Texas, summer 2011
The US state this year has had its driest summer since record-keeping began in 1895, with 75 per cent of the state classified as "exceptional drought", the worst level. Shortages of grass, hay and water have forced ranchers to thin their herds where this cow died, in the San Angelo area, there has been less than three inches of rain.
Moscow, August 2010
Russia experienced its hottest-ever summer last year for weeks, a large portion of European Russia was more than 7 C (12.6 F) warmer than normal, and a new national record was set of 44 C (111 F). Raging forest fires filled Moscow with smoke, forcing the cancellation of air services and obliging people to do face masks.
Northern Europe, 2003
Shrivelled French grapes at the end of Europe's hottest summer on record in 2003. The heatwave led to health crises in several countries and more than 40,000 people are thought to have died. Britain experienced its first (and so far only) 100+ F air temperature 101.3F (38.5C) recorded at Brogdale, Kent, on the 10th of August.
Exercise 18: Work with the group - Read the text once again and find out if the information
a) True
b) False
c) The text doesnt consist any information:
d)
| Questions | Answers |
| 1.Scientists have excellent PR skills to make public listen. | * |
| 2.Climate sceptics are losing the argument with the public over global warming. | * |
| 3.Significant climatic extreme events were now occurring over 20 to 50 per cent of the planet annualy, whereas between 1950 to 1980 they occurred over less than 1 per cent. | * |
| 4.The Earth is in increasing danger from rising temperatures. | * |
| 5.In August 2009 Russia experienced its hottest-ever summer last year for weeks, a large portion of European Russia was more than 7 C (12.6 F) warmer than normal, and a new national record was set of 44 C (111 F). | * |
| 6. There are some ways to stop the global warming. | * |
Exercise 19: Answer the questions:
1. How do you understand the term global warming?
2. What are the possible consequences of the global warming?
3. What can we do to stop it?
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Compound Sentences
A compound sentence is a sentence that contains two complete ideas (called clauses) that are related. These two clauses are usually connected in a compound sentence by a conjunction. The coordinating conjunctions are "and", "but", "for", "or", "nor", "yet", or "so".
Example:
Batman is a hero. He is successful in catching the criminals in his city.
Batman is a hero, and he is successful in catching the criminals in his city.
OR
Batman is a hero, for he is successful in catching the criminals in his city.
Famous Compound Sentences
Here are a few examples of compound sentences spoken by presidents and some other well-known people:
"A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on." (John F. Kennedy)
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"Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one." (Lyndon B. Johnson)
"Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time." (Gerald R. Ford)
"I have often wanted to drown my troubles, but I can't get my wife to go swimming." (Jimmy Carter)
"Trust, but verify." (Ronald Reagan)
"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."(George H. W. Bush)
"You can put wings on a pig, but you don't make it an eagle." (Bill Clinton)
"I used to be snow white, but I drifted." (Mae West)
"I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land." (Jon Stewart)
Exercise 20: Turn the sentence pairs into single compound sentences, each with a coordinating conjunction. You can rearrange or add words in the sentence to make it sound better, but only if it's necessary:
1. The black dog has won many prizes. He doesn't know many tricks. ____________________________________________
2. She saw a cat run in front of her. She fell down while roller-skating. ____________________________________________
3. There was a meteor shower. The crew did not know how to avoid the meteors. ____________________________________________
4. I wanted to buy a baby Chihuahua. I started to save my money. ____________________________________________
5. Gillian did not like to read. She was not very good at it. ____________________________________________
6. Pam liked Wayne. Leena also liked Wayne. ____________________________________________
7. The little boy did not like going to school. He went anyway. ____________________________________________
8. You can cry like a baby. You can clean your room like an adult. ____________________________________________
9. She didn't want to play with Jill. She didn't want to play with Tim. ____________________________________________
10. Arleen could not play with that boy. Arleen could not play with that other boy. ____________________________________________
11. Let's go to the swimming pool. It's hot inside the house. ____________________________________________
12. I dont want to eat. I don't want to drink. ____________________________________________
13. I dont want to practice playing my violin. I dont want to disobey my mother. ____________________________________________
14. I want to own my own company. I want to pay all my workers a lot of money. ____________________________________________
15. I need to go to the store. I'm feeling too sick to drive. ____________________________________________
16. Rabbits make good pets. They dont make too much noise and they are clean. ____________________________________________
17. I want to go to the circus. I want to ride a pony. ____________________________________________
18. I didnt do my homework. My parents punished me. ____________________________________________
19. I have never visited Asia. I have never visited Africa. ____________________________________________
20. You can make a big poster. You can make a little clay statue. ____________________________________________
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Exercise 21: Choose the best answer. Which sentence best completes the compound sentence?
