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Snowstorms
Snowstorms

Learn English meaning of 'snowstorms'

Date: Jan 02 2017

Themes: Holidays, Travel, Weather

Grammar: Zero Conditional

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Do you live in a place with cold winters? If you do, then you probably know all about snow. Snow can make the world a beautiful place. It can turn a noisy city street into a quiet wonderland. It lets us ski, snowboard, and make snowmen. Happy dogs will run around in it, trying to catch snowflakes. Teenagers will do donuts in parking lots.

But when you need to drive in the snow, it’s suddenly not so much fun. Snow makes the roads slick and makes cars skid. It’s impossible to drive in whiteouts because you can’t see the road at all. You might need to use your high beams and put chains on or wait for snowplows to clear the road. Whatever you do, stay calm and don’t freak out!

Andy and Marni are remembering what it’s like to live in places with snowstorms. Listen to today’s English lesson to find out more about this intense kind of weather.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Andy_H

Andy_H

Marni

Marni

Andy_H:  You know, I’m really happy that I’m a little bit further south this time of year because…

Marni:  Yeah?

Andy_H:  I’m from Cleveland, Ohio, and we get snowstorms. Like, complete whiteouts. The roads are slick. It’s a mess. Let me tell you one thing, if you’re from the north, you know how to drive on snow.

Marni:  Yes.

Andy_H:  People in these southern climates, you know…

Marni:  They don’t know what to do.

Andy_H:  It’s like, two snowflakes, and they freak out and put chains on their tires.

Marni:  It is true, yes. I am from Minnesota myself, and chains are illegal there.

Andy_H:  You know what we used to do? When it was the biggest whiteout, the hugest blizzard, we would go out and we would just find parking lots that were untouched by snowplows.

Marni:  Ah, donuts!

Andy_H:  And we would just skid all around them. We’d have the best times.

Marni:  Snowstorms are kind of magical in a lot of ways because sometimes they are so intense. The world just kind of stops. You get to have this moment, and it’s peaceful and quiet.

Andy_H:  And then you’ll turn on the high beams, and realize how scary the amount of snow actually is and turn them off immediately. Oh, I’ve had those experiences.

Marni:  Snowstorms. We don’t get them here like they do.

Andy_H:  We sure don’t.

 

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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It’s winter, and Andy is happy to be living in a place that doesn’t have much snow. He’s originally from Ohio, a state that sometimes has intense winter weather. The roads are slick in the wintertime, and snowplows have to clear the roads before people can drive on them. Andy remembers how he used to do donuts with his friends on snowy days.

Like Andy, Marni also grew up in a state with winter whiteouts. Because of this, snow doesn’t make her freak out. In fact, seeing snowflakes fall from the sky makes her feel calm and happy. Marni even knows how to drive safely in snow without using chains. Now that Marni and Andy are living somewhere with warmer winters, they don’t have to worry about snowstorms anymore.

Do you freak out when it snows? Have you ever been in a whiteout?

 

Comments

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GrammaristSuper Member!

United Arab Emirates

The weather in my country, the UAE, is not as cold as in some parts of the US. However, there is this Arabic saying, “the cold hit the bone,” which many people use during the winter season, especially in mid-January. Generally speaking, it is the best season for tourism as one can enjoy outside activities without worrying about whiteout or any kind of storms that might spoil your stay.


When I was a kid, one of my dreams was to touch the snow and make a snowman, and fortunately, I was able to do that when I visited the United States a few years ago.The city I stayed in was well-structured and equipped to deal with snow and ice covering streets.

03:03 PM Jan 12 2017 |

jclear228

jclear228

South Korea

I don’t freak out when it snows because it usually snows in winter time in South Korea. I haven’t been in a whiteout in my life though. I’d lived in Hamburg, Germany for 3 years, but haven’t seen any whiteout there as well. 

07:31 AM Jan 06 2017 |

The Last Joke

Yemen

 ☀.    ☁
 In Yemen, with its coldest month being January and its warmest month in July
 the weather is mainly clear with a few clouds into this month…

12:31 PM Jan 02 2017 |

The Last Joke

Yemen


In Yemen …we haven’t sown storm but have war 💣💥
..Code-named Operation Decisive Storm🔥
 (in Arabic: عملية عاصفة الحزم‎‎    Analiyyat Asifat al Hazm )

A military intervention was launched by Saudi Arabia in 2015, leading a coalition of nine Middle Eastern countries, to influence the outcome of the Yemeni Civil War🚀

12:29 PM Jan 02 2017 |

The Last Joke

Yemen

  
 🔵To Those Whom I Love❤ ,Those Who Love Me 💚and Those Who Are in Englishbaby💙 ..
.

🔹saranaz- Republic Of Islamic Iran 🔹
🔹♥ Øcean PuLse ♥Oman 🔹
🔹DaeNg – Thailand 🔹
🔹Irene Forever – Ukraine  🔹
🔹 ola3-Ukrain 🔹
🔹luckkitten7 – Russian Federation 🔹
🔹Moriza – Ukraine
🔹englishteacher24/7  USA 
🔹 kotlesya -Belaru 🔹
🔹julito1 -Argentina 🔹
🔹wyz agf 🔹
🔹La Princesse de la vie-Egypt 🔹

🎶💞HAPPY NEW YEAR💞🎶..

12:27 PM Jan 02 2017 |

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