Vocabulary:

changeable – непостоянный, изменчивый

freeze – замерзать

make a nest – вить гнездо

gather – собирать

harvest – урожай

everywhere – везде

Questions:

1. What seasons do you know?

2. What kind of season do you like best of all?

3. Is the weather fine in spring?

4. Does it rain in autumn?

5. June is a summer month, isn’t it?

6. Where do the birds prepare to go in autumn?

7. When do we gather the harvest?

8. The longest days are in June, aren’t they?

9. Can you see flowers in the parks in summer?

10. You like winter, don’t you?

Complete the following sentences:

1. December, January and February are…

2. Usually it…

3. Sometimes it rains but as usual the sum…

4. There are many green trees and nice flowers in the…

5. June is the first month of…

6. Sometimes it is cool in August but there are many…

7. The days become shorter and the nights…

Fill in the blanks with the proper words:

1. Winter, spring, summer and autumn are the … of the year.

2. The days are short and the nights are…

3. The rivers and lakes …and we can go skating and skiing.

4. There are many green … in the streets, in the parks and in the yards. Sometimes it rains but as usual the sum shines brightly.

5. June, July and August are summer….

6. The days are long and the …are short.

7. You can see the … in the forest and in the gardens in June.

8. August is the last … month; it is the end of summer.

9. The weather is …

10. The birds prepare … to the South.

11. It is time for … the harvest.

Text 2. The weather in england

People talk about the weather every day. They like to talk about the weather in England. English people say they have no climate in England, only weather.

England is not a large country. There is no town in England which is very far from the sea. There are no high mountains in England, no long rivers and no large forests. There are many fields and meadows in England.

Spring is a very nice season. It is the first warm season. The trees and the grass are green. The sum is warm and the sky is blue.

Summer is the warmest season. There are some hot days in summer but cool winds often blow from the sea, so the English summer is not always hot. There are a lot of sunny days in summer. Spring and summer are nice seasons, because the sum often shines brightly.

Autumn is a nice season too. It is the season of the harvest and the season of apples. Autumn is cool. The sky is grey, the cold wind blows. In autumn the leaves on the trees change their colour from green to yellow, brown and red.

Winter is not very cold. There is little snow and a lot of rain in England. There are also many fine days in winter, when the sum shines.

Vocabulary:

meadow – луг

leaves – листья

harvest – урожай

Questions:

1. How often do people talk about the weather?

2. Is England a big country?

3. Are there many fields and meadows in England?

4. What can you say about the English summer?

5. Do you like the winter in England?

6. Which seasons are beautiful in England?

7. Which season do you like?

8. Do you like to talk about the weather?

9. There are a lot of fine days in winter, aren’t there?

10. Can you compare the weather in England to the weather in Russia?

Complete the following sentences:

1. They like to talk about…

2. England is not a large…

3. There are many fields and meadows in…

4. Summer is the warmest…

5. There are some hot days in summer but cool winds often blow from the sea, so the English summer is not always…

6. Winter is not very…

7. There are also many fine days in winter, when…

Fill in the blanks with the proper words:

1. People talk about the … every day.

2. There are no high … in England, no long rivers and no large forests.

3. There are some hot days in summer but cool … often blow from the sea, so the English summer is not always hot.

4. Spring and summer are nice…, because the sum often shines brightly.

5. It is the season of the … and the season of apples.

6. There is little snow and a lot of … in England.

THEME 2

MASS MEDIA

Text 1.

TV IN BRITAIN

The first television in Britain appeared more than 50 years ago and nowadays is very popular. Every family has at least one TV set, the number of colour sets in use is very large, though they are not cheap.

The BBC was the first to provide a public television service in 1936. During the Second World War the transmissions were stopped, but were resumed in 1946. In 1952, the ceremony of Elizabeth’s II coronation was transmitted all over the country.

The BBC provides two channels. Besides BBC-I and BBC-II there are two Independent Channels. The viewers now have four channels at their disposal, and are able to watch television for many hours a day. They can watch plays, live transmissions of important events, sports games and competitions, interviews with prominent people, musical performances and many other items. News is broadcast regularly by all the channels and watched by most people. Films are often televised, and many of them are made especially for television.

A lot of people prefer staying home and watching TV rather than going out to cinemas, and many cinemas have closed. Most of the programmers present serious and instructive matters, such as family and children problems, problems of social work and employment as well as religious programmes .

Part of the time on Independent television is devoted to advertising, but its amount is small and strictly limited by the special Act that allowed commercial television. One of the features of TV programmes is that they often show violence, murder, crimes and gunplay, which is frequently criticized by the viewers. On the whole television plays as important role in the life of the British people as newspapers.