UNIT 37 NATURE ( Ⅳ ) WEATHER Lesson 73 PartⅠ

UNIT 37 NATURE (Ⅳ)

WEATHER

Lesson  73

PartⅠWarming-up Exercises

Pitfalls in Number and Time Recognition

Training Focus:

Identifying numbers and time;

Differentiating the homonyms“to”and “two”

Directions: You are going to hear some sentences with tricky numbers or time. Listen carefully and keep on the alert. The homonyms“to”and“two”deserve your special attention.

Key:

1.The rainy season in this area lasts for 20 to 30 days.

2.The highest temperature in summer in this city can reach somewhere from 30 to 35 degrees.

3.The final score between the two teams was four to one.

4.The next train to London leaves at 22∶45 hours.

5.It took almost three full days for the workers to finish the project.

6.The strong earthquake hit the island at 22∶23 hours local time.

7.The fire following the earthquake lasted for 20 to 23 hours.

8.The typhoon destroyed 70 to 80 houses in the village.

9.When the fire started in the hotel, he was in Room 629.

10.The Scottish Team has won two games in the competition.

Lesson 73 PartⅡ

Lesson  73

Ex.

Directions: Complete the statements with the help of the key words or phrases given in the brackets.

Key: (see tapescript)

Tapescript:

Climate (Ⅰ)  (43″)

A country's latitude, or distance from the equator, has an important effect on its climate. In places located at low latitudes, or near the equator, like Ecuador and northern Brazil, the amount of sunshine changes the least during the year. At mid-latitudes, in places like Japan or Argentina, there is more sunshine in the summer than in the winter. The greatest change occurs at the highest latitudes, in places like northern Canada or Alaska. In these places, the nights are very long for half the year, and the days are long during the other half. At the North or South Pole, sunlight lasts the longest during the summer. But light and heat are the most intense at the equator.

Lesson 73 Part Ⅲ

Lesson  73

Ex.

Directions: Complete the statements with the help of the key words or phrases given in the brackets.

Key: (see tapescript)

Tapescript:

Climate (Ⅱ)  (1′1″)

Altitude and distance from the sea also affect climate. The thin air in high mountain aresa absorbs less of the sun's heat than the thicker air at sea level. The daily change in temperature also increases with distance from the sea.

Snow and rain are very important to climate. Snow reflects as much as eighty or ninety percent of the heat from the sun, and makes the weather even colder. But a large forest area can reflect as little as five percent of the sun's heat. This makes the weather warmer.

Of course, the general effects of climate do not explain everything about the weather. For example, both the driest places in the world and the place with the most rainy days are located in Chile. Calama, in the Atacama Desert, had had no rain for over 400 years. But during the year 1916, it rained in Bahia Felix, Chile for 348 days.