Seasons of the year. Your favorite season.

There are four seasons in a year: spring, summer, autumn and winter.

March, April and May are spring months. Spring is the most pleasant of all the seasons of the year. The weather is getting warmer and warmer, everything changes and seems to revive. The trees begin to bud. Sometimes it rains, but there are no rough winds; the sun shines brightly. The grass is green and one can see a lot of flowers peeping out from it. In spring all the migratory birds return. They sing sweetly on the branches of the trees.

The summer months are June, July and August. Summer is the hottest season of the year. The days are longest in summer. The longest day of the year is the 22nd of June. Some people like summer best of all. All of us enjoy summer with its cloudless sunshine, with its gardens and meadows full of flowers. There is a lot of fruit and vegetables at that time. In summer many people leave town and spend the hottest time in the country or at the seaside.

After summer autumn comes. The autumn months are September, October and November. The warm days of early autumn arc called the «Indian Summer» or the «Golden Autumn». The «Golden Autumn» is really beautiful with its yellow, red and brown trees and golden leaves falling down. Autumn is the season of fruit and vegetables. But the days become shorter and the nights longer and darker.

The weather is not so good as in spring and in summer. It often rains and the air gets colder and colder. Winter is the coldest season of the year. The winter months are December, January and February. The winter days are short and gloomy. It often snows and it freezes. Winter is a very beautiful season too. Some people like it very much. It is pleasant to walk when it is not very cold and it snows. The ground is covered with snow. The trees and the roofs are white with snow too. Winter also gives great opportunities for those who go m for winter sports. I think every season has a charm of its own.

ENGLISH WEATHER

English speakers love to talk about the weather. It is a way of breaking the ice (starting a conversation). People talk about the weather on the phone and in person. Friends and family talk about the weather before they discuss what's new. Co-workers talk about the weather before starting a hard day of work. Even strangers discuss the weather.

English weather on the whole is not exceptionally good. It’s very damp, they have a great deal of rain and the English summer is usually disappointing. They expect during summer to have two or three months of extremely good weather, sunshine and hot weather, hot enough to bathe, to go to the sea. But usually when the summer comes, summer months are rather cold, much colder than one has expected, always a great deal of rain. The weather is very changeable and one never knows when there are going to be long periods of rain. One can never depend on the weather! So most people, who look forward to the summer holidays, plan to go abroad for the summer, to France or somewhere on the Continent.

Though the sea in England is usually, even in the middle of summer, quite cold, those who stay in England go to the seaside or plan some sort of walking trips, especially in the northern Districts of England, such as the Lake District. A very great many people spend the summer simply walking, staying in youth hostels and enjoying the beautiful places around. The English winter on the whole is not as severe as the Russian winter. They have some frosts, snow. It’s very cold, damp, unpleasant, but it’s never too cold to go outside or to enjoy winter sports. Again in England they don’t have a great deal of snow, it’s never deep and sometimes is very little at all.

The most unpleasant aspect of English weather is fog and smog. This is extremely bad in big towns and especially in London. In London fogs can be very unpleasant. They can stop traffic and it’s hard to bear dampness. When autumn comes, of course, they get a great deal of rain, the weather is very damp and rather nasty.

This is partly compensated by the fact that many people in England have large open fires in their homes, although now central heating, of course, and electric fires are very popular. When people gather round the fire and talk and watch television, the cold and dampness outside doesn’t seem to matter so much.

Climate in Belarus

I'd like to say that the climate in Belarus depends greatly on the climatic conditions in the eastern part of the European continent. Here in Belarus we don't talk much of the weather, we just take it as it is. There are four definitely marked seasons which considerably differ from each other. In general the climate in our country can be characterized as moderately continental, it means that winters are fairly cold and summers are moderately hot. Though, of course, there may be exceptions.

Although each season lasts three months, in reality some of the seasons are longer and some are shorter. The longest season in Belarus is winter. Snow may fall as early as November and may not melt as late as the end of March. Summer on the contrary is the shortest season; it becomes really warm somewhere in June. Late August is often rainy and cool as if warning that autumn is near.

Autumn in Belarus is rather a rainy season. Some autumn days may be really nasty when it doesn't stop raining for days or even weeks. There are days when it rains for a while, then the rain stops but soon it starts again and this goes on throughout the day. All these things are unpleasant but people in Belarus got used to them. But in October we usually enjoy a spell of warm and clear weather which is called “Indian summer”.

Winter in Belarus usually comes in November At this time the countryside looks gloomy, calm and still. Snow covers up the ground and the roofs of the houses. On frosty days the branches of the trees are feathered with snow. The sky is often grey and cloudy and sometimes gets rather depressing and boring. There are also spells of warm weather almost every winter when the snow starts melting and there is slush everywhere. Maybe the most unpleasant thing about winter is that the sun sets early and rises late. The days are short and most people spend long dark evenings at home.
Spring comes rather late in Belarus. March is cold and April is usually cool and rainy. On the contrary, May is really beautiful, especially when the trees are in blossom. People become more cheerful and active.
As I've said summer in Belarus lasts for about 80 days. The average temperatures in summer vary from 20 to 22 degrees above zero. The warmest month is July. It's never too hot or too cold here in summer. But there are exceptions when it may be cool with many rainfalls and thunderstorms. Or sometimes we have very hot and dry summers when the temperature rises up to 30-32 degrees. Then we speak about heat waves. Of course such weather isn't good for the harvest.

In conclusion I want to say that every season is attractive in its own way and we never stop wondering at the nature's wisdom and harmony.

32. Let’s have a picnic.

Picnics are popular with women and children and some men who know how to make a fire. Children are fond of picnics chiefly because, as a rule, there are no tables and table manners at picnics, and because they have an excellent opportunity to eat things that do not agree with them. Since picnic lunches are always just about the same and require little imagination, women don’t have trouble about thinking up a meal.
Much depends, of course, upon the day. Typical picnic weather is of three kinds. Either it is dark and threatening with occasional showers in the morning, clearing in the afternoon; or it is hot and clear in the morning, with thunder showers in the afternoon, or there is a steady drizzle all day long. But as most of the lunch is prepared ahead of time, nothing much can be done about it. After all, there is not much choice between eating a picnic lunch that has waited a day or two and getting a soaking.
Picnic grounds are usually situated on a body of water at some high altitude. One of these features is essential, for no picnic can be a success unless the children have something to fall into, or fall off. Also, a body of water naturally suggests taking fishing tackle along.
Quite the most important feature of a picnic is the lunch. Fried chicken is always popular. You can take with yourself water, fruit, vegetables, salad. Then there should be hard-boiled eggs. Almost anything else that comes in a can or paper bag is good for a picnic lunch. I like a picnic.