The coiled serpent

1. Bad weather often disrupts our well-ordered plans, but occasionally it can become so extreme and violent that it threatens our homes, possessions and even our lives. That is why scientists are always studying threatening weather conditions in the hope of finding better ways to predict more accurately where and when they might occur, so that timely warnings can be given and appropriate action taken to avoid damage and loss of life.

2. One of the worst weather hazards faced by people in tropical areas is the storm known as a hurricane or cyclone. This is a rotating storm about 800 kilometers across. Around one hundred of these storms form across the world’s ocean each year, causing an enormous amount of damage when they hit land. They are so frequent in the Atlantic that each one is given the name of a person, starting with the letter A at the beginning of the year and then working through the alphabet.

3. The process by which an ordinary rainstorm changes into a hurricane involves so many unknown factors that meteorologists can only identify what they think happens. In the Atlantic, the starting point for many such storms is a calm area known as the Doldrums. The calm is, however, deceptive because from time to time the stillness of the Doldrums is broken by violent thunderstorms. most of these storms travel thousands of miles westwards and just die out, but occasionally, for reasons that are unclear, one will develop into an extremely dangerous cyclone.

4. The movement and characteristics of these tropical hurricanes are closely monitored by satellites and radar as well as by aircraft, whose pilots fly bravely into the turbulent clouds of the hurricane to record wind speeds and air pressure. However, even with such detailed information, predicting the course of a hurricane remains extremely difficult.

5. It is nonetheless for forecasts to be accurate, because the question of when and how to best prepare for a hurricane is a tricky one. If the alarm is raised, whole communities may be forces to abandon their homes. If there are too many false alarms, people may decide not to bother leaving next time, with disastrous consequences. Obviously a short-term warning of, say, twelve hours is more likely to be accurate, but the time needed for evacuation is often considerably longer than that.

6. The treat to island and coastal communities from tropical cyclones comes from a combination of enormous wind speed, high seas and heavy rainfall. A measure of the potential violence of a hurricane is the air pressure in the centre of the storm. The lower the pressure, the stronger the wind speeds, the higher the seas, and the heavier the rainfall. In affected areas, low-lying coastal communities with high population densities are always working to be prepared for the worst.

7. Once they reach land, hurricanes begin to die, cut off from their source of energy, but they can give rise to tornadoes. These are black, twisting clouds that suddenly appear from nowhere, travel at terrifying speed, move in unpredictable ways and cause catastrophic damage in seconds. Their small size and brief duration makes forecasting when and where they are likely to strike extremely difficult.

Задание № 2. Ответьте письменно на вопросы:

1. What kind of weather conditions are especially threatening?

2. How and why do they happen?

3. How do scientists predict these conditions?

4. Why is it difficult to make accurate predictions?

5. What should people do to prevent damage and loss of life?

Задание № 3. Прочтите и переведите текст на русский язык, раскройте скобки, употребив выделенные глаголы в нужной видовременной форме: