1 A. A youth magazine asked different people in the streets of London about their attitude to Christmas.

• Complete their opinions with expressions from the box.

• That’s what I like best about Christmas.

I guess the main reason I like Christmas is because...

The thing is...

I just think it’s time to...

1. can honestly say...

»••••••( '••••• ’

3. I spend Christmas in Scotland with my mum.

watch TV and eat lots of lovely food.

4

New Year is a bigger celebration for us.

(Ann, student)

2. In Australia, we just get a group of friends together and have a barbecue around the swimming pool.

(Steve, Australian tourist)

I'm somewhere different every Christmas, so I don’t often eat a traditional Christmas meal. (Leslie, TV reporter)

B. Add your own opinion to the empty bubble.

2. Match the words in the box on the right with the three headings.

T

presents pudding stockings evergreen tree Boxing day greeting cards carols mistletoe mince pies Santa Claus Queen's Speech turkey

RADITIONS

rS

Why doss the Siyeen broadcast on Christmas day?

^ A. Read the text and the chart and provide the missing names.

The only truly modern Christmas ritual is listening to the monarch’s broadcast on the BBC at 3.00 in the afternoon on Christmas Day.

The person responsible for starting this new ritual was the General Manager of the BBC, John Reith.

In 1923 he put the idea to (1) , but the King refused. Reith

was disappointed but would not give up. He offered the King a chance to reach his subjects all around the world and (2) finally agreed.

At 3.00 p.m. on the 25th of December 1932, the King sat down in front of two large, box-like microphones at Sandringham and the first royal Christmas broad­cast was made.

The speech had been written for him by Rudyard Kipling and the wording made a great impact. “I speak now", said the King, “from my home and from my heart, to you all.”

I

ELIZABETH II 1952’

▲

GEORGE VI 1936-1952 ▲

EDWARD VIII 1936 ▲ GEORGE V 1910-1936

t was a huge success and the King agreed to repeat it the following Decem­ber. He continued to make his Christmas broadcast each year until his death in 1936. The tradition would then have passed to his son (3) but before Christmas Day 1936 he had abdicated (отрекся от престола) the throne.

The new King, (4) _ was now faced with a nightmare.

Since the age of seven he had suffered from an acute stammer (заикание) and the idea of making a public broadcast must have filled him with dread.

When (5) died in 1952, his young daughter

4. was now faced with the challenge. Her voice was

strained but she did her best with the unfamiliar task. In 1957 the Christmas speech was televised for the first time.

She has repeated it each year since then and has become gradually more relaxed and comfortable with the medium. She has not, however, always been well served by her scriptwriters, who have frequently provided her with words that are more politically correct than they are heart-warming. With the help of more imaginative writing in the future, the royal broadcast will undoubtedly retain its role as a central ritual of the modern Christmas.

B. Choose the best answer:

1. The tradition of the monarch’s broadcast appeared when

1. John Reith became the general manager of the BBC

2. John Reith persuaded the King that he would reach people in different parts of the world

3. The BBC was founded

2. George V made his first speech from

1. the BBC studio

2. The Houses of Parliament

3. The Royal residence

3. The ritual was repeated the next year because

1. the audience liked it very much

2. Rudyard Kipling wrote the speech

3. John Reith insisted on it

4. The Royal Broadcast could become more popular now if it were more

1. relaxed

2. warm and sincere

3. politically correct

Lessons 5-6 The family meal

A bits rntf or ihB Згш^л Limeb Hour

R ead what several British people say about the way they spent their lunchtime.

• Explain each case using “might'', following the example in item.

Helen, a shop assistant:

1. spent my lunch break shopping.