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STARTING OFF

1. Match the pictures to the correct weather words.

1. sun. It is sunny.2. rain. It is raining.3. wind. It is windy.4. snow. It is snowing.5. cloud. It is cloudy.6. hail. Hail is falling.7. temperature. The temperature is…8. degrees centigrade. …0C

© Pearson Central Europe 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE - 1 -

5

2. Think about this year. What was the weather like…

… in the winter?… in the spring?… in the summer?

Choose the best word to complete these sentences and compare your idea with a friend.

This year has been a cold / warm / normal year.This year has been a wet / dry / normal year.

3. Where did you spend this summer?Describe the weather in the place(s) you visited to your partner.

BEFORE YOU READ

Look at these two meanings of the word ‘record’.

Record (n)

1) information about something that is written down.

How has weather changed since records began? (since people started writing down what the weather was like)

2) the fastest speed, longest distance, highest or lowest level etc that has ever been achieved or reached

The world record for the 100 metres is 9.58 seconds.

Decide which meaning ‘record’ has in this sentence.

There was 314mm of rain in Cumbria, England in 2009. This is a record amount of rainfall since records began.


I went to Croatia. It was very hot and sunny. It didn’t rain. Sometimes it was windy. The temperature was about 350C every day. There weren’t any clouds.

I was in England. Some days were sunny and it was about 250C. On three days it rained and it was cold – about 150C. It was often cloudy.

FIRST READING

1. Read your text and decide on the best heading for it.

A 2010 has been a very cold year.B 2010 has been a very warm year.C 2010 has been a normal year for weather.

SECOND READING

1. Read your text again and decide whether the sentences are true (T) or false (F).

STUDENT A

1. In 1978/79, the winter in England was colder than in 2010.2. There has never been a colder winter than 2010 in Scotland since records began.3. Last winter was only cold in northern Europe.4. The Florida farmer didn’t think it was a very cold winter.5. There was more snow in South Korea last year than ever before.6. Spain had a warmer summer in 2010 than in 2009.7. At least four countries have had a lot of rain this year. STUDENT B

1. Only one country had warm weather in early 2010.2. There has never been a drier May in England than in 2010.3. May and July were both dry months in England.4. The whole of Great Britain was hot in July.5. The temperature in Moscow was a record high.6. The highest temperature in the Ukraine was higher than the highest temperature in Belarus.7. There was less ice in the Arctic this June than ever before.

AFTER READING

1. Was 2010 a hot or cold year? Tell your partner what you found out.

2. Where was there a cold winter?

3. Where was there a cool summer?

4. Where was there a hot summer?


GRAMMAR

1. Work in pairs. Put the words in brackets in the correct form. Use the texts to help you if you need to.

1. 2010 started with the (heavy) ____________ snow for many years.

2. It was the (cold) ___________ winter since 1978/79.

3. In Scotland, it was even (bad) __________ than in England.

4. ‘I can’t remember a winter as (cold) ___________ as this one.

5. Alice Springs had its (low) ___________ ever daytime temperature.

6. Spain’s summer was the (cool) __________ since 1997.

7. In South Dakota, the (big) ___________ ever hail stone fell.

8. It was one of the (wet) ___________ years people could remember.

9. It started with some of the (warm)___________ weather recorded.

10. This May was the (dry)____________ since 1991.

11. Moscow had its (hot) ____________ day for 130 years.

12. All of these are (high) ____________ temperatures than ever before.

Comparatives and superlatives:

Comparing two things: Comparing all the things in one group:+ er / more + adjective +est / most + adjective

2010 was hotter than last year. 2010 was the hottest year ever.

Saying two things are the same Saying two things are not the same.as + adjective + as not + as + adjective + as

2009 was as hot as 1997. 2008 was not as hot as 2009.

