A cloud with a hat

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Nature & position · News English

A cloud with a hat

A picture shows an unusual cloud above a fire.

A1 · Beginner5–8 minutes

Created by , British English teacher.

A thin cap cloud beside the top of a tall white cloud rising above smoke.
Natural-colour airborne image, Montana, 11 August 2026. Not a current fire view.Photo: MASTER/RoseAnne Dominguez; annotation by Michala Garrison · NASA editorial image reuse. Resized; card thumbnail cropped.

Your goal: practise above and below.

Look above the fire

Where is the small cloud?

1Look at this picture from Montana in the United States. There is a fire on the ground. A big white cloud rises above it. A small, thin cloud looks like a hat. Its name is a pileus cloud.

2Scientists took the picture from a NASA plane on 11 August. NASA shared the report on 29 September. The picture is from August. It does not show the fire today.

3The fire makes hot air rise. The rising air pushes wet air up. This air gets colder and makes the small cloud. This kind of cloud often stays for only a few minutes. Scientists were lucky to see it.

Original teaching summary. Language examples and model answers are illustrative, not news quotations.

Word help · Three useful words

Read the meanings and examples. Choose one word to use in your own sentence.

above

in a higher place than something

The lamp is above the table.

below

in a lower place than something

The bag is below the chair.

thin

not thick

This book is thin.

Check your reading · Three questions

Choose one answer for every question, then check. You can change an answer and check again.

1. Where was the picture taken?

2. When was the picture taken?

3. What does the small cloud look like?

Useful English: above and below

Use above for a higher position and below for a lower position. Example: The lamp is above the table. The bag is below the table.

Speak for 20-30 seconds

Describe two things near you. Use above or below.

Model and help

Model: The lamp is above my desk. My bag is below my desk.

Alone: repeat without reading. Tutor: ask for one more example.

Speak: your ideas

Describe the two clouds in the picture. Use big, small and above. Speak for 20 seconds.

Labelled model answer

I can see a big cloud. There is a small cloud above it. It looks like a hat.

This model is an illustrative learning example, not a news quotation.

Alone: record yourself or repeat once. Tutor: What is above your head?

Mastery check · Three questions

Choose one answer for every question, then check. You can change an answer and check again.

1. Complete: The lamp is ___ the table. It is higher.

2. Which word means not thick?

3. Complete: The shoes are ___ the chair. They are lower.

Sources and reporting date

Original NASA report: 29 September 2026; published 2026-09-29T00:01:00-04:00. Image date is stated separately.