I. Explain the following: 1. to go to the dogs. 2. the black sheep of the family. 3. to put the cart before the horse. 4. to lock the stable door after the horse is stolen. 5. to take the bull by the horns. 6. to let the cat out of the bag. 7. to die in harness. 8. his bark is worse than his bite. 9. to ride the high horse. 10. a cat and dog life. 11. a cat on hot bricks. 12. a bull in a china shop. 13. to smell a rat. 14. a fish out of water. 15. an "also ran". 16. straight from the horse's mouth. 17. raining cats and dogs. 18. a red herring. 19. misfortune dogged his foot- steps. 20. a cock-and-bull story.

The annual carnival in Rio-de-Janeiro is a bright festival. People dance, play music and sing. Everyone is happy and full of joy. Paraders wear colourful costumes. Some of them are really exotic and extravagant. The weather is usually fine and warm, so people don't need to put on lots of clothes. There are so many activities the celebraters can do on those days, from dancing to playing sport to tasting delicious traditional food. If you visit the carnival you will be overwhelmed with your feelings of excitement.

-Hello, everybody! How are you doing?  I’m Lana. What’s the weather like there in your place? In Russia we have snow and it’s very cold now.

-Hi, Lana! Here in America it’s not cold. But it’s cloudy and an unpleasant wind is blowing.

-Hi, everybody! And here in Brazil it’s very warm and sunny! Welcome to Brazil!  

-Wow. Guys! In Alaska too, the sun is shining in the sky! It’s very nice today, and it is even a little bit warm!  

-Well, Lana, I’m Akiro.  Here in Japan the weather is amazing, but it has recently rained. As for me I like rain. What about you?

-Hello, Akiro. Sometimes I like to walk in rain. It depends.

-Hi! I don’t like rain. It has been raining here in the mountains since early morning. I don’t feel like going outside at all!

-Where are you from?

-Oh, I'm from Scotland. Rain, rain, go away! Come again some other day... :))