(the temperature was the same) (2008 was cooler)


Spelling rules:

1. Complete the rules with the words in the box

bad beautiful cool heavy high hot low warm wet

1 Short adjectives ending in two consonants or two vowels and a consonant:(or one vowel + w or y) + er/est: colder, _____________, _____________, _____________, _____________ the coldest, _____________, _____________, _____________, _____________

2 Short adjectives ending in one vowel and one consonant. (remember, you can’t double w or y)

+ the last letter + er/est: bigger, _____________, _____________ the biggest, _____________, _____________

3 Adjectives with one or two syllables ending in a consonant + y

y +ier/iest: drier, _____________ the driest, _____________

4 Other two syllable adjectives and longer adjectives

more/most + adjective: more expensive, _____________ the most expensive, _____________ 5 Irregular adjectives

good – better, the best_________ - __________, _________

2. Complete these sentences with the adjectives given in the correct form and any other words necessary.

1. Poland is __________ England in the summer but __________ England in the winter. (HOT/COLD)2. Russia is __________ country in Europe and Vatican City is __________. (BIG/SMALL)3. England is __________ Rome in the summer but _________ Rome in the winter. (WET/DRY)4. _________ temperature in Britain last year was 36.20C and _________ was -26.80C. (HIGH/LOW)


SPEAKING

1. Use comparatives and superlatives to compare these things.

1. Football / Basketball. Sports in general.

2. English / German. Languages in general.

3. Pizza / burgers. Fast food in general.

4. Italy / France. Countries in general.

5. The sea / The mountains. Places to go on holiday in general.

6. Summer / Winter. Seasons in general.

7. Cats / Dogs. Pets in general.

8. Tidying your room / doing homework. Jobs and duties in general.


Football is more exciting than basketball. The games are longer. Football gets bigger crowds.The worst sport is cricket because it’s the most boring.

PHOTOCOPIABLE MATERIAL

Read the clues and complete the table with the information In the box.

City Tempera-ture

Rainfall Sunshine Population Murders per 100,000

When it became a city

DALLAS

LOS ANGELESMIAMI

NEW ORLEANS


Population: 1.3 million, 5.5m, 6.5m, 14.8m When they became cities: 1718, 1781, 1856, 1896Sunshine hours: 2647, 2848, 3155, 3265 Rain (mm): 384, 880, 1420, 1629Average high temp. 240C, 240C, 250C, 280C Murders per 100,000 people: 10, 13.3, 14.7, 63.6

1. New Orleans is the oldest city.

2. Dallas is older than Miami but not as old as Los Angeles.

3. The oldest city is the most dangerous. 4. The second oldest city is the least dangerous.

5. Dallas is not quite as dangerous as Miami. 6. Dallas is as warm as Los Angeles.

7. The oldest city is not the warmest.

8. The safest city is the driest and the most dangerous city is the wettest.

9. The newest city is wetter than the second newest city.

10. The biggest city has 384mm of rain a year. The wettest city is the smallest.

11. Dallas is bigger than Miami.

12. If you want the sunniest city go to the biggest. If you don’t like sunshine, go to the most dangerous.

13. There are two cities left. The one which is sunnier is also wetter.

A

2010 was a strange year for weather. It started with the heaviest snow in Britain for many years. In fact, weathermen said it was the coldest winter since 1978/79. That was an even colder year. In Scotland, it was even worse than in England. It was the coldest winter since records began.

It wasn’t just England. The whole of northern Europe had freezing weather. So did the USA, Canada and China. In Florida, one farmer said: ‘I can’t remember a winter as cold as this one.’ South Korea had its heaviest snowfall since records began.

Then, in July, Alice Springs in Australia had its lowest ever daytime temperature. Spain’s summer was its coolest since 1997 and, in South Dakota, the world’s biggest ever hail stone fell. It was 20cm across.

It wasn’t only the cold that made this such a bad year. It was one of the wettest years ever in China, Australia, India and Pakistan. Other countries also had heavy rains.

B

2010 was a strange year for weather. It started with some of the warmest weather recorded in Africa, Australia and South America.

In the UK, it was the driest May since 1991 and, the south of England was also drier than normal in July, although the north, Scotland and Ireland had a lot of rain. In the south-east, it was also the warmest July for 100 years although, again, other areas of Britain were cooler.

Several countries had record temperatures this summer and Moscow had its hottest day for 130 years. Belarus (38.90C), Cyprus (46.60C), Finland (37.20C), Russia (440C) and Ukraine (420C) all had record hot temperatures in July. Yes, all of these are higher temperatures than ever before in these countries. The hot, dry weather destroyed wheat in Ukraine and Russia and prices of flour and bread are now much higher than before.

In fact, weathermen now say that it was the hottest June ever in the world. They also found a lower amount of ice in the Arctic than ever before.


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