Countries Celebrate April Fool's Differently

France: The April Fool's is called "April Fish" (Poisson d'Avril). The

French fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their

friends' backs and when someone discovers this trick, they

yell "Poisson d'Avril!". (The fish in April are newly hatched

and easily caught.)

England: Tricks can be played only in the morning. If a trick is played

on you, you are a "noodle".

Scotland: April Fools' Day is 48 hours long and you are called an

"April Gowk", which is another name for a cuckoo bird. The

second day in Scotland's April Fool's is called Taily Day and

is dedicated to pranks involving the buttocks. Taliy Day's gift

to posterior posterity is the still-hilarious "Kick Me" sign.

Portugal: April Fool's is celebrated on the Sunday and Monday before

Lent. The traditional trick there is to throw flour at your

friends.

United States: Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on

the first of April. One common trick, is pointing down to a

friend's shoe and saying, "Your shoelace is untied."

Here are some pranks to pull for April Fool's Day:

• Choose a bright color of food coloring to add to the milk. Buy it in a cardboard container so nobody can see inside. Make sure you are around when they pour it on their cereal.

• Change the time on someone's clock ahead especially if they have to be some place and make it appear that they are running late.

• Stick chalk in the cracks of the erasers so when the teachers go to erase, they write on the board instead!

• Use a small post-it note and place it under someone's computer mouse (covering the ball on the bottom). When they go to use the mouse, it won't do anything! Remember to write "April Fool!" on the bottom.

Ex. 2. Answer the questions:

1. What is the history of April Fool's Day?

2. What is the main tradition of this holiday?

3. What types of jokes are appropriate?

4. How do people in different countries celebrate April Fool's Day?

5. Have you ever played tricks on your friends or relatives?

Easter.

Easter [ ] – пасха; пасхальный Easter Sunday – светлое или христово воскресенье the Resurrection – Воскресение Lent – великий пост Ash Wednesday – первый день Bеликого поста Easter Monday – светлый понедельник vernal equinox [ ] – весеннее равноденствие to ward off – отвращать (болезнь, опасность) Palm Sunday – Вербное воскресенье Good Friday – страстная пятница secular [ ] – светский, мирской to embrace [ ] – охватывать tomb – могила goldsmith – золотых дел мастер

to liken smth/smb. to – уподоблять что-нибудь/кого-нибудь

Ex. 1. Read and translate the text.

Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the Resurrection of Christ, occurs on a Sunday in March or April: the date varies from year to year. Regarding Christian holidays in the U.S., Easter is considered to be second only to Christmas. From a religious standpoint, it's preceded by Lent, which begins 40 days before Easter, on Ash Wednesday. The Sunday before Easter is called Palm Sunday. The Friday before Easter is know as Good Friday and commemorates the day Jesus died. The Monday directly after Easter is commonly referred to as Easter Monday. On Easter Sunday, many families go to church, sometimes attending sunrise services, which is an Easter tradition brought to the U.S. by Protestant immigrants from Europe. Many families also get together for a large meal on Easter.

Elementary and secondary schools usually have between four days (Good Friday through Easter Monday) and one week of vacation. Universities typically have a week of vacation, which is usually considered to be their spring break.

Like Christmas, Easter is both a religious and a secular holiday in the United States. While many Christians appreciate the deep religious meaning that this holiday has for them, other people observe only its secular aspects. Many Easter customs have their origins in both pre-Christian religions and Christianity, and are in some way associated with spring and rebirth. The word "Easter" comes from Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. Long ago, a festival was held in her honor every year at the vernal equinox.

A very well-known symbol of Easter is the Easter Bunny, or Easter Rabbit. Rabbits have frequent multiple births and are considered to be a symbol of fertility. On the morning of Easter Sunday, children wake up and find that the Easter Bunny has left them baskets of candy and hidden colored and decorated eggs for them. The children hunt for the eggs which have usually been hidden outside near their home. It's not certain where the custom of dying decorating eggs originated, although this appears to be a very old tradition. The egg was cherished as a symbol of the Universe and in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia, eggs were dyed for spring festivals.

In Pagan times the egg represented the rebirth of the earth. The long, hard winter was over; the earth burst forth and was reborn just as the egg miraculously burst forth with life. The egg, therefore, was believed to have special powers. It was buried under the foundations of buildings to ward off evil; pregnant young Roman women carried an egg on their persons to foretell the sex of their unborn children; French brides stepped upon an egg before crossing the threshold of their new homes.

With the advent of Christianity the symbolism of the egg changed to represent, not nature's rebirth, but the rebirth of man. Christians embraced the egg symbol and likened it to the tomb from which Christ rose.

Religious symbols for Easter include a cross and sunrise. Other symbols are flowers, especially the Easter lily (a large, white flower), rabbits, chicks, eggs, baskets, chocolate bunnies and eggs.