Vocabulary C8 Environment

1 (§) Play Track 37. Listen to the words in Vocabulary reference.

Vocabulary reference

Geography
north south east west northern / southern hemisphere latitude longitude
North / South Pole equator

Climate
atmosphere high / low pressure humid mild (sub-)tropical monsoon trade winds
moisture precipitation flood drought

2 Label the compass and parts of the globe using words from Vocabulary reference: Geography.

3 Match words from Vocabulary reference: Sea with their definitions.

a verb describing the movement of water
a large expanse of water
a noun meaning the movement of water
an adjective relating to navigation, shipping or the sea
a deep place where there are strong ocean currents
the amount of salt that water contains

4 ® Play Track 38. Listen to the talk and complete the summary using words from Vocabulary
reference.

The Gulf Stream is a warm (1 ).................... ( 2 ) ........................ It ( 3 ) ...................... in a north-easterly

direction acroee the A tla n tic ( 4 ) .................... from the Gulf of Mexico. The air above the Gulf Stream
is ( 5 ) .................... and ( 6 ) ......................, and its water has high (7 ) ........................ If it were not fo r the
Gulf Stream, places in the UK and Europe a t the same ( 3 ) .................. would be as cold as Canada.

5 Complete the sentences using words from the box.

range hemisphere flood continent pressure atmosphere precipitation

trade winds monsoon maritime coast drought tropical moisture

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1 When th e ......................arrives, there is plenty of rain t o ...... the fields, so the farmers can
grow rice there.
2 The returning space capsule entered the Earth’s .................... at a speed of nearly 30,000 km per hour.
3 Asia is the world’s largest.......................
4 An area of low .................... brought unsettled weather to the whole area.
5 Antarctica is in the southern .................... .
6 If you are interested in ships and the sea, you should visit th e ................... museum.
7 Fast sailing boats called ‘clippers’ used to cross the ocean using th e ..................... to bring tea from the
East. \
8 There are manv beautiful beaches along th e ..................... of Australia.
9 ..................... countries are near the equator, so thev are hot and humid all year round.
10 The Andes is a m ountain..................... in South America.
11 As there is not m u ch ..................... in the desert, there is very little....................... in the ground.
12 There has not been any rain for months in parts of Africa, and the people there are suffering terribly
from th e .......................

Read the article and complete the notes using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage
for each answer.

orld climates are shaped by the circulation o f the atm osphere, which is
W affected by the positions o f m ountain ranges, continents an d oceans.
Landm asses absorb heat an d cool m ore rapidly than the oceans, an d the air
Land and sea
above them creates the atm ospheric pressure systems which control o u r weather.
A reas o f h ig h p re ssu re develop o v er cold areas w h ere th e a ir is falling, a n d low -pressure areas, know n as
dep ressio n s, form o v er w arm areas such as th e n o rth A tlantic a n d n o rth Pacific oceans, w h e re th e a ir is rising.
In Sum m er, low p re ssu re builds u p over Asia, re su ltin g in th e m onsoon o v er th e In d ia n O cean, because th e
usu al tra d e w inds a re re p la ced by south-w esterlies. T h e se carry a lot o f m o istu re, causing heavy precipitatio n .
B ecause th e o cean s’ te m p e ra tu re s re m a in stead ie r th a n those o f th e lan d , m aritim e clim ates a re m ilder,
o r m o re te m p e ra te . In th e UK, for exam ple, th e te m p e ra tu re ra n g e betw een S u m m e r a n d W in ter is only
10-15°C , w h ereas in a large landm ass such as C an ad a o r Siberia, it can be m o re th a n 40°C. H ow ever, alth o u g h
th e te m p e ra tu re s in m aritim e clim ates are m o re pleasant, they a re often w etter.

0 ) ....................... (2) ...................... (3 ) ........................

\
Movement of air in ( 4 ) ......................

World climates
\
Temperatures of ( 5 ) ...................... change less than tem peratures of ( 6 ) ..................... ; hot or cold air
change ( 7 ) ..................... , controlling weather systems. ( 3 ) ......................form s when air is falling,
( 9 ) ..................... when it is rising. Monsoons form when (1 0 ).......................builds up and m oist winds
result in (11)....................... Temperatures in (1 2 )........................are less changeable than in areas with
(13) , so they are more pleasant but also (1 4 )........................

Now check your answers. p180

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