The popular view of the British weather is that it rains all the time. This is not true and Britain gets no more rain in an average year than several other European countries. In some summers the country goes for weeks with nothing more than a shower. Perhaps the main characteristic of Britain's weather is that it is hard to predict. This is probably why people regularly listen to weather forecasts on radio and television. However, the weathermen are sometimes wrong. Many people remember especially their failure to predict the Great Storm of 1987 which caused a lot of damage.
The British are not used to extremes. In summer the temperature rarely goes higher than 30C (86F). In winter the south and west are fairly mild. The east and north get much colder, with hard frosts and snow. A cold snap (= period of very cold weather) or heavy falls of snow can bring transport to a halt.
Samuel Johnson observed that 'when two Englishmen meet their first talk is of the weather', and this is still true. The weather is a safe, polite and impersonal topic of conversation. Most British people would agree that bright sunny weather, not too hot and with enough rain to water their gardens, is good. Bad weather usually means dull days with a lot of cloud and rain or, in winter, fog or snow.
The US is large enough to have several different climates, and so the weather varies between regions. In winter the temperature in New York state is often -8C (17F), or lower; in the summer in Arizona it is often above 40C (104F). Arizona gets less than an inch (2.5 centimetres) of rain most months; the state of Washington, DC can get 6 inches (15 centimetres). The North-east and Midwest have cold winters with a lot of snow, and summers that are very hot and humid. The South has hot, humid summers but moderate winters. The Southwest, including Arizona and New Mexico, is dry and warm in the winter and very hot in the summer. Some parts of the US suffer tornadoes and hurricanes.
In autumn people put storm doors and windows on their houses, an extra layer of glass to keep out the cold wind. Cities in the snow belt have several snow days each winter, days when people do not go to school or work. But then snow ploughs clear the roads and life goes on, even when the weather is bad.
In the US it is considered boring to talk about the weather, but some phrases are often heard. In the summer people ask, 'Is it hot enough for you?' or say that the street is 'hot enough to fry an egg'. When it rains they say 'Nice day if you're a duck', or that they do not mind the rain because 'the farmers need it'. Many people in Britain and the US, as elsewhere, are worried about global warming due to emissions from vehicles and factories of greenhouse gases and any climatic changes this may cause.
Taken from OXFORD Guide to British and American Culture
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► II. Writing
You have decided to send a postcard to your English friend with the sights of your hometown on it. Write a brief letter of 50-60 words including the following information:
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name the sights in the pictures;
write where they are and why they are famous;
invite your friend to come and visit them one day.
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► III. Speaking
Generation gap is not something new. Talk about your family relationships. Say:
Do you agree that young people should always listen to their parents' advice?
Do you personally listen to your parents' recommendations?
What helps you avoid misunderstandings with the adults?
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Examination Card # 9
► I. Reading
Read the text. Write a short summary of it (5-6 sentences). Use your own words
To express the main idea of the text.
Noah Webster
By Steve T. Bett
Noah Webster (1758-1843), along with his contemporary Ben Franklin, advocated simplified spelling, championed "American spelling," and added such words as "skunk," "squash," "hickory," "lengthy," and others to the lexicon.
His early success in 1782 with the blue-backed spelling book earned him a steady income and the wherewithal to devote his life to the first American dictionary, published in 1806. A second enlarged edition with less radical, simplified spellings was published in 1828.
Noah started writing the first American dictionary at the age of 43, which took him over 27 years to write. He felt that Americans in different parts of the country spelled, pronounced, and used words differently but thought that all Americans should speak the same way. He also thought that Americans should not speak and spell just like the English.
Webster wanted the American language to be somewhat uniform and easy. It is thanks to Webster that Americans have 'honor' instead of 'honour,' 'music' instead of 'musick' and 'plow' instead of 'plough.'
He also changed 'theatre' and 'centre' to 'theater' and 'center.' Nevertheless, Webster realized that language, no matter how deplored, is irreversible, and that casual street words mingle in everyday conversation and never leave.
