Understanding the weather

Hello again!

This is a video from a fantastic resource website, Education Scotland. Weather and climate facts and concepts explained in a lovely Scottish accent, starting by this video that goes through the most usual terms and symbols you are likely to hear in a weather forecast.

I give you the link so you can browse through their site: it's well worth a look.

To practice some listening comprehension, here's a collection of gaps with variying degrees of difficulty. Notice how some of the sentences are phrased very differently from the original recording, while others are almost verbatim. This is something that can make the activity more or less difficult, and you must gradually train yourselves to deal with any kind of rephrasing of the original text. Memory, note-taking strategies, and a good command of related vocabulary are essential to this purpose.

Here it goes. The link includes a transcript, but I'm also including this one, where you can find a key to the gaps.

Enjoy!

INTRODUCTION

(1)    Over the hills, heavy rain will be ________________________ (becoming).

(2)    What’s the expression they use to forecast sunny weather?

(3)    Where is there a risk of south-westerly gales?

(4)    The specific terms used in a certain field are called j___________.

(5)    To understand something better is to s______ t________ t_______ f________ (idiom).

WIND

(6)    South-westerly wind means ______________________________ the southwest.

(7)    Wind speeds can ______________________________ a gentle breeze blowing around 10 miles per hour that just rustles leaves in the trees to a strong wind at 25 to 30 miles per hour.

(8)    When wind blows at speeds between 39 and 46 miles per hour, it means we have reached ______________________________.

(9)    Storm force winds can _________________ and ____________________________.

PRECIPITATION

(10) If the cloud stretches ______________________________ it gets so cold that the water droplets freeze and become ice particles.

(11) Sleet is ______________________________.

TEMPERATURE

(12) The _____________________ daytime temperatures in Scotland range from around 6 Celsius in December to around 19 Celsius in July. 

(13) In summer, temperatures can be ______________________________.

MIST

(14) With fog or mist visibility ______________________________.

(15) The ______________________________ of visibility changes whether we refer to airports or to road traffic.

HUMIDITY

(16) In Scotland, we say it’s 'close' or 'muggy' ______________________________.

(17) Some of Scotland’s most humid days occur because ___________________________.

PRESSURE

(18) Air in the atmosphere is constantly rising and ______________________________.

(19) Areas of high pressure bring dry and settled weather, and on the map the isobar lines are __________________________, whereas the isobar lines for low pressure areas, which bring wet and windy weather, are often __________________________.

EXTREME WEATHER

(20) One consequence of climate change could be ___________________and ___________________ weather.

(21) Severe flooding can bring about blocked roads or even_________________________.

(22) The most extreme weather in the UK is be ___________________and ___________________, which can knock down trees and damage property.