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3.11. A) Scan the text to pick up the names of animals common for different

climatic zones of Russia. Fill out the chart below.

b) Do any of the animals belong to the following classes: rodents,

reptiles, carnivores, herbivores, or predators?

climatic zone

animals

birds

Animal life is abundant and varied throughout Russia. The tundra, which spans the Arctic and northern Pacific coasts and encompasses Russia’s offshore Arctic islands, is home to polar bears, seals, walruses, arctic foxes, lemmings, reindeer, and arctic hares. Birdlife includes white partridges, snowy owls, gulls, and loons. Geese, swans, and ducks migrate into the region during summer, a time when huge swarms of mosquitoes, gnats, and other insects emerge. South of the tundra, the taiga is a habitat for elks, brown bears, lynx, sables, and a variety of forest birds, including owls and nightingales. Swamps in this zone have been stocked with muskrats from Canada. Muskrats and squirrels are now the main source of pelts trapped in the wild. The broad-leaved forests of the Great European and West Siberian plains contain boars, deer, wolves, foxes, and minks. There are also a variety of birds, snakes, lizards, and tortoises. The forests in the southern part of far eastern Russia are known for the Siberian tiger - the largest cat in the world - as well as leopards, bears, and deer. The steppe primarily contains rodents such as marmots and hamsters, but there are also a few species of hoofed animals, including antelope. The main beasts of prey are steppe polecats and Tatar foxes. Bird life includes cranes and eagles. The Caucasus region is particularly abundant in wildlife, including mountain goats, chamois, Caucasian deer, wild boars, porcupines, leopards, hyenas, jackals, squirrels, and bears. There is also a variety of game fowl, including black grouses, turkey hens, and stone partridges. Reptiles and amphibians are also numerous in the Caucasus region.

Many animal species are threatened or endangered, including the snow leopard and the Siberian tiger. A great number of threatened or endangered species are found in far eastern Russia, including Chinese egrets, red-crowned cranes, and Nordmann’s greenshanks.

3.12. Study the following words describing weather and pick up those which

can be used to describe the current weather in your town. Use a

dictionary to check out the pronunciation.

General expressions: What kind (sort) of weather is it? / What is the weather like? How’s the weather?

The weather may be: fine/ jolly/ marvelous/ lovely/ glorious, bright/ sunny, soft/ mild, bad/ awful/ filthy/ nasty/ wretched/ beastly/ dreary/ dull, misty/ foggy, damp/ raw /moist, chilly, dry, sultry/ hot/ stuffy, frosty, stormy, windy, variable/ broken/ unsettled

A: What oppressive/ sultry weather!

B: Yes, isn’t it stifling/ heavy/ close (informal)?

A: Isn’t it humid today?

B: Yes, horribly muggy/ clammy (informal)!

It looks as if we are going to have snow.

The weather is improving.

I hope it’ll keep fine.

Warm weather: What lovely weather!

After the thunderstorm the air is remarkably fresh.

It’s unbearably hot today.

How stifling the air is! (It’s suffocating!)

The heat is abating/ decreasing.

A: It’s hot, isn’t it?

B: Yes, it’s boiling/sweltering/ roasting! (Informal)

Cold weather: It freezes. / It’s freezing.

It’s perishing cold. / It’s precious cold. / The cold searched my marrow. / I am chilled to the marrow. / The very marrow in my bones is cold.

A: Bit chilly today, isn’t it?

B: Yes, it’s freezing/ nippy ((informal), isn’t it?

It’s below freezing point.

The air was stingingly cold, but not at freezing point.

It’s a sharp frost, isn’t it?

The air is frosty.

I feel chilly /cold.

It’s uncommonly cold after the rain.

The sky: cirrus (wispy) clouds (= light clouds that form high up in the sky)

stratus (= layered) clouds, cumulus (= heaped) clouds, nimbus (= rain-bearing) clouds

The sky is clouded/ overcast.

The sky was suddenly overcast with low, black clouds.

The clouds are dispersing and the sun is appearing again.

The wind: A cold biting wind almost swept me off my feet.

There isn’t a breath of air.

The wind has abated.

Types of wind:

a breeze - a slight, moderate wind

a wind

a strong wind

a gale - a very strong wind

a hurricane - a very strong wind, more than 100 km per hour, can be dangerous

a blizzard - a blinding snow-storm

a squall - a sudden violent wind, often during rain or snow storms

a monsoon – a wind that blow south from Asia in January and north from Australia in July

a tornado – a violent storm with very strong winds which move in a circle

a gust of wind - a sudden violent rush of wind

A: It’s a bit windy today!

B: Yes, it’s really blowy/ breezy (informal), isn’t it?

Thunder. Lightning: It thunders.

There is a thunderstorm hanging about/ coming/approaching.

That’s a thunder-cloud over there.

A flash of lightning lit the sky.

Peals/ rolls of thunder were heard.

It lightens.

Dazzling flashes of lightning were followed by a clap/ burst of thunder.

The storm has spent itself.

The Rain: These clouds omen (promise) rain.

The rain has set in.

It keeps on raining. It’s a pelting rain.

It’s beastly wet.

It rained now and then.

A drizzling piercing rain continued all day.

The rain was accompanied by a strong wind and hail.

The rain’s leaving off.

A: What a downpour/ deluge!

B: Yes, it’s chucking it down/ it’s pouring (informal).

When there is no rain for a long time, it is drought.

The snow: The snow is falling thick.

We had a heavy snowfall / a heavy fall of snow yesterday.

It’s a rather snowy winter.

Last year we had a green winter (mild winter with little snow).

Snow-drifts surrounded us from all sides.

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