Why read this: This is a very short news story about the weather in 2025. It tells students one big idea: 2025 was the third hottest year ever, even though scientists thought it would be cool. The story uses easy words and short sentences. It is a good first text for talking about climate change in English.
What to notice: Look at the numbers in the story: 2024, 2023, 2025, 1.44 degrees, 1.15 degrees, and 2022. Each number tells the reader something important. Also notice the two reasons in paragraph two (La Niña and the less bright sun) and the main reason in paragraph four (greenhouse-gas emissions). The story uses 'why' questions to help readers follow the ideas.
Skills practised: Students practise reading short, simple sentences and finding facts. They practise answering 'why' and 'how much' questions. They learn one new climate word: greenhouse-gas emissions. They also practise comparing numbers (which year was hottest? how much warmer was 2025 than 2022?).
2025 Was a Very Hot Year
Scientists thought 2025 would be cool. It was not.
Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.
2025 was the third hottesthottest: (of the weather) Causing the air to be hot — 最热的 year ever recorded. Scientists thought 2025 would be a cool year, but it was very hot. The hottest year was 2024, the secondsecond: Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two — 第二的 hottest was 2023, and the third hottest was 2025. The lastlast: Most recent — 最近的 11 years are all the hottest years ever recorded.
Why did scientists think 2025 would be cool? There are two reasons. First, a weather patternpattern: A repeated design or arrangement. — 图案；规律 called La Niña makes the world cooler for a year or two. La Niña was here in 2025. Second, the sun was less brightbright: Giving out a lot of light, or having strong, vivid colours. — 明亮的；鲜艳的；聪明的 in 2025 than in 2024. So 2025 should have been a cool year, but it was not. It was the hottest cool-pattern year ever.
How much hotter was it? In 2025, the world was 1.44 degreesdegree: A unit for measuring temperature or angles, or a qualification from a university. — 度；程度；学位 warmer than the time before big factoriesfactory: A building where goods are made by machines. — 工厂. That is a big jumpjump: To push yourself into the air using your legs. — 跳；跳跃. The last La Niña year was 2022, and that year was only 1.15 degrees warmer. So 2025 was much hotter than the last cool-pattern year.
Why is the world getting hotter? The main reason is greenhouse-gas emissions: gases like carbon dioxide that go into the air when people burn coal, oil, or gas; these gases trap heat — 温室气体排放. People burnburn: To be on fire, or to damage something with fire or heat. — 燃烧；烧伤；烧焦 coalcoal: A hard black substance dug from the ground, burned as fuel for energy — 煤；煤炭, oiloil: A thick liquid used for cooking or as fuel. — 油；石油, and gas in cars, planes, and powerpower: The ability to control things, or energy like electricity. — 力量；权力；电力 plants. This makes gases that trap heatheat: The feeling of something being hot, or high temperature. — 热；高温 in the air. These gases go into the skysky: The atmosphere above a given point, especially as visible from the ground during the day — 天空 every year, and the amountamount: How much of something there is. — 数量；数额 keeps going up.
Last year, the two poles were very hot too. In February 2025, the iceice: Water in frozen (solid) form — 冰 at the poles was the lowest amount ever seen. In Europe, big fires burned in Spain and Portugal. The fires sent black smokesmoke: The visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material — 烟 into the air, and black smoke also makes the world hotter. Scientists think 2026 will be very hot too.
2025 was the third hottesthottest: (of the weather) Causing the air to be hot — 最热的 year ever recorded. Scientists thought 2025 would be a cool year, but it was very hot. The hottest year was 2024, the secondsecond: Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two — 第二的 hottest was 2023, and the third hottest was 2025. The lastlast: Most recent — 最近的 11 years are all the hottest years ever recorded.
Why did scientists think 2025 would be cool? There are two reasons. First, a weather patternpattern: A repeated design or arrangement. — 图案；规律 called La Niña makes the world cooler for a year or two. La Niña was here in 2025. Second, the sun was less brightbright: Giving out a lot of light, or having strong, vivid colours. — 明亮的；鲜艳的；聪明的 in 2025 than in 2024. So 2025 should have been a cool year, but it was not. It was the hottest cool-pattern year ever.
How much hotter was it? In 2025, the world was 1.44 degreesdegree: A unit for measuring temperature or angles, or a qualification from a university. — 度；程度；学位 warmer than the time before big factoriesfactory: A building where goods are made by machines. — 工厂. That is a big jumpjump: To push yourself into the air using your legs. — 跳；跳跃. The last La Niña year was 2022, and that year was only 1.15 degrees warmer. So 2025 was much hotter than the last cool-pattern year.
Why is the world getting hotter? The main reason is greenhouse-gas emissions: gases like carbon dioxide that go into the air when people burn coal, oil, or gas; these gases trap heat — 温室气体排放. People burnburn: To be on fire, or to damage something with fire or heat. — 燃烧；烧伤；烧焦 coalcoal: A hard black substance dug from the ground, burned as fuel for energy — 煤；煤炭, oiloil: A thick liquid used for cooking or as fuel. — 油；石油, and gas in cars, planes, and powerpower: The ability to control things, or energy like electricity. — 力量；权力；电力 plants. This makes gases that trap heatheat: The feeling of something being hot, or high temperature. — 热；高温 in the air. These gases go into the skysky: The atmosphere above a given point, especially as visible from the ground during the day — 天空 every year, and the amountamount: How much of something there is. — 数量；数额 keeps going up.
Last year, the two poles were very hot too. In February 2025, the iceice: Water in frozen (solid) form — 冰 at the poles was the lowest amount ever seen. In Europe, big fires burned in Spain and Portugal. The fires sent black smokesmoke: The visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material — 烟 into the air, and black smoke also makes the world hotter. Scientists think 2026 will be very hot too.
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
What place was 2025 on the list of hottest years?
- 02
Why did scientists think 2025 would be a cool year?
- 03
What is the main reason the world is getting hotter?
- 04
Name three things from the article that show 2025 was very hot.
Suggested length: ~50 words
- 05
Describe why scientists think 2026 will also be a hot year.
Suggested length: ~50 words
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
What place was 2025 on the list of hottest years?
- 02
Why did scientists think 2025 would be a cool year?
- 03
What is the main reason the world is getting hotter?
- 04
Name three things from the article that show 2025 was very hot.
Suggested length: ~50 words
- 05
Describe why scientists think 2026 will also be a hot year.
Suggested length: ~50 words