1. Lexics to the text:
• out-of-doors - на улице
• to be close to nature - быть близко к природе
• to save own lives - спасать собственную жизнь
• to look for - искать
• a shelter - убежище
• to seek a shelter - искать убежище
• to forcast weather - предсказывать погоду
• to make up - делать, составлять
• moisture - влажность
• to affect living things - воздействовать на живые существа
• weather changes - изменения погоды
• weather sings - признаки погоды, показатели погоды
• to predict - предсказывать 1) prediction - предсказание
• complicated - сложный
• damp - влажный, сырой
• relative humidity - относительная влажность
• saturated - насыщенный
• a sponge - губка
• to rely on nature - полагаться на природу
• a spider - паук
• to spin webs - плести паутину
• a dragnet - паутина
• to catch insects (caught) - поймать насекомых
• to soal wings - смачивать крылья
• a frog - лягушка
• a toad - жаба
• to feast - лакомиться
• to be true - быть верным
2. Read and translate the text:
Weather Wisdom.
A long time ago when people lived mostly out-of-doors, they were close to nature. They noticed that plants, mammals, insects, and birds sensed the coming of storm sooner than people did. All living things have a natural instinct to save their own lives, and so they look for shelter just before a storm. When ancient people saw animals seeking shelter, they did, too.
Of course, plants and animals do not actually forecast weather, but they are good weather indicators. The elements that make up weather-atmospheric pressure, moisture, temperature, and wind-affect living things in special ways, and their reactions give clues to weather changes. The people of long ago called these clues "weather sings", and those who knew how to read the sings were often just as correct in their predictions as modern meteorologists, the scientists who study weather and collect weather information with complicated scientific instruments.
Meteorologists tell us that during fair weather the air usually contains very little moisture. But just before a rain the air becomes damp and has a higher relative humidity. Humidity is the amount of moisture in the air compared to how much it could hold. When the air has all the moisture it can hold, it is saturated. You might compare it to a sponge. When a sponge is damp it is wet, but has relatively little moisture in it. When it is dropping wet, it is saturated.
Now meteorologists use special instruments to measure relative humidity, but in earlier times, people relied on nature to tell them when the humidity was high. Spiders were one of their best humidity indicators.
Normally, spiders spin their webs between 6 and 7 p. m. During calm, clear weather they don't bother to make large webs or to take in. But when there is high humidity and a drop in air pressure spiders work overtime building more and larger dragnets. Somehow they seem to know that insects will be easier to catch when the humidity is high. The moisture in the air soaks the insects "wings, making it difficult for them to fly. However, since a heavy rain would ruin the net and wash away the bugs caught in it, spiders will take down their nets before a storm. An old saying warns:
When spiders take in their net, the ground will soon be wet.
Frogs and toads come out and feast on the easily caught insects when the air is cool and moist. Toads seldom come out when the air is dry. This is also true of frogs, and it is another reason why you can hear more of them before a rain.
3. Answer the questions:
• Why were people in old times closer to nature?
• Who sence the coming of storm sooner?
• What do usually anomals, birds and insects look for before a storm?
• What elements make up weather?
• When do the spiders spin large werbs?
• Why do they spin large werbs before a storm?
• What other weather sings' do you know? (give an example).
WEATHER WISDOM.
1. Lexics to the text:
• an ant - муравей
• weather clue - ключ к разгадке погоды (показатель погоды)
• a huge mound - огромная куча, насыпь
• holes - ходы, норки, лазы
• a downpour - ливень
• to break up - разбивать, нарушать
• to scurry into nests - поспешно забраться входы
• to build dams - строить дамбу, плотину, преграду
• to prevent smth . from - преградить от чего-либо
• a bee - пчела
• humidity - влажность
• a hive - улей
• a buttefly - бабочка
• to disappear - исчезать
• to hide - прятаться
• a tree trunk - ствол дерева
• to seek shelter - искать убежище
• to protect - защищать
• a firefly - жук-светляк
• locust - саранча
• daisy - маргаритка
• dandelion - одуванчик
• tulip - тюльпан
• to close the blossoms - закрывать соцветие, бутон
• clover plants - клеверные растения
• to draw leaves together - сворачивать листы
• leaf stalk - черешок листа (устьице листа)
• curly hair - кудрявый волос
• sensitive - чувствительный
• living hydrometre - живой гидрометр
• joints - суставы
• cause to increase - вызывать увеличение, приводить к увеличению
• painful - болезненный
2. Read and translate the text:
Some people watch ants for weather clues. Anytime you see ants industriously building huge mounds around their holes, prepare for rain. About two hours before a downpour, all kinds of ants - but especially large black or red ants - will break up their caravants, scurry into their nests, and begin building dams around the ant hill. These mounds, which are sometimes several inches in height, prevent rainwater from running into the ant hills.
Bees give weather clues, too. They are usually active several hours before a rain, but as the humidity increases, they return to their hives. Some American Indians say that the longer the increased activity lasts, the longer the rain will be.
Other insects are also good humidity indicators. Butterflies usually flit from flower to flower all day long. When they suddenly disappear and can be found hiding on tree trunks or on the underside of leaves, they are seeking shelter to protect their fragile wings from a hard rain.
Fireflies fly very low when there is a high relative humidity. But an old saying states:
When fireflies are about in large numbers,
The weather will be fair for the next three days.
And if you hear lots of locusts singing, you can be sure the air is dry, because locusts sing only when it is hot and dry.
Plants are also handy humidity indicators. they are affected in different ways. Just before a rain many flowers - like the daisy, dandelion and tulip - close their blossoms, and clover plants draw their leaves together. It is believed that the absorption of moisture from the air causes a change in the leaf stalk, making the leaves turn over. It may be that the rough underside of the leaf can absorb rain better than the smooth topside.
Almost everyone knows what humidity does to hair. Curly hair gets curlier and straight hair gets limp. The reason is that hair absorbs moisture from damp air. Straight hair actually gets longer. A Swiss geologists used this fact to invent the first hydrometer. In 1783 Horace Benedict de Saussure fastened some human hair to a needle. The hair expanded when the air was moist and contracted when the air was dry, moving the needle across a numbered scale. His instrument is called a hair hydrometer and is still used by meteorologists.
Some people are very sensitive to humidity. People who have arthritis are, in a sence, "living hydrometers". High humidity causes the fluids in their tissues and joints to increase, making movement difficult and painful. That is why many older people say. "It's going to rain. I can feel it by my bones." They actually can.
By learning to read weather sings, you can get a few hours advance warning if a storm is headed your way. It may keep you from getting' your new shoes ruined in the rain, from having a family picnic spoiled, or your garden beaten down by a storm. If you are backpacking camping, boating or doing similar outdoor activities it might even save your life.
3. Answer the questions:
• How do ants prepare for rain?
• When do beers return to their hives?
• Where do butterflies seek a shelter?
• Are plants also humidity indicators? (Give examples).
• What is the meaning of reading weather sings?