There are four seasons in the year: spring, summer, autumn and winter. There are three months in every season.
In spring the days become longer and the nights shorter. The sun shines and it is warm. Bright spring sunshine begins to melt snow in the fields and in the streets, and icy sheets on the rivers and lakes. The trees begin to bud and soon tiny green leaves begin to appear. Birds return from the south. Fruit trees begin to blossom. Farmers begin to sow their fields. Nature awakens.

In summer the days are the longest and the nights are the shortest. It is very hot. People have holidays and vacations. They spend much time on the seashores, river beaches, in the forests and in the mountains. It is a good time to get a sun tan, to swim, to pick mushrooms, and berries, to gather flowers, in short, to have a good rest. Summer — this is the time of rains, showers, thunderstorms and lightning. Sometimes it rains cats and dogs.

In autumn the days become shorter and the nights longer. The sky is often cloudy. This is a rainy season, but there are usually a few sunny days in late September, which are called an Indian summer. It is getting colder. Pupils and stu¬dents resume their studies. The farmers begin to harvest what they have sown in the spring. A proverb says: "As you sow you shall mow". The leaves on the trees and grass turn yellow and gold and fall. "Fall", by the way, is the name of autumn in American English. Birds fly away to the South to come back in spring. Nature begins to wither. Late autumn greets winter.

In winter the days are shorter than the nights. The sky is grey, the sun shines but isn't warm. Soon it will snow, perhaps heavily, and the ground will be covered with a white sheet. The weather gets frosty. The greatest holidays in winter are Christmas and New Year. And on these days we say "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year".