Snow

Let's learn some new words before you read the passage:

Listen and complete the passage.

Snow is composed of ice 1.1. These crystals fall from clouds in cold weather when the air is too cold to melt the ice crystals into rain. In most of the world outside the very hot tropics, most rain starts to fall as snow but 1.2 to rain on the way down. The heaviest snowfalls occur when the air temperature is close to the freezing point at 32°F.

For this reason, more snow falls on the northern United States than at the North Pole because it is too cold at the North Pole for snow to fall. Snow can be as much as 90 percent air. For this reason, snow helps to keep the ground warm and protect some plants from extreme cold. Because so much of the snow is composed of air, it takes about ten inches of snow to equal the amount of water in one inch of rain.

All snowflakes are six-sided crystals, with some 1.3 needles or columns. One farmer and 1.4 scientist photographed thousands of snowflakes through a microscope. He was trying to find two 1.5 flakes. Neither he nor anyone else ever has. Snow often melts slowly because the white color reflects sunlight away. The most snow in a single storm in the United States was 189 inches. It occurred at Mount Shasta, California, in February 1959. Antarctica is 1.6 in an average of two-and-a-half miles of snow.

Read and answer the following questions. 

Snow

Snow is composed of ice crystals. These crystals fall from clouds in cold weather when the air is too cold to melt the ice crystals into rain. In most of the world outside the very hot tropics, most rain starts to fall as snow but melts to rain on the way down. The heaviest snowfalls occur when the air temperature is close to the freezing point at 32°F.

For this reason, more snow falls on the northern United States than at the North Pole because it is too cold at the North Pole for snow to fall. Snow can be as much as 90 percent air. For this reason, snow helps to keep the ground warm and protect some plants from extreme cold. Because so much of the snow is composed of air, it takes about ten inches of snow to equal the amount of water in one inch of rain.

All snowflakes are six-sided crystals, with some occasional needles or columns. One farmer and amateur scientist photographed thousands of snowflakes through a microscope. He was trying to find two identical flakes. Neither he nor anyone else ever has. Snow often melts slowly because the white color reflects sunlight away. The most snow in a single storm in the United States was 189 inches. It occurred at Mount Shasta, California, in February 1959. Antarctica is buried in an average of two-and-a-half miles of snow.

Source: Daily Warm-ups - Nonfiction Reading Grade 6

The heaviest snowfall usually occur when the temperature is _____.

What is true according to the passage?

What is NOT mentioned in the passage?

All of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT that _____.

What is the tone of this passage?

Build your vocabulary by learning these intensive phrases/idioms

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in a bracket. You must use between THREE and FIVE words, including the word given. Do not change the word given.

She keeps changing her opinions about the wedding. (HOT)

=> She keeps about the wedding.

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in a bracket. You must use between THREE and FIVE words, including the word given. Do not change the word given.

Though I hate to spoil your pleasure, I think your A in chemistry was actually a clerical error. (RAIN)

=> I hate to , but I think your A in chemistry was actually a clerical error.

A: I’m going to start learning how to play the guitar. I’m sure it will only take me a couple of months to learn.

B: You definitely _____! You’re going to need much longer than two months!