Answer to Question 1
Answer: The orientation of the hemisphere with regard to the Sun is the main cause of the seasons, not the varying Earth-Sun distance
Answer to Question 2
Answer: Earth orbits the Sun once every 36514 days as if it were riding along a flat plane. This is called revolution. In addition to its revolution, Earth also undergoes a spinning motion called rotation. Rotation occurs every 24 hours (23 hours and 56 minutes, to be exact) around an imaginary line, called Earth's axis, connecting the North and South Poles. The axis is not perpendicular to the plane of the orbit of Earth around the Sun but is tilted 23.5 from it.