1. I bought my ticket, and __________.
a) I packed my suitcase yesterday.
b) I didn't get my passport yesterday.
c) John didn't buy his ticket.
2. I wanted to go to Kislovodsk, but __________.
a) I went.
b) I had no money.
c) I had money.
3. Mary visited Moscow, and __________.
a) she spent ten days there.
b) she didn't.
c) she had two weeks for vacation.
Exercise 22: Choose the conjunction which matches the function.
1. result
2. additional information
3. choice
4. contrast or opposite
5. reason
a) but b) and c) so d) or e) for
Exercise 23: Can you find evidence of climate change?
You will ask your older relatives what the weather was like when they were young. The further back you can go, the more chance of seeing climate change in action is.
ü Think of some questions you could ask to find out what the weather was like in the past.
ü Interview 2 or 3 of your relatives to see what the weather was like when they were young.
ü Answer the questions yourself to see what the weather is like now.
ü Put the answers to your questions into order according to how old the person was. The oldest relative's answers first and your answers last.
Questions to ask:
1. What were the winters like when you were young?
2. Were they hot or cold?
3. Did it snow a lot?
4. Were they wet or dry?
5. What were the summers like when you were young?
6. Were they hot or cold?
7. Was there lots of sun?
8. Did it rain much?
Make a short report based on the answers, you can provide it with video and illustrations.
Exercise 24: Combine each group of sentences below into a compound sentence, separating the independent clauses from one another with a semicolon.
Example: A presidential candidate should be intelligent.
A presidential candidate should be honest.
Voters should scrutinize candidates carefully.
Compound sentence answer: A presidential candidate should be intelligent and honest; voters should scrutinize candidates carefully.
1. The Presidents recommendation called for a tax increase.
Very few senators will vote for it.
2. The handwriting was almost illegible.
The spelling was very poor throughout the paper.
3. Most house plants prefer lots of sun.
They prefer plenty of water.
Other house plants like shade.
4. Pollution is ruining our water.
Soon we may have to ration the supply.
Soon we may have to invent new filtering methods.
5. September has its own unique character.
It is both a beginning and an end.
Exercise 25: Find the compound sentences:
1. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense; for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost.
2. I no longer wish to meet a good I do not earn, for example, to find a pot of buried gold.
3. Your goodness must have some edge to it-else it is none.
4. Man does not stand in awe of man, nor is his genius admonished to stay at home, but it goes abroad to beg a cup of water of the urns of other men.
5. A man cannot speak but he judges himself.
6. In your metaphysics you have denied personality to the Deity, yet when the devout motions of the soul come, yield to them heart and life.
7. I thought that it was a Sunday morning in May; that it was Easter Sunday, and as yet very early in the morning.
8. We denote the primary wisdom as intuition, whilst all later teachings are tuitions.
9. For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something.
10. In this manner, from a happy yet often pensive child, he grew up to be a mild, quiet, unobtrusive boy, and sun-browned with labor in the fields, but with more intelligence than is seen in many lads from the schools.
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Exercise 26: Can you talk about Environmental issues in English?
