22- ] Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment .
The Weather .
In Scandinavia , the ‘chilly’ [ cold ,
but not very ] days of autumn soon change to the cold days of winter . The
first ‘frosts’ [ thin white coat of ice on everything ] arrive and the roads
become icy . Rain becomes ‘sleet’ [rain and snow mixed ] and then snow , at
first turning to ‘slush’ [ dirty , brownish , half-snow ,
half-water
] in the streets , but soon ‘settling’ [ staying as a white covering ] ,
with severe ‘blizzards’ [ snow blown by high winds ] and ‘snowdrifts’ [ deep
banks of snow against walls , etc.] in the far north . ‘Freezing’ [when
temperatures are below 0 centigrade ] weather often continues in the far north
until May or even June , when the ground starts to ‘thaw’ [change from hard ,
frozen state to softer state ] and the ice ‘melts’ [ change from solid to
liquid under heat ] again .
B-] Warm / hot weather :
- ‘close’ [ warm and uncomfortable ] .
– ‘stifling’ [ hot , uncomfortable , you can hardly breathe ] . – ‘muggy’ [
very warm and a little damp ] . – ‘humid’ [ hot and damp , makes you sweat a
lot ] – ‘scorching’ [ very hot , often used in positive contexts ] –‘boiling’ [
very hot , often used in negative contexts ] – ‘mild’ [ warm at a time when it
is normally cold ] – ‘a heatwave’ [ very hot , dry period ]
C-] Wet weather :
This wet weather scale gets stronger
from left to right .
‘damp’-------‘drizzle’ -------‘pour
down’ [verb]------‘torrential rain’-----‘flood’
.
-
Autumn in London is usually ‘chilly’ and ‘damp’ with ‘rain’ and
‘drizzle’ .
- It was absolutely ‘pouring down’ . or
There was a real ‘downpour’ .
- In the Tropics there is usually
‘torrential rain’ most days , and the roads often get ‘flooded’ . or There are
‘floods’ on the roads .
- This rain won’t last long ; it’s only
a ‘shower’ . [ short duration ]
- The ‘storm’ damaged several houses .
[ high winds and rain together ]
- We got very wet in the ‘thunderstorm’
. [ thunder and heavy rain ]
- ‘Hailstones’ were battering the roof
of our car . [ small balls of ice falling from the sky ] . ‘Hail’ is
uncountable . There was ‘hail’ yesterday .
- The sky’s a bit ‘overcast’ ; I think
it’s going to rain . [ very cloudy ]
- We had a ‘drought’ last summer . It
didn’t rain for six weeks .
D-] Mist and fog :
Nouns and adjectives : ‘haze’ / ‘hazy’
[ light mist , usually caused by heat ]
‘mist’
/ ‘misty’ [ light fog , often on the
sea , or caused by drizzle ] , ‘fog’ / ‘foggy’ [ quite thick , associated with
cold weather ] , ‘smog’ [ mixture of fog and pollution ( smoke + fog) ]
E-] Wind :
- There was a gentle ‘breeze’ on the
beach , just enough to cool us .
- There’s a good ‘wind’ today ; fancy
going sailing ?
- It’s a very ‘blustery’ day ; the
umbrella will just blow away .
- There’s been a ‘gale’ waning ; it
would be crazy to go sailing .
- People boarded up their windows when
they heard there was a ‘hurricane’ on the way .
Global problems .
A-] Disasters / tragedies
.
- ‘ earthquakes’ [ the earth moves /
trembles ] – ‘volcanoes’ [ hot liquid rock and gases pour from the earth ] –
‘hurricane’ / ‘tornado’ / ‘typhoon’[
violent winds /storms ]
- ‘drought’ [ no rain ] – ‘ famine’ [
no food ] - ‘flood’ [ too much rain ]
- ‘epidemic’ [ diseases affecting large
numbers of people ]
Disasters not caused by human beings
can be called ‘natural disasters’ .
- ‘major accidents’ [ e.g. plane crash
] – ‘war’ / ‘civil war’ [ civil war is war between people of the same country ]
B-] Verbs connected with these
disasters :
-A ‘volcano’ has ‘erupted’ in Indonesia
. Hundreds are feared dead .
- The flu ‘epidemic’ ‘spread’ rapidly
throughout the country .
- Millions are ‘starving’ as a result
of the ‘famine’ .
- A big ‘earthquake’ ‘shook’ the city
at noon today .
- The area is ‘suffering’ its worst
‘drought’ for many years .
- ‘Civil war’ has ‘broken out’ in the
north of the country .
- A ‘tornado’ ‘swept’ through the
islands yesterday .
B-] Words for people
involved in disasters /tragedies :
- The ‘explosion’ resulted in 300
‘casualties’ . [ dead and injured people ]
- The real ‘victims’ of ‘civil war’ are
children left without parents .
[ those who suffer the results ]
- There were only live ‘survivors ‘ .
All the other passengers were reported dead .
[ people who live through a disaster
]
- Thousands of ‘refugees’ have crossed
the border looking for food and shelter .
- During the battle , the 'dead’ and the
‘wounded’ were flown out in helicopters .
[ wounded : injured in a battle / by
a weapon ]
C-] Headlines :
Here are some headlines from newspapers
all connected with disasters and epidemics .
- ‘Rabies’ [ disease can be caused by
bite from a dog , fox etc. very serious ]out of control in many parts of Asia
.
- ‘Cholera’ and ‘typhoid’ [ diseases
causing sickness , diarrhea etc. ; caused by infected food and water ]
injections not needed’ says Tourism
Minister .
- New ‘malaria’ [ usually caught
because of mosquito bites ] drug tested .
- ‘ Yellow fever’ [ tropical disease ;
skin goes yellow ] figures drop .
- New ‘AIDS’ [ acquired immune
deficiency syndrome ; often caused by sexual contact or contact with
contaminated blood ] unit to be opened this month .
- Minister says fight against ‘leprosy’
[ terrible skin disease ; leaves the skin deformed ]
goes on .
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