The Physical Environment
Senior 1 · English
The Physical Environment
Lesson 2 of 5
25 min
Let's begin
Every farmer in Rwanda plans the year around two questions: when will the rain come? and how much will fall? Plant too early and the seeds dry out; plant too late and the crop is still green when the dry season begins. That is why so many families listen to the weather report on the radio. In this lesson you read one, and you learn the difference between climate, which describes the usual pattern, and weather, which describes a single day.
Before you read: Which month do you think is the wettest in your district? Which is the driest? Write down your guesses and check them against the chart below.
A radio programme broadcast on Monday 14 September.
Presenter: Good evening, listeners, and welcome to Weather and Climate Corner. First, the climate. Rwanda is close to the Equator, but because the country is so high, it is never very hot. In Kigali the temperature usually goes up to about 27 degrees Celsius in the afternoon and down to about 16 degrees at night, and it hardly changes from one month to the next. What does change is the rain.
Our year has four seasons. The long rains, which we call itumba, fall from March to May, and April is usually the wettest month of the year. Then comes icyi, the long dry season, from June to August. In July, Kigali gets only about ten millimetres of rain, and the hills turn brown and dusty. In September the short rains, umuhindo, begin, and they last until about November. Finally, from December to February, there is a shorter, milder dry season called urugaryi. The western mountains usually receive more rain than the eastern lowlands, which are the driest part of the country.
And now, the forecast for this week. The first umuhindo showers have already fallen in the west, and the rain will spread across the country over the next few days. Tomorrow will be warm and sunny in the morning in Kigali and the east, with a high of 28 degrees. In the afternoon, clouds will build up, and there will probably be heavy showers in Rubavu, Karongi and Nyamasheke, with thunder in some places. On Wednesday the rain will reach Kigali. Temperatures will fall a little, to about 25 degrees. Farmers in the Eastern Province should prepare their fields now: the rain won't arrive in Kayonza and Kirehe before Friday, but when it comes, it will be heavy.
Will this season be wetter than usual? Meteo Rwanda will publish its full seasonal forecast next week, so keep listening. That's all from Weather and Climate Corner. Goodbye!
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Usual afternoon temperature in Kigali | … |
| The wettest month of the year | … |
| Name of the long dry season | … |
| Tomorrow's high in Kigali | … |
| The day the rain will reach Kigali | … |
| The earliest day the rain will reach Kayonza | … |
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Usual afternoon temperature in Kigali | about 27 °C |
| The wettest month of the year | April |
| Name of the long dry season | icyi (June to August) |
| Tomorrow's high in Kigali | 28 °C |
| The day the rain will reach Kigali | Wednesday |
| The earliest day the rain will reach Kayonza | Friday |
The bar chart shows the average rainfall for each month in Kigali, measured over thirty years. Each bar is one month; the taller the bar, the more rain.
| Word | Meaning | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| climate | the usual weather of a place over many years | Rwanda has a mild climate. |
| weather | the conditions (rain, sun, wind, temperature) on a particular day | The weather will be sunny tomorrow. |
| forecast | a prediction of the weather | The forecast says it will rain on Wednesday. |
| season | one of the parts of the year with its own kind of weather | Itumba is the long rainy season. |
| temperature | how hot or cold something is, measured in degrees Celsius (°C) | The temperature will reach 28 °C. |
| rainfall | the amount of rain that falls, measured in millimetres (mm) | April has the highest rainfall. |
| average | the usual amount, found by adding values and dividing by how many there are | The average rainfall in July is 10 mm. |
| shower | a short period of rain | There will be showers in the afternoon. |
| drought | a long period with much less rain than usual | A drought can destroy the harvest. |
| humid | (of air) warm and wet | It feels humid before a storm. |
| thunder | the loud noise that follows lightning in a storm | We heard thunder over Lake Kivu. |
Definition
Prediction: a statement about what you think will happen in the future.
Will (a modal verb) + the base form of a verb makes a prediction: The rain will reach Kigali on Wednesday. Will never changes: it is the same for I, you, he, she, it, we and they, and the verb after it has no -s and no -ing.
| Form | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | subject + will ('ll) + base verb | It will rain tomorrow. It'll be cold. |
| Negative | subject + will not (won't) + base verb | The rain won't arrive before Friday. |
| Question | Will + subject + base verb? | Will this season be wetter than usual? |
| Short answers | Yes, … will. No, … won't. | Yes, it will. No, it won't. |
| How sure? | will probably (after will); probably won't (before won't) | There will probably be thunder. It probably won't rain in Kirehe. |
| Climate: what usually happens | Forecast: what we predict | |
|---|---|---|
| Tense | present simple | will + base verb |
| Time words | usually, every year, in April, from March to May | tomorrow, on Wednesday, this week, next month |
| Example | It rains a lot in April. | It will rain a lot tomorrow. |
Use will for a prediction based on what you know or think: I think it will rain later. Use be going to when you can see the evidence now: Look at those black clouds! It's going to rain.
Worked example
Analyse the sentence: The rain won't arrive in Kayonza and Kirehe before Friday, but when it comes, it will be heavy.
Warning
Tip
Won't is short for will not, even though it doesn't look like it. Say it to rhyme with don't, not with want: "I won't go" and "I want to go" mean opposite things.
Will: The Grammar Gameshow, Episode 17, BBC Learning English (8 minutes). Play along and answer before the contestants; listen especially for the questions about will for predictions.
In pairs, prepare a 45-second radio forecast for tomorrow for three districts (one in the west, one in Kigali, one in the east). Use at least five predictions with will or won't, and one with probably. Read it to the class like a presenter.
Good morning! Here is tomorrow's weather. In Rusizi it will be cloudy all day, and there will probably be heavy rain in the afternoon. Kigali will start the day sunny, with a high of 27 degrees, but showers will arrive in the evening. In Nyagatare it won't rain at all; it will be hot and dry, so farmers should water their young plants. Have a good day!
Use the chart to write a paragraph of 80 to 100 words describing Kigali's rainfall through the year. Use the present simple for the climate, and finish with two predictions about next month's weather with will.
Kigali has a mild climate with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons. The heaviest rain falls during itumba, from March to May, and April is the wettest month, with about 136 mm. From June to August, during icyi, it hardly rains at all: July gets only about 10 mm. The short rains of umuhindo start in September and reach about 121 mm in November. December to February is drier, but some rain still falls. Next month is October, so I predict that the rain will be heavier than this month, and the hills will turn green again.
Practice
Sources and credits
