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
5
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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.
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.
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.
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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?
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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:
+ er / more + adjective
Comparing all the things in one group:
+est / most + adjective
2010 was hotter than last year.
2010 was the hottest year ever.
Saying two things are the same
as + adjective + as
Saying two things are not the same.
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)
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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)
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SPEAKING
1. Use comparatives and superlatives to compare these things.
1. Football / Basketball. Sports 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.
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.
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PHOTOCOPIABLE MATERIAL
Read the clues and complete the table with the information In the box.
Population: 1.3 million, 5.5m, 6.5m, 14.8m
When they became cities: 1718, 1781, 1856, 1896
Sunshine hours: 2647, 2848, 3155, 3265
Rain (mm): 384, 880, 1420, 1629
Average high temp. 240C, 240C, 250C, 280C Murders per 100,000 people: 10, 13.3, 14.7, 63.6
City
Temperature
Rainfall
Sunshine
Population
Murders
per
100,000
When it
became a
city
DALLAS
LOS
ANGELES
MIAMI
NEW
ORLEANS
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.
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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 southeast, 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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