It’s not only humans who suffer. Crops do not get enough water and more than 1,500 cattle have died in South Dakota because of the high temperatures.

New Year Bang

Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily has had its first eruption of 2012. Despite the big bang and impressive fireworks, no damage was done.

Another Disaster in Haiti

A powerful earthquake has hit the Caribbean island of Haiti. Thousands of people are feared dead. Haiti was especially vulnerable because it’s the poorest country in the western half of the world and it hasn’t been able to prepare for big earthquakes.

The earthquake reached 7,0 on the Richter scale and the aftershocks of 5,0 each resulted in even more damage.

Haiti is a disaster-prone country: floods and earthquakes are common here. Haiti is regularly hit by devastating hurricanes, which means that people there have experience in dealing with large natural disasters. However, shortage of clean water and lack of sanitation spell and even bigger disaster – en epidemic. Consequences are hard to predict.

Emergency aid is being sent to the area and people from all over the world are donating money to help Haiti.

Lesson 8, Ex.1

FIRE AND ICE

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favour fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.

UNIT 11

Lesson 2 Ex.2a, 2b, 2c

Speaker 1: Oh, what horrible weather we have today. Yesterday it was sunny and cold and the air was full of magnificent snowflakes that covered every inch of the ground. And when the snow stopped falling it was quiet and peaceful. It was like a bit of magic before Christmas. Winter time is definitely my favourite time of the year. But not today. Look at the street. It’s sleety and there’s mud everywhere! And look at my new boots, I bet they are spoilt now! I can’t stand when the temperature goes up and the snows melts and turns into small dirty puddles that I have to jump over on my way to work.

Speaker 2: It was a fantastic day. Just look at this picture. It was early in the morning on a chilly autumn day. The whole previous day the sky was overcast and it rained and rained. That downpour seemed endless, but in the evening the sky cleared up. And we even saw a flash of the sun before the sunset. And in the morning I took this picture. Can you see this beautiful and mysterious fog rising up above the lake? They call it evaporation, but it doesn’t sound so poetic. I prefer calling it a mist. Though I don’t fancy autumn much, I prefer hot boiling summer more, that day was the one I’d remember.

Speaker 3: My favourite season is summer since I can spend the weekend in my garden. I enjoy watching the nature. In summer it so nice that the flowers dance with the leaves. But that day drove me absolutely crazy. I spent the whole day planting those roses in my garden. They said it was going to be a mild day with some gentle showers after lunch. But instead of a light rain black clouds blanketed the sky, threatening everyone of a heavy downpour. Sparkling bright lightning flashed, and then a great clap of thunder came close. And at once it started to hail! Can you imagine, in the middle of the summer! I could collect a hand full of those little white beads. The hail was short, but hard and of course my roses got frozen.

Speaker 4: I like different times of the year. I enjoy the grass covered with dew or sleet. I think it’s nice to watch snowflakes or raindrops falling on your window. Or the beginning of a thunderstorm when a strong wind or gale hits the trees so hard they bend double. But best of all I like a clear frosty winter day when the sun is so bright I can hardly open my eyes. On such a day you can see icicles on the roof of your house or a garage. They shine like diamonds in the sunrays and it’s fun to watch them growing bigger and bigger.

Lesson 3 Ex.1a

Whether the weather is fine,

Or whether the weather is not,

Whether the weather is cold,

Or whether the weather is hot,

We'll weather the weather

Whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not!

Lesson 3 Ex.2a, 2b

Whether the weather is hot Or whether the weather is cold There's just one thing you need to be told Whether the weather is hot Or whether the weather is cold There's just one thing you need to be told Climates are different all around the world They affect every plant, animal, boy, and girl Now out in the desert there's not too much rain But the temperature can vary enough to make it insane Now there aren't gonna be too many storms comin' by That's 'cause the deserts are warm and dry Tropical rainforests I'll tell you later They can get pretty hot They're usually near the equator And it rains really hard On that you can bet Tropical rainforests are warm and wet Climates are different all around the world They affect every plant, animal, boy, and girl Near the North and South Poles where its really cold There's a place called the tundra  Or so I'm told And hardly any rain or snow comes from the sky So you see that the tundras are cold and dry The temperate forest is a pretty cool place Where the low temperature is often the case And it rains quite a bit so if you don't know yet Temperate forests are cold and wet Climates are different all around the world They affect every plant, animal, boy, and girl Whether the weather is hot  Or whether the weather is cold There's just one thing you need to be told Whether the weather is hot Or whether the weather is cold There's just one thing you need to be told Climates are different all around the world They affect every plant, animal, boy, and girl

Lesson 4 Ex.1b

Little Johnny walks into his classroom wearing a single glove. His teacher asks him what he’s doing. ‘Well ma’am,’ says Johnny. ‘I was watching the weather programme on TV and it said it was going to be sunny, but on the other hand it could get quite cold.’

Lesson 4 Ex.4a, 4b

Hello and now let’s have a look at tomorrow weather forecast. Although it was cold this morning, more February like, but I suspect that was the coldest morning we will see in the next ten days for a cold front is gradually leaving Britain and moving to the north.

Here in Aberdeen and Orkney Islands the next few days will be spoilt with cold winds, it is going to be overcast and the rain chances increase greatly. And about 4-5 degrees above zero here.

In the central part of the country Liverpool, York and Manchester will have sunny weather with cloudy periods. Since some warm air streams occupy this region the temperature is going to go up. At the same time don’t leave your umbrellas at home because these air streams will also causes high humidity and bring heavy rain tomorrow afternoon.

Let’s take you now to the south and south-west of Britain. Since the temperature increases up to 8 and 10 degrees, in Plymouth, Barnstaple and Bristol we will have a dry and warm start of the week.

But the chances of occasional showers are still quite high especially at night and in the morning.

The rest of the day and tomorrow in the south region will be fine with unbroken sunshine for the temperature here is warming up nicely to 10 or 12 degrees. In London it will be mainly sunny. However, the temperature can still drop at night to 4-5 degrees. In the morning there we have some fog and it will be partially cloudy till lunchtime. By noon it will clear up as strong, but warm winds from Gulf Stream help to move cloud masses down to the continent. So a pair of sunglasses will be the right thing to carry around.