Weather wisdom

A long time ago when people lived mostly out-of doors, they were close to nature. They noticed that when plants, insects, and birds sensed the coming storm they looked for shelter. When ancient people saw animals seeking shelter, they did it too. Of course, plants and animals do not actually forecast weather, but they are good weather indicators.

Some people watch ants for weather clues. Anytime you see ants building huge mounds around their holes, they prepare for rain. About two hours before rain, all kinds of ants begin building dams which protect their hills from rainwater.

Plants are also handy humidity indicators. They are affected in different ways. Just before rain many flowers – like daisy, dandelion and tulip – close their blossoms.

Normally, spiders 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.

Some people are very sensitive to humidity. People who have arthritis are, in a sense, ‘living hydrometers’. That is why many older people say, ‘It’s going to rain. I can feel it by my bones. ’ They actually can.

Exercise 39. Practice reading the following tongue-twister quickly and distinctly. Explain the reading of the letters in bold.

A fl ea and a fl y in a fl u e

Were impri s oned. So what could they do?

Said the flea, ‘Let us fly.’

Said the fly, ‘Let us flee.’

And they fl ew through the fl aw in the flue.

A flea – блоха; a flue – дымоход; a flaw – трещина, щель.

V. READING OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS (part 1)

Exercise 40. Write down the phonetic symbol and practice reading the words.

sh [ ] ship, sheep, shop, shift, show, shiver, fish, wish, slash, English;

[ ] chick, cheek, chop, cherry, chain, reach, teach, peach;

Ch

[ ] Christmas, cholera, Christ, chord, chorus;

tch [ ] catch, matcher, fetch, watch, stretch;

ck [ ] kick, luck, sick, sock, lock, pick, picky, stick, clock, crack;

[ ] song, sing – sang – sung, long, bang, fang, young, morning, evening, spring,

ng living;

[ ] finger, language, English, younger, longer, cringle;

nk [ ] think, drink, bank, rank, sunk, uncle, ankle, thanks, sink – sank - sunk;

ph [ ] telephone, phase, phrase, physics, pharmacy, photo, photograph, nymph, typhoon;

kn [ ] know, knew, known, knee, kneel, knife, knives, knock;

mb [ ] bomb, bomber, tomb, comb, thumb, limb, lamb, climb, climber;

bt [ ] doubt, undoubtedly, debt;

Exercise 41. Read and transcribe the words. Do not forget to put the stress mark if a word has two or more syllables.

Match, climb, reach, pick, sting, sheep, much, debt, photo, English, uncle, tomb, shine, phase, mingle, known, climber, Dutch, lock, charge, physiology, photo, comb, single, undoubtedly, sink, knelt, stink, phone, lamb.

Exercise 42. Practice reading the following tongue-twisters quickly and distinctly. Explain the reading of the letters in bold.

She sell s sea sh ells on the sea sh o re;

The shells that she sells are sea shells I’m s u re.

So if she sells sea shells on the sea shore,

I’m sure that the shells are sea shore shells.

***

If a dog chews shoes

Whose shoes would he choose to chew?

Too few for sure.

You’re a choosy shoe-chewer.

***

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
And chuck as much as a woodchuck would
If a woodchuck could chuck wood.

VI. READING OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS (part 2)

Exercise 43. Write down the phonetic symbol and practice reading the words.

[ ] thick, thought, throat, thing, thorn, theme, both, birth;

Th

[ ] these, those, rather, other, weather, brother, either;

wr [ ] write, wrote, wrist, wry, wrong;

[ ] why, where, when, wheat, wheel, while;

Wh

[ ] who, whose, whole, wholly, whom;

[ ] water, was, want, wand, watch, wander, warrior;

Wa

[ ] war, warm, ward, toward, warn, warning;

wor [ ] word, world, work, worse, worst, worm, worth.

rh [ ] rhapsody, rhetoric, rhythm, rhyme, rhombus;

ps [ ] psalm, pseudonym, psychology, psychologist, psychic, psychiatrist;

Exercise 44. Read and transcribe the words. Do not forget to put the stress mark if a word has two or more syllables.