In 1828, at the age of 70, Noah had readied the enlarged version of his original dictionary. His dictionary had 70,000 words and he had added, by this time, 12,000 words that had never been previously included in any dictionary of the language. Complete with definitions, it was considered better than Samuel Johnson's 1755 English masterpiece in scope and authority.
http://www.owled.com/webster.html
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► II. Writing
Your pen friend's family is coming to Ukraine. They want your advice on how to spend three days. Write a short letter and recommend some places to go. in your letter:
welcome their decision to visit Ukraine in summer;
recommend two places around your city;
ask them to bring your friend with them.
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► III. Speaking
Talk about your school and the teachers that have taught you. Use the ideas given below:
say something about your school rules and traditions;
inform about your favourite school subjects;
your favourite teachers.
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Examination Card # 10
► I. Reading
Read the text. Write a short summary of it (5-6 sentences). Use your own words to express the main idea of the text.
The United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that aims to ease cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achieving world peace. It was founded as a successor to the League of Nations, which many people thought had failed as an international governing body, since it had not prevented World War II.
On April 25th, 1945, the UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco. It was attended by 50 governments and a number of non-governmental organizations. The UN officially came into existence on October 24th, 1945, when the Charter was ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council - France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States - and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. There are currently 192 member states, including nearly every recognized independent state in the world.
The United Nations system is based on five principal administrative bodies: the General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly, composed of all member states); the Security Council (decides resolutions for peace and security, composed of the five permanent members and ten other member states); the Economic and Social Council (assists in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development); the Secretariat (provides studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN); and the International Court of Justice (the primary judicial organ).
Four of the five principal organs are located at the main United Nations headquarters, which is on international territory in New York City. They hold regular meetings throughout the year to discuss and decide on a variety of issues. The International Court of Justice is located in The Hague, where it hears cases related to war crimes, illegal state interference, and ethnic cleansing. Other major agencies are based in the UN offices in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi. Other UN institutions are located throughout the world. The six official languages of the United Nations, used in intergovernmental meetings and documents, are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. The Secretariat uses two working languages: English and French.
The Security Council is dedicated to maintaining peace and security among countries. While other organs of the United Nations can only make recommendations to member governments, the Security Council can make binding decisions that member governments have agreed to carry out, under the terms of Charter Article 25. The decisions of the Council are known as United Nations Security Council resolutions.
www.en.wikipedia.org
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► II. Writing
You have just visited the Art Exhibition in the place where you live. Write an email to your English-speaking friend. Tell him/her about:
the place where the exhibition is held;
the artworks which were exhibited;
your point of view on the best works.
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► III. Speaking
You are going to make a report at the local conference devoted to the questions of environmental protection. Talk about:
the problems which are caused by the pollution in the place where you live;
the reasons they are to be solved.
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Examination Card # 11
► I. Reading
Read the text. Write a short summary of it (5-6 sentences). Use your own words to express the main idea and relevant details of the piece you've read.
Biodiversity Who Cares?
"Biodiversity" sounds technical but is simply the amazing diversity of life on our planet, from fellow human being's, the insects in our back garden to the vegetables in our fridge.
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Many of us appreciate the countryside or walk our dogs in the local woods. We find it calming or energising. But actually our biodiversity is more than that - it's a fundamental part of the Earth's life support system and sustains many of our basic human needs for food, air, fertile soil, even furniture. It's fundamental to our existence.
Since its beginnings, life has spread to every corner of the planet. Some extreme environments support only a few species, whilst others display an enormous diversity of life. Each organism has adapted to fit a particular place or habitat.
We all rely on biodiversity, but the greatest threat to it is us. It is vital we understand biodiversity and how it works, in order to make the right decisions on how to sustain it.
There are scientists at Amgueddfa Cymru with expertise in researching and identifying species and contributing to global knowledge. Their work is relied on by other scientists and conservation professionals. The internationally important collections of the National Wool Museum in Cardiff are a source of biological information for scientists now and in the future.
http://www.museu.mwales.ac.uk/en/wool/
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► II. Writing
