Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry,
calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below
the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity,
whereas climate is the term for the average atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time.
Weather differs from season to season. In winter we spend more time at home, because it
is cold outside. Ponds, lakes, rivers and streams are frozen and the roads are sometimes covered
with slippery ice or deep snow. We may get fog, sleet and frost. The trees are bare because
bitter winds stripped them of all leaves.
In spring nature awakens from her long winter sleep. The trees are filled with new life.
The weather gets gradually warmer Fields and meadows are covered with fresh green grass. The
sky is blue and cloudless. At night millions of stars shine in the darkness.
When summer comes the weather gets warmer and sometimes it's very hot. It's the
farmer's busy season. He works in his fields from morning till night. Sometimes the sky is
covered with heavy clouds. There are storms with thunder, lightning and hail.
Autumn brings the harvest time. The days get shorter and the nights longer. The woods
turn yellow and brown, leaves begin to fall from the trees. The sky is grey and it often rains.
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of
the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. People have been predicting the weather
informally for millennia, and formally since at least the nineteenth century. Weather forecasts
are made by collecting quantitative data about the current state of the atmosphere and using
scientific understanding of atmospheric processes to project how the atmosphere will evolve.
There are a variety of end users to weather forecasts. Weather warnings are used to
protect life and property Forecasts based on temperature and precipitation are important to
agriculture. On an everyday basis, people use weather forecasts to determine what to wear on a
given day.
1. Comprehension questions.
1. What is the weather?
2. What is the climate?
3. Where do most weather phenomena occur?
4. What is the weather like in winter?
5. Describe the peculiarities of spring weather.
6. Why is summer the farmer’s busy season?
7. What is the weather like in autumn?
8. What is weather forecasting?
9. When did people start to predict the weather?
10. Why do we need weather forecasts?

2. Find the following words and word combinations in the text, translate them.
Атмосферний стан, загалом, щоденна температура, звичні атмосферні умови,
проводити час вдома, слизький лід, покриватися, дощ зі снігом, різкий вітер, позбавляти
листя, довгий зимовий сон, сяяти в темноті, поступово теплішати, безхмарний,
покриватися свіжою травою, з ранку до вечора, вадкі хмари, град, час збору врожаю,
застосування досягнень науки і техніки, прогнозувати стан атмосфери, наукове розуміння,
з метою захисту життя та майна, опади, на повсякденній основі, сільське господарство,
одягати.