Questions

1. Where do you usually get treatment when you fall ill and what kind of treatment do you get there?

2. Have you ever been taken to hospital? If so, tell us how long you stayed there and what you were treated for?

3. How were you treated for flu when you were last ill?

4. What are the symptoms of flu?

5. What do you usually do to get well as soon as possible?

6. What is necessary to do to prevent serious deceases?

7. Why is it necessary to go to a dentist regularly for an examination of your teeth?

8. Are regular medical check-ups necessary? Why?

9. What do you know about the health system in our country (Great Britain, USA, etc.)?

Unit 8. Seasons words and expressions

Indian summer frost first frosts hoar frost mud mist fog

smog thunderstorm shower drizzling rain frosty day weather forecast

It’s snowing.

It’s thawing.

It’s slippery.

The wind is from the north.

It’s windy today.

What is the weather like today?

The winter has set in.

What nasty weather we are having.

25 degrees below (above) zero.

We had ten degrees of frost last night.

It's raining cats and dogs.

It seems to be clouding over.

How long do you think this cold spell will last?

There’s really no telling.

It’s wonderful weather we're having.

Seasons

Spring is a very pleasant season. The weather is usually warm, but there are sometimes cold days in spring. Nature awakens in spring. Birds return from the South. Trees turn green, young, fresh leaves appear, grass becomes green too. The rays of the sun warm the earth. The sky is blue and cloudless; there are no clouds in it.

Everybody feels younger and stronger. Many people like spring more than other seasons. It is very pleasant to watch how nature awakens from her winter sleep.

When summer comes the weather gets warmer and sometimes it's very hot. When the temperature is over twenty degrees centigrade we say that it is hot. When the temperature is below twenty degrees we say it is warm. It is a busy time for those who live in the country. They cut grass and make hay while the weather is fine. It sometimes rains however in summer, and heavy clouds cover the sun. When clouds cover the sky we say: “It is cloudy”. There are also storms in summer with thunder, lightning and hail. There are showers too. When autumn comes the days get colder. The trees turn yellow. The leaves begin to turn yellow and fall from the trees.

Autumn is harvest time. The farmers gather crops and pick fruit in the orchards. The more they work the sooner the work is over. It's necessary to finish work before it gets cold and rainy. It often rains in autumn. Autumn is a rainy season. It often rains in summer too, but summer is not a rainy season and autumn is a rainy one. Autumn is the most rainy season of the year.

Winter is the coldest season. Sometimes we have hard frost. The air is frosty then. The wind often blows in winter and we say: “It is windy”. But sometimes we have fog and we say: “It is foggy”. The days in winter are shorter than those in autumn. The shorter the days get, the longer the nights become. The days are the shortest in winter and the nights are the longest. People usually spend more time indoors because it is cold out of doors.