Exercise 6. Form adjectives from the nouns.

Exercise 1. Say whether these sentences are true or false and explain why.

1. People have been forecasting the weather looking to plants and animals for hints.

2. If ants move to higher ground and cows lay down, that is the sign of snow.

3. All weather proverbs are usually based on scientific studies.

4. A weather proverb based on observations in one part of the world is always valid in another one.

5. A red sunset is a sign of a rain.

6. If the sky is red in the morning there will be no rain.

7. If the atmosphere is clear, the surface of the earth cools very quickly.

8. If in winter you can see a lot of stars in the sky at night the day will be cold.

9. A continuous covering of snow on farmland destroys wheat and other winter grains.

10. The halo around the sun or moon is a layer of cirrus clouds made of ice crystals.

11. The halo around the sun indicates an approaching warm dry weather.

12. The morning rainbow indicates that rain is moving from the west.

13. Stars seem to “huddle” together because other groups of stars are completely hidden by clouds.

Exercise 2. Match each word with a word from the line to make compound words.

pressure stones drift storm warning rain wave pour clouds

1 thunder 4 down 7 snow

2 cirrus 5 heat 8 gale

3 torrential 6 hail 9 low

Exercise 3. What kinds of weather do you think caused the following to happen? Write a sentence which could go before each of these.

1 We had to sit in the shade every afternoon.

2 The sweat was pouring out of us.

3 I can hardly breathe; I wish it would rain to cool us down.

4 Cars were skidding out of control.

5 Even the postman had to use a boat to get around.

6 They had to close the airport; the snow was a metre deep.

7 We were able to sit in the garden in the middle of winter.

8 The earth became rock-hard and a lot of plants died.

9 It blew the newspaper clean out of my hands.

10 A row of big trees had been uprooted like matchsticks.

11 I could hardly see my hand in front of my face.

Exercise 4. What types of weather are bad and good for doing these things?

Example: Skiing bad: mild weather which makes the snow melt; good: cold, clear days

1 Planting flowers in a garden 4 A day of sightseeing in a big city

2 Having an evening barbecue 5 Camping out in a tent

3 Going out in a small sailing boat 6 Looking at ships through binoculars

Exercise 5. This chart shows anyone who wants to visit the West of Ireland what weather to expect at different times of the year. Make a similar chart for your country or home region.

December-March	April-June	July-August	September-November
The coldest months; usually quite wet; snow on high ground	Generally cool, often wet and windy -but improving	The warmest months; bright with showers; cool sea breezes	Often mild becoming cold; mist and fog

Exercise 6. Form adjectives from the nouns.

noun	adjective	noun	adjective
sun		wind
cloud		ice
fog		shower
heat		humidity

Exercise 7. A. Find the definitions for the underlined words. (cold weather)

In Scandinavia, the chilly days of autumn soon change to the cold days of winter. The first frosts arrive and the roads become icy. Rain becomes sleet and then snow, at first turning to slush in the streets, but soon settling, with severe blizzards and snowdrifts in the far north. Freezing weather often continues in the far north until May or even June, when the ground starts to thaw and the ice melts again.

(1) change from solid to liquid under heat (2) dirty, brownish, half-snow, half-water (3) snow blown by high winds (4) cold, but not very (5) change from hard, frozen state to normal (6) deep banks of snow against walls, etc. (7) staying as a white covering (8) rain and snow mixed (9) thin white coat of ice on everything

B. Match the word with its definition. (warm, hot weather)

1. close A. warm and uncomfortable

2. stifling B. hot and damp, makes you sweat a lot

3. humid C. warm at a time when it is normally cold

4. scorching D. very hot, often used in negative conUNITs

5. boiling E. hot, uncomfortable, you can hardly breathe

6. mild F. very hot, often used in positive conUNITs

C. Match the word with its definition. (mist and fog)

1. haze A. mixture of fog and pollution

2. mist B. cloudy air near the ground which is difficult to see through, associated with cold weather

3. fog C. light mist, usually caused by heat

4. smog D. light fog, often on the sea, or caused by drizzle