Neither, rhyme, whose, psychic, thank, wry, feather, waft, theory, worship, psychology, these, wrongly, waddle, where, worker, psychiatrist, why, another, that, warning, worse, rhythm.

Exercise 45. Read the following sentences paying attention to [ θ ], [ ð ] sounds.

1. There is the eight thirty train on Thursday. – Oh, that’s fine!

2. I asked Smith to throw everything away.

3. His wise thought is very important for my curious theme.

4. This is a strange thing to think about that theory.

5. Don’t give it another thought.

6. Who gave him these clothes? – I think Thomas did.

7. Whose are these things? – These are their things.

8. Take them out and clean them.

9. Does the noise bother them?

10. A thousand of thanks to you for that wise thought.

11. The seventh guest was late and the third one was very thirsty.

12. This was a stupid thing to meet them there and to tell them the truth.

Exercise 46. Practice reading the following tongue-twisters quickly and distinctly. Explain the reading of the letters in bold.

If a th ree-mon th truce is a truce in truth,

Is the truth of a truce in truth a three-month truce?

A truce – договор о перемирии

***

Sw a n, swam over the s ea,

Swim, swan, swim!

Swan swam b a ck ag ai n.

W e ll swum, swan!

Exercise 47. Read the following sentences. Underline the words with consonant combinations, explain their reading and transcribe them.

1. Did the children have lunch? 2. Which watch do you think I should buy? 3. Why do you eat so much cholesterol? 4. What channels does your teacher watch? 5. Philippe knows the truth. - You must be joking! 6. Be careful! Wasps and bees have stings. 7. She didn’t like the theme. The work would be very hard to do. Besides, it is worthless. 8. Do you grow wheat here? 9. The hotel was horrible! There was no hot water, and they didn’t have warm clothes. 10. Don’t even think about it! I won’t leave money at that bank. 11. Whose brother is this strong man? 12. Living in a small town is boring, isn’t it?

VII. READING OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS (part 3)

Exercise 48. Write down the phonetic symbol and read the words.

qu [ ] quickly, question, queen, quite, quiet, quote, quotation, quit, quiz;

qua [ ] quarter, quarrel, quality, quarts, quantity, squash;

que [ ] technique, unique, antique, picturesque, cheque;

[ ] rough, tough, cough, laugh;

Gh

[ ] high, higher, right, night, fight, light, eight, weight, daughter, thought;

gn [ ] sign, design, designer, foreign, deign, feign, campaign;

gu [ ] guess, guest, guide, guilt, guilty, guise, guy, guarantee;

gue [ ] dialogue, colleague, tongue;

tion/sion [ ] institution, evolution, promotion, devotion, caution, precaution, motion, occupation, celebration, preparation, question, explosion, vision, division, invasion, mission;

sure [ ] treasure, pleasure, measure, leisure;

ture [ ] picture, mixture, fracture, future, nature, departure.

Exercise 49. Read and transcribe the words. Do not forget to put the stress mark if a word has two or more syllables.

Intention, quarrel, decision, guinea, departure, measure, antique, quit, division, feature, enough, qualification, rapture, technique, pollution, guard, question, nature, unique, invasion, e qual, ambition, treasure, bright.

Exercise 50. Read the following sentences. Underline the words with consonant combinations, explain their reading and transcribe them.

1. The rhythm of this song is unique. 2. What’s your favourite leisure activity? – I prefer going for walks. - But why are you asking? 3. What kind of mixture is there in your glass? 4. My granny collects antique furniture. 5. The last night was calm and quiet. 6. Be careful! You are passing an ancient tomb. 7. The picture on that wall is something extraordinary. 8. The decision is made and we all know it’s right. 9. Our lecture is over. Does anybody have any questions? 10. I’ve always been interested in psychology. 11. How much does the cargo weigh? – The quantity of kilos doesn’t matter, the contents are important. 12. It’s a rhetoric question, isn’t it?

Exercise 51. Read the text. Explain the reading of the letters and letter combinations in bold.