Episode 206

EPISODE 206
LEVEL A1.2/A2.1

 

READING COMPREHENSION

 

WEATHER

 

My last holiday was a disaster. I hoped it would be sunny (=when there is a lot of sun) and warm (= nice, but not hot, for example, 20°C), but the weather was simply crazy all the time! First, the sunshine (= the light of the sun) was great, but it was boiling hot (= extremely hot) and stuffy (= there was no fresh air and it was difficult to breathe) and we got tired the moment we left the hotel. A few days later, it started getting cold (= opposite of hot) and it started to be a bit cloudy (= there were a lot of clouds) and rainy (= it rained from time to time). Then one night, there was a horrible storm (= a heavy and violent rain), it was pouring (= raining very heavily) and the thunders (= the sounds when there is a storm) and lightnings (= the white lines on the sky when there is a storm) didn’t stop until morning. When we got up, it was terribly wet (= there was a lot of water around) and foggy (= when it is difficult to see anything). So we couldn’t go for a walk, and we couldn’t go sightseeing, in fact we spent most of the holiday watching TV and playing cards in the hotel!

 

More contexts for the new words:

You can say:

• It is raining. = The rain is falling right now.
• It is rainy. = It rains from time to time, quite often.

 

 

EXERCISE 1

Use the words from the text to complete the lists of words in the categories below.

 

RAIN: r                         , s                              , w                              , p                              

SUN & CLOUDS: s                               , s                               , c                              

TEMPERATURE: w                              , b                     h        , c                              

AIR: s                            , f                             

 

 

EXERCISE 2

Put the words in the correct order to make questions. Then answer the questions.

 

1. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ?

or, you, hot, Do, weather, prefer, cold

 

2. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ?

afraid, you, storms, Are, of

 

3. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ?

do, What, do, you, when, it’s, outside, rainy

 

ENGLISH IN USE 

Let’s look at how to make some weather words:

 

Sun, rain, cloud, storm, fog are nouns. With these words, use ‘there is / there are’.

 

There was a lot of sun.

There are storms all around the country.

 

To describe the weather with an adjective, you add ‘-y’ to the nouns above: sunny, rainy, cloudy, stormy, foggy. With these words, use ‘it is’.

 

It was sunny.

It is stormy all around the country.

 

 

IDIOM CLOSE-UP

 

A/ Are you happy about your promotion?

B/ Are you kidding me?! I’m ON CLOUD NINE! 

 

When you say you are on cloud nine, you mean that you are extremely happy. You can also say you are in seventh heaven.

 

 

PHRASAL VERBS CLOSE-UP

 

1. When the sky CLOUDS OVER, it becomes covered with clouds.

 Look at the sky. It’s clouding over. Looks like it’s going to rain soon.

 

You can also say that somebody’s face CLOUDS OVER. It means that this person suddenly starts looking unhappy or worried.

His happy face suddenly clouded over.

 

2. When something RAINS DOWN, it fall down suddenly and in large amounts.

Bombs rained down on the city.

 

 

 

EXERCISE 3

Rewrite the sentences keeping the same meaning and using the word in CAPITALS.

 

1. When he heard the news, his face became very worried and sad.

OVER ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. I am so happy when I think about this holiday!

CLOUD ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. I am so tired because I received many new projects in a very short time.

RAINED ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

 

NEWS

 

 

CHANGEABLE WEATHER IN MOSCOW

 

In August many parts of Russia experienced a sudden temperature drop. In Moscow, over three days, temperature went down from 35 degress in the shade to 8. Unbearable heat changed into chilly and rainy weather. Moscow inhabitants had difficulty adjusting to the new conditions so quickly and suffered from weakness and headaches, and many of them became ill. The rain was so heavy, some houses were partly flooded, which after a long period of completely dry weather, came as a shock. Unfortunately, sudden weather changes are becoming more and more frequent all over the world and we may expect similar cases in the future.

 

GLOSSARY

– a/to drop (noun and verb) – when something goes down in number or quality

– shade – a place where there is no sunshine

– chilly – a bit cold

– a/to flood – a situation where there is too much water from rain and/or rivers

– dry – opposite of ‘wet’

 

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