Материал: 2507

All is well with me here in London. The weather is fine. It is not raining.

Please (7) ________________ my love to everyone.

(8) ________________, Mike

21. Write a letter to your friend in London. Include a description of the climate in your region.

22. Be ready to discuss some interesting facts about nature and climate. Student A, B, C, …, you are geographers (you will have to prepare a short presentation concerning the climate). Student D, F, G, …, you are tourist agents (you will advertise your tours using the information presented by the geographers). The information below can be helpful.

1. In the Strait of Gibraltar the strong winds, the light winds, the foggy

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winds, nearly always blow from the west or from the east. Because of the mountains, the winds scarcely ever blow from the north or south at sea level, though they quite often do so at heights above the mountains tops. For this reason the airport at Gibraltar needs to have only one runway, which lies from east to west; aircraft can then land and take off facing the wind.

2.In the equatorial belt, on either side of the Amazon River, there are dense tropical forests, where giant trees spring up and grow so close together that they no branches except at the top. The struggle is not for moisture, of which there is much at all seasons, but for light and air.

3.Water retains heat longer than the land. The temperature of the air over and near the sea is more uniform than that over the land, while the climate near the sea is subject to less extremes of temperature.

4.The higher the land, the rarer the air and the lower the temperature.

5.Dog-days are the hottest days of the summer.ИThey cover a period of 40 days, from July 3d to August 11th, when Sirius, or the dog-star, rises and sets with the sun. The ancient superstitionДwas that this star exercised a direct influence on dogs.

6.Sometimes the clouds are so low in the mountains that an airplane pilot can see only the tops of high mountains.АWhen it is raining in the valleys, it may be snowing higher up in the mountains. The nights are cold in the mountains; in the valleys itбmay be stifling hot.

7.The beautiful colour effect, which we call a rainbow, is visible to the observer when he standsиwith his back to the sun and faces a rain shower. A rainbow is caused by the refraction and reflection of sunlight in minute water droplets in theСair. From high in the air it would be possible to see a rainbow as a complete circle. From the ground the most that can be seen is a semi-circle when the sun is just on the horizon; the higher the sun is, the smaller the arc of the rainbow.

8.There are no thunder-storms and lightning in Polar Regions because the clouds all freeze too quickly.

9.Sunday, in ancient times, was the day on which the sun was worshipped. The first Sunday law, establishing Sunday a rest day, was made by Constantine the Great (Roman emperor from 323 A. D.) in 321 A. D., in which it was decreed that all should rest from their labours upon “the day of the sun”.

10.February, when first introduced into the Roman calendar, about 713 B. C., was the last month of the year and preceded January. It was not until

450B. C. that it became the second month.

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11.In the old Roman calendar, March (named after Mars, the god of war)

was the first month. May, named after the goddess Maia, was the third month. September was the 7th month; the name was changed several times

by different emperors, but none of the new names survived for long. October was the 8th month. November was the 9th; but from 713 B. C., when January and February were added, it became the 11th month. December was originally the 10th month.

12.The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox, in September. It rises for several nights running about the same time, and yields an unusual series of moonlight nights.

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Self-Assessment

1. Look through Module 1 to find the answers to the questions 1 – 20.

1.How do you usually greet someone you already know. Think of possible greetings and replies used for the first meeting.

2.Which topics of conversation are suitable when you meet someone for the first time? Why?

3.What do you do in your free time?

4.What sort of music/films do you like?

5.Do you live in the centre or the suburbs? Describe the houses in your neighbourhood.

6.Describe your boyfriend/girlfriend (both appearance and character).

7.Draw your own family tree and tell about your family.

8.How do you think being “firstborn” affected people?

9.Tell about a typical working day for you. И

10.What’s your favourite room? Why?

11.Describe a house of your dream. Д

12.What are springs like in Omsk?

13.What is winter like in Omsk?

14.How do you spend your summerАholidays?

15.What types of letters do you know? What are the reasons to write them? б

16.What is the structure of a typical letter?

17.List the rules of writingиa letter.

18.What do you write to begin and end a formal/informal letter?

19.Who were MarchСand May named after in the old Roman calendar?

20.Where do you go for your holidays?

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2. There are at least 20 hidden words. Find them!

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T

1 U P S E T G M K V Q D W U B O S S Y H S

2 C M M A Z K O J R A I G X R U I O O Z E

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