearby shop. Advertisements play a very important role in our life. They often help me to make my choice. At first I read advertisements in newspapers or watch them on TV and then go to the shop. To my mind advertisements are of good adviser. We can discuss this topic very long because shops are essential part of our life.
Cooking
When we cook, we boil, roast, fry or stew our food. We boil eggs, meat, chicken, fish, milk, water and vegetables. We fry eggs, fish and vegetables. We stew fish, meat, vegetables or fruit. We roast meat or chicken. We put s>
The usual meals in England are breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner or, in simpler houses, breakfast, dinner, tea and supper.
For breakfast English people mostly have porridge or corn-Hakes with milk or cream and sugar, bacon and eggs, marmalade with buttered toast and tea or coffee. For a change they can have a boiled egg, cold ham, or fish.
English people generally have lunch about one o’clock. At lunch time in a London restaurant one usually finds a mutton chop, or steak and chips, or cold meat or fish with potatoes and salad, then a pudding or fruit to follow.
Afternoon tea can hardly be called a meal. It is a substantial meal only in well-to-do families. It is between five and six o’clock. It is rather a sociable sort of thing, as friends often come in then for a chat while they have their cup of tea, cake or biscuit.
In some houses dinner is the biggest meal of the day. But in great many English homes, the midday meal is the chief one of the day, and in the evening there is usually a much simpler supper – an omelette, or sausages, sometimes bacon and eggs and sometimes just bread and cheese, a cup of coffee or cocoa and fruit.
Ex.6 p.107
School
I go to school five days a week except Saturday and Sunday when I have deserved rest.
Classes in our school start at 8 o’clock in the morning and last till 14:30.
Usually we have 6 or 7 lessons a day.
We study a lot of different subjects: Ukrainian, English. Russian and Ukrainian literatures, History, Geography, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Maths, etc. I like History, Ukrainian and English most of all.
I usually receive good marks in these subjects.
Teachers and parents think that I feel an inclination to these subjects. Every pupil has a record book where our teachers write down our marks and we write down home tasks.
I like going to school because here I have many friends and wise teachers who can always give a piece of advice.
And I like studying as well, it brings me a lot of pleasure and I like to lean new facts about the world.
Nature. The Seasons of the Year
Spring begins on March 21. People generally love this time of the year. Temperature rises again after a long and severe winter and the snow melts, so there can be floods, mud and dirt. The weather in April can be unstable. It drizzles, there are often rain showers or even snowstorms, combined with sunshine and morning frosts. The nature awakens, grass turns green, the trees blossom. The first flowers appear: white snowdrops, yellow primroses and dandelions, colourful crocuses. Birds start singing and some of them return from the south. The first spring birds are larks, swallows and cuckoos, while sparrows you can hear during the whole year.
Summer begins on June 21. Children have two months holiday. The sun shines hot, the temperature rises. On hot summer days, there are often storms: the sky clouds over and it gets dark, the wind gets faster. Then you can hear the thunder and see the lightning. It starts to pour and it may even hail. Some people are afraid of a thunderstorm. When the storm is over, sometimes you can see the rainbow in the sky.
Farmers have their harvest time. People pick fruits and vegetables, go mushrooming in the woods or pick strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. Lots of people are fond of barbecues in their gardens or at their cottages.
Autumn comes on September 23. The sun rises later and sets earlier. At the beginning of autumn, the weather may be fine and sunny (we call it ‘Indian Summer’). Autumn is popular because of its colours. The leaves change their colour (they turn red, orange, yellow, finally brown, and then they fall off). Some birds leave for the south. Days become colder and colder. It often rains or drizzles and the mornings are foggy. People often catch flu, they have a cold because of unpleasant weather. It is cloudy and overcast. Some people may even suffer from depression.
Winter begins on December 21. It freezes and snows. The landscape is covered with snow. Ice and slush make the transport difficult. Children love winter because they like playing with the snow: throwing snowballs and building snowmen. Wintersports are very popular: skiing (downhill or crosscountry skiing), snowboarding, ice skating, sledging and boo sledging. Sometimes there is no snow in winter.
Ex.7 p.107
What were in California and Mexico in 2010?
What did shake the 7,2-magnitucte quake?
Where were the rides closed?
Where did many families run out into the streets?
What did people do when they felt the ground shake?
Holiday makers enjoying some early-season sun in California and Mexico were hit in 2010 by one of the strongest earthquakes in the area for decades. The 7,2-magnitude quake shook tens of millions of people across two countries and three states swaying high rise buildings from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and the border town of Tijuana. In California Disneyland rides were closed and inspected for damage and several historic hotels were evacuated as a precautionary measure. During the 40-second quake in Mexico many families who had been enjoying Easter celebrations ran out into the streets with children crying and screaming as the buildings shook and the power went out. In Tijuana, a popular holiday resort for American students celebrating spring break, hundreds of people on the crowded beach feared the worst and fled when they felt the ground shake.
CHICK YOUR SKILLS
Ex.1 p.108
1. If l were taller, I would play in a basketball team.
2. If they were more careful, that Monday accident would not happen.
3. If I were you, I could do this work yesterday.
4. If I meet him, you will be the first to know.
5. If our guests stay a bit longer, they will be able to meet our parents.
6. If you were not in a hurry, they would explain everything to you.
7. They wouldn’t have invited you to join the English club, if they had known you do not speak English.
8. If you see them tomorrow, please, let them know I am coming this weekend.
Ex.2 p.108
The summer there will probably let of forest fires as always during the hot weather. These fire will not only destroy thousands of trees but could destroy homes as well. What are the causes of forest fires?
Some fires wilt simply be the result of natural casus, particularly in hot, dry weather. But this can’t explain why fires occur at other times, when the weather is not so hot. For example, when a fire stuns in several different places, at the same time, it can t be an accident. It must be because someone started in. We can reduce the number of fires by employing more people to guard the forests, but this can’t be something the government can’t afford.
Ex.8 p.109
I Our planet suffers from our activity of humans.
2. Sometimes the Earth warns of the danger of killing the planet and ourselves.
3. We must be careful not to provoke some extend natural disasters.
4. Such natural disasters as landslides, typhoons, earthquakes or drought make big problems.
5. Different countries send to the area of natural disaster food and
Medical supplies, as well as due tars, nurses, blanket-tents and clothes.
6. Natural disasters teach us to be merciful to the other people and to our planet the Earth.
Ex.4 p.109
1. C
2. B
3. E
4. D
5. A
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