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 aroundtheir 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 flea and a fly in a flue

Were imprisoned. So what could they do?

Said the flea, ‘Let us fly.’

Said the fly, ‘Let us flee.’

And they flew through the flaw in the flue.

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

 

 

V. READING OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS (part 1)

Letter combination	Position	Pronunciation	Examples
sh		[ ʃ ]	She, shine
ch		[ tʃ ]	Chess, chalk
Mostly in words of Greek or Latin origin	[ k ]	Christmas, cholera Exception: machine [mə'ʃi: n]
tch		[ tʃ ]	Watch, catch
ck		[ k ]	Black, clock
ng	At the end of words	[ ŋ ]	Long, strong
In the middle of words	[ ŋg ]	English
nk		[ ŋk ]	Bank, thank
ph		[ f ]	Photo, phone
kn	At the beginning of a word	[ n ]	Knee, knife
mb	At the end of a word	[ m ]	Bomb
bt	At the end of a word	[ t ]	Doubt, debt

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;