LESSON 1 (ON ‘WEATHER FORECASTING’)

►ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS, PLEASE:

1. What is meant by ‘the ART’ of weather forecasting? Why is it called ART?

2. How did Aristotle contribute to the evolution of astronomy?

3. Mention some earlier attempts that promoted forecasts throughout the

centuries.

4. What media in the 19th century allowed routine transmission of weather

observations?

5. What did the invention of the radiosonde develop/facilitate?

6. Guessing from the text information, what is possibly the function of

radiosonde?

►DERIVATIVES – FILL IN THE GIVEN TABLE with suitable parts of speech.

Arrange the words in the proper parts:

seasonal – predict – appearance- remarkably – significant – erroneous –

simultaneously – inadequate

NOUN ADJECTIVE VERB ADVERB

…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
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…………………………………………………………………………………………
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…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

►FROM THE SYNONYMS TRY TO GUESS THE WORD IN QUISTION:

1. ……………………………. = storm

2. …………………………….. = overturn

3. …………………………… = highly sensitive, sharp, severe

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4. ………………….. = traditional wisdom

5. ………………… = data-conversion program

6. ………………….. = meteorological instrument

7. …………………. = introduce (a product), set forth, send forth, begin

8. ………………….. = not finished, unrefined

9. …………………… = height above sea level

10. …………………. = step of progress

11…………………… = atmosphere

12……………………. = dissertation

13……………………. = go in all directions, disperse

14……………………... = water in air

►CLOZE TEST:

Chinese astronomers had developed a…………1………………..by 300 BC.

Aristotle, around 340 BC, wrote a…………………2………on the formation of
various weather phenomena; however, many of his claims
proved………………3………..later. During the…………4……………many of
those ideas were further explored. The first known design of a…………………
5………………..was described by Nicholas Cusa. Besides, the invention of
the……………6……………facilitated communication networks. The birth
of……………7…………weather forecasts was based on the…………
8………………and analysis of many observations. The invention
of…………………9…………..is related to monitoring weather at high…………
10……………………. .

1………………………………………………………………………

2………………………………………………………………………

3………………………………………………………………………..

4………………………………………………………………………

5………………………………………………………………………

6………………………………………………………………………..

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7…………………………………………………………………….

8……………………………………………………………………

9……………………………………………………………………

10…………………………………………………………………

► SUMMARIZE IN A BRIEF PARAGRAPH THE LESSON (UP TO 50

WORDS)

READING TECHNIQUES:

SKIMMING and SCANNING are two very different strategies for speed
reading. People who know how to skim and scan are flexible readers. They
read according to their purpose and get the information they need quickly
without wasting time. They do not read everything which is what increases
their reading speed. Their skill lies in knowing what specific information to
read and which method to use.

WHAT IS SKIMMING?

Skimming is one of the tools you can use to read more in less time. It refers
to looking only for the general or main ideas; with skimming your overall
understanding is reduced because you don’t read everything, you read only
what is important to your purpose.

How to skim? Once you know where the reading is headed, you can begin to
read only the first sentence of each paragraph, also called ‘topic sentence’;
they give the main idea of the paragraph. Besides, your eyes should drop
down through the rest of the paragraph looking for important pieces of
information, such as names, dates or events. Remember that your overall
comprehension will be lower than if you read in detail. If, while skimming, you
feel you are grasping the main ideas, then you are skimming correctly.
Skimming is done at a fast speed with less-than-normal comprehension.
Skimming will help you locate the information quickly while making sure you
use your time wisely.

While skimming ask yourself the following questions to help you decide
whether or not to skim. If you answer yes to any of these then skimming is a
useful tool:

- is the material non-fiction? (fiction = poems, stories, plays, novels

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Non fiction = newspaper stories, editorials, personal accounts, journal articles,
textbooks, legal documents)

- do I have a lot to read and only a small amount of time?

- do I already know something about this?

- can any of the material be skipped?

WHAT IS SCANNING?

Scanning is another useful tool for speeding up your reading. Unlike

skimming, when scanning you look only for a specific fact or piece of
information without reading everything. For scanning to be successful, you
need to understand how your material is structured as well as comprehend
what you read so you can locate the specific information you need. Scanning
also allows you to find details and other information in a hurry.

Scanning, in other words, is useful when you don’t have time to read every
word. This could be when you’re studying or looking for specific information
from a book or article and need to find it quickly.

TIPS:

- Don’t try to read every word; instead, let your eyes move quickly across the
page until you find what you’re looking for.

- Use clues on the page, such as headings and titles to help you

- Use the header words to help you scan (they’re usually in bold type)

- If you’re reading for study start by thinking up or writing down some

questions that you want to answer. Doing this can focus your mind and help
you find the facts or information that you need more easily.

- You search for key words or ideas; in most cases you know what you’re
looking for so you’re concentrating on finding a particular answer.

- When scanning, look for the author’s use of organizers such as numbers,
letters, steps or the words first, second, next. Look for words that are bold
faced, italics or in a different font size, style or color. Sometimes the author
will put key ideas in the margin.