EPISODE 244
LEVEL A1.2/A2.1

READING COMPREHENSION

 

POLISH WEATHER

I don’t really like Polish weather.

In winter, it’s always cold and dark. For example, it has been really freezing cold ( = very cold) this week and my car didn’t start yesterday. In winter the sky is always overcast ( = cloudy) and it sleets ( = it snows and rains at the same time) from time to time. Sometimes we have blizzards ( = storms with snow and strong winds) and then people drive very slowly and everybody is late for work.

In summer, on the other hand, it’s boiling hot ( = very hot) and thunderstorms ( = storms with lightning) are quite common. We often have gales ( = very strong winds) and sometimes it hails ( = small, hard balls of ice fall down from the sky).

I don’t know if Polish weather is the worst in the world, but people always feel unhappy with it.

 

More contexts for the new words:

• I really like foggy weather. ( = I like when the „clouds” are very close to the ground)
• It was pouring with rain yesterday. ( = It was raining heavily yesterday)
• There was not enough rain in July which resulted in drought. ( = the situation which happens when there is no rain for a long time)

 

 

EXERCISE 1
Answer the questions, using words from the lesson.

1. Which type of weather is your favourite?
2. Which type of weather do you hate most?
3. Do you agree that the weather in Poland is always terrible? Why/ why not?

 

 

ENGLISH IN USE

 

The sentence below contains Present Perfect:

It has been really freezing this week.

 

How do we make it? As you can see, it consists of two parts: „have” (we use „has” with he, she, it) and past participle (be, was, been; go went, gone; see, saw, seen; know, knew, known) form of the verb.

 

Look at more examples:

 

I have known him for many years.
She has been there many times.
They have seen this film twice.

 

Two most popular uses of this tense are:
– to talk about situations which started in the past and continue till now
– to talk about life experience.

 

 

IDIOM CLOSE-UP

A/ What’s the weather like at the seaside?
B/ Terrible. It’s RAINING CATS AND DOGS.

If it’s raining cats and dogs, there is lots of rain.

 

 

PHRASAL VERBS CLOSE-UP

 

1. If it BRIGHTENS UP, the sky becomes lighter and the sun starts to shine.

I think the sky’s brightening up.

2. If it CLEARS UP, it stops being rainy or cloudy.

It’s supposed to clear up tonight.

 

 

EXERCISE 2

Decide if these sentences are true or false. Correct the false ones.

1. ‘Brighten up’ and ‘clear up’ have similar meanings.
2. Most people are unhappy if it brightens up.
3. If it’s raining cats and dogs, you should definitely take an umbrella.

 

 

NEWS

METEOROPATHY

Do you feel blue when the sky is overcast and it’s raining cats and dogs? Do you cheer up the second it brightens up? If so, you might be suffering from meteoropathy. Such people often experience mood changes due to weather changes. The mood changes might be very subtle, for example if you want to smile when you see the sun, or they might be quite severe, like if you suffer from chronic migraines when air pressure drops. If they start making your life difficult, it might be a good idea to visit a doctor and check if there is some kind of medication to stop you feeling miserable.

 

GLOSSARY
– to feel blue – to feel sad
– to cheer up – to become happy again
– subtle – delicate
– severe – serious
– miserable – very bad

 

download lesson (pdf)

>>Answers

KEY TO EXERCISES

Ex.2
1. True
2. False – most people are happy.
3. True

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