2.5. Oral Practice
Exercise 1. Now read Text A carefully and answer the following questions.
1) Do you agree that the weather is like a capricious woman? Prove your point.
2) What weather do you like best of all and why?
3) Do you listen to the weather forecasts? Do you trust them? Have you heard the weather forecast today? Was it right?
4) Say what mood in you prevails when
a) it is a cold winter day;
b) it is a hot summer night;
c) it is a warm spring evening;
d) it is a cool autumn morning.
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Exercise 2. a) Look at the following patterns, expressing one’s delight with the
weather or dislike of it.
For good weather For bad weather
It’s absolutely marvellous! It certainly is horrible!
Isn’t it gorgeous! Nasty day, isn’t it?
It’s so nice and hot! Isn’t it dreadful?
Personally I think it’s so nice I hate rain.
when it’s hot, isn’t it?
I adore it. Don’t you? I don’t like it at all. Do you?
b)Work in pairs. Use these patterns to respond to the following.
A.
Nice day, isn’t it?
What a glorious morning!
Fancy such a day in December!
It’s so nice when it’s warm.
What a beautiful winter evening!
This breeze is so refreshing!
It’s so surprisingly warm for this time of the year!
What a fine day we are having!
I love the sun. Isn’t it wonderful?
B.
Dull morning, isn’t it?
Nasty day, isn’t it?
I hate snow.
What a horrible day!
The heat is unbearable.
I can’t stand this wind.
The weather is turning bad.
Rain all day long. Isn’t it dreadful?
It’s pouring again. Isn’t it wretched?
Exercise 3. Comment upon the following proverbs and illustrate their meaning.
1) If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun.
2) Small rain lays great dust.
3) As welcome as a storm.
4) After rain comes fair weather (sunshine).
5) It never rains but it pours.
6) April weather.
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7) For a rainy day (to save, to put by, to lay up).
8) Every cloud has a silver lining.
Exercise 4. Study the following texts and say what in your opinion the advan-tages and disadvantages of each season are. (The phrases given below will help you to express an opinion of your own or ask for somebody else’s opinion).
Asking for an opinion Expressing your own opinion
Well? What do you think? I think that ...
Do / Don’t you agree? In my opinion ...
What’s your view (then)? In my view ...
How do you see it (then)? I feel that ...
Let’s have your opinion. What’s your opinion of ... ?
A - In my opinion the most pleasant season is (the) spring. In May the weather is finest and all nature is loveliest. The trees put forth little buds and new leaves; the meadows grow green again; the flowers begin to bloom. The nightingale, swallow, cuckoo and other birds come back from Italy or Africa and build their nests, all the while singing their merry songs. Meanwhile the new crop is shooting up, and if there are no sharp frosts during the night, nature looks full of promise, and the corn-fields are made bright by blue cornflowers and red poppies.
Spring flowers! The lilacs unfold their pale hearts. There shines the wild daffodil - soft, slim, yellow; there is the starry narcissus, the hiacinth almost lost in the herbs; among them stand tulips - the red bubbles of dark wine; the yellow, more cup-like; the large party-coloured gold and red, noble and sombre.
B - I, for one, like summer, in fact, I prefer it to any other season. By the end of June, when the days become considerably warmer, summer has come. If the heat gets too oppressive, we can go and bathe in running water. And many people enjoy a game of tennis in summer. In the summer the hot sun ripens the corn and fruit, and the farmer gets ready for the harvest. There are plenty of strawberries, cherries, currants, gooseberries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, plums and blackberries, which are ripe and afford a treat for the old and the young. And what pleasure can compare with that of watching the glorious sunrise and sunset? Clouds? Rain? Well, well, it isn’t always cloudy, and there is no such thing as perpetual rain.
C - Strange as it might seem, I like (the) autumn. There are some drawbacks, I admit, - the shorter days and longer nights, for instance. The weather also leaves much to be desired. But is there anything more beautiful than an Indian summer - when we have one! We miss the songs of the birds, you say. Well, I can and do enjoy the sparrow, bluebird, crossbill and the few others that remain with us. Oh, I know what you want to say. The November fogs, and mist, and sleet are not pleasant things. But what should we do without apples, pears, walnuts, grapes, which get ripe in September and October and may be picked. I, for one, could
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not get along without fruits or nuts, and for the sake of those I’m willing to put up with some discomforts.
D - When autumn is over and winter sets in, I don’t mind it at all. I know it is the season of snowstorms, and of ice, of frozen rivers and ponds, and of slippery streets. But think of the skating on the ice, or skiing in the country, and the sledging. In snowy weather, tobogganing is my favourite pastime. Then think of the joy of the children. At the first heavy snowfall, they are out making snow-men, building snowhuts, and pelting one another with snowballs. Of course, if the winter is severe, one must take care not to get frost-bitten. To me, winter has its own peculiar interest and beauty, and there is no reason to feel bored to death when there are interesting books, theatres and concerts, and the cinema.
Exercise 5. Discuss with a partner the weather you are having at present. Choose questions and answers from the models given below.
Questions:
What do you think of the weather?
What’s the weather outside?
I wonder what the weather is going to be like.
Will the weather keep?
Do you think it will clear up?
Do you think it is going to turn out fine?
What is the weather forecast for today?
Answers:
We are in for a spell of good weather.
It looks like rain.
The weather is turning bad.
It’ll change for the better.
The weather is fine / nice / lovely / beautiful.
The weather is nasty / wretched / awful / dull.
The day is rainy / windy / bright / sunny.
The weather is favourable.
The sky is overcast / cloudy / clear.
It’s snowing / pouring / raining / drizzling.
The wind is rising.
It has been raining on and off for ...
The fog is lifting.
Exercise 6. Read Notes 1 and 2 and make up dialogues according to the sug-gested patterns.
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Note 1. Foreigners are often amused that the English spend so much time discuss-ing the weather. The reason for this is not simply that their weather is interesting and variable, but that the English are reluctant to converse about personal matters with people who are not friends. Mentioning the weather can be a useful and inof-fensive way of starting a conversation with a stranger at a bus-stop or in a train.
Note 2. Each situation is expressed by four dialogues arranged in parallel, so that any of A’s first utterances may be followed by any of B’s first utterances and so on. This means that, with a 4×4 arrangement, we have 256 different variations of the same situation - do you feel like trying ?
(I) (II)
A. Fairly mild for the time It seems to be clearing up.
of the year.
B. Yes. Quite different from It makes a change, doesn’t it?
the forecast.
A. They say we’re in for snow. Apparently it’s going to turn cold.
B. Let’s hope it keeps fine for Still, another month should see us
the weekend. through the worst of it.
(III) (IV)
A. Nice and bright this morning. It’s good to see the sun again.
B. Yes. Much better than yesterday. A big improvement on what we’ve
been having.
A. The wind’ll probably get up It’s supposed to cloud over this after-
later. noon.
B. As long as it doesn’t rain. I didn’t think it would last.
Exercise 7. Recall the weather on the day of a) your entrance examination in Eng-lish; b) your last exam at school; c) your last birthday. As you may be not quite sure of the weather on that day, use the models below to express hesitation.
As far as I remember ...
If my memory serves me right ...
I seem to remember ...
I am not sure about it but ...
I can’t be absolutely sure about it, of course, ...
If I remember correctly ...
Exercise 9. Comment upon the quotations.
"There is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” - John Ruskin.
"When two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather.”
- Samuel Johnson.
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"Life, believe, is not a dream,
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day!” - Charlotte Bronte.
Exercise 10. You are working on a film and have to describe the weather scene for the following clips - use your vivid imagination!
a) Two cowboys are riding across the desert.
b) It is a dark night in the middle of nowhere where strange things have been happening.
c) The railway station, and a parting between two lovers.
d) Guests in the Large Hotel on the coast are stranded because of a hurricane
which has hit the area.
Exercise 11 Work in groups and discuss with your classmates the topics you see below. Let one of you sum up what all of you have said.
a) Would you agree that there is no reason to feel bored in autumn ?
b) Account for the fact that most people are happy when winter is over and warm weather sets in.
c) Are you sure that one should not put off the outing if one hears the forecast promising unsteady weather?
d) Some people are convinced that late autumn has many advantages as com-pared to the other seasons. What’s your opinion?
e) Prove that winter is the best time for a holiday.