British Holidays

English people (0) ..B.. Christmas on the 25th of December. It is the time when all the family gets together round the Christmas (1)...decorated with toys and sweets. Little children believe that when they are (2) … Santa Claus comes with a big bag of toys. They often hang up large (3) … for the presents. All families have Christmas dinners. They eat traditional dishes - turkey, duck, pudding.

There are some traditions on New Year's Day. One of them is the old First Footing. The first man to come into the house is very important. The Englishmen believe that he brings (4) … . This man (not a woman) must be healthy, young, pretty-looking. He brings presents - bread, a piece of coal or a coin.

Another best-loved holiday is St.Valentine's Day on the 14th of February - the holiday of love and affection, the day of sending and giving presents to those you love. Valentines are (5) … with symbols of love - red hearts and roses, ribbons and laces.

In England tradition of celebrating Easter is (6) … in the history of the nation. Easter is a church holiday. There is a popular belief that wearing 3 new things on Easter will bring good luck. Traditionally Easter parades of people in bright new spring clothes are held on this day. Another custom is decorating eggs for children. Eggs are hidden in the (7) … and little children believe that the Easter rabbit comes and leaves eggs for them. Easter candies are maid in the form of eggs, little chickens and rabbits.

Halloween is the day or evening before all Saint's Day. People dress up in Halloween costumes and masks over their faces. A favourite Halloween custom is to make a jack-o-lantern (the children scrape out a (8) … and cut the eyes, nose and mouth). They light a candle inside it to scare their friends.

According to the Act of Parliament of 1871 there are 4 bank holidays: Easter Monday, whit-Monday (can fall between 11 May and 14 June), Boxing Day (December 26) and the last Monday in August. The name Bank Holiday comes (9) … the time when banks were shut and so no trading could take place.

Birthday is also a significant holiday for any British person. There is a tradition to wish “Many happy returns of the Day”. Since the 18th century this (10) … used to offer the hope that a happy day would recur many more times.

0	A greet	Bcelebrate	Ccommemorate	Dfestival
1	A pudding	Btable	Ctree	Dhorse
2	A dancing	Bsinging	Casleep	Dsleep
3	A socks	Bstockings	Cgloves	Dbags
4	A luck	B wisdom	C misfortune	D money
5	A illustrated	Bdecorated	C projected	Dconstructed
6	A deep-rooted	Bburied	C grown	Dgoes back
7	A beds	Bkitchens	Cwardrobes	Dyards
8	A water-melon	B apple	Cpumpkin	Dturnip
9	A from	B at	Cof	Din
10	A was	Bhas been	Cwere	Dbe

Australia

Australia is an island continent. It is (0) ..B.. by three oceans and four seas. It is (1)… on the north by the Torres Strait and the Timor Sea, on the east by the Coral and Tasman seas, and on the south and west by the Indian Ocean. The continent and the island of Tasmania and a number of smaller islands (2)…up the Commonwealth of Australia. It is independent federative state and the member (3)… the Commonwealth headed by the British Queen. The population of the country is 18,000,000. The capital is Canberra. Australia (4)…7,687,000 sq. km. Australia is the world’s smallest, (5)…, and driest continent. Australia’s main regions are the ancient western plateau, the central plains; the Great Dividing Range in the east, the Eastern coastal plain, where (6)…the large towns are; and the tropical northeast coast. The centre of the continent is taken (7)… the deserts: Great Sandy Desert; Great Victoria Desert: Simpson Desert. There are few rivers and lakes in Australia. The best-known river is the Murray (2600 km). The longest is the Darling (2740 km). Australia is in the southern Hemisphere, so the seasons are (8)…way round. The climate of Australia ranges from the tropical regions of the Northern Territory to the cool temperature conditions in the southeast, where it (9)… snows in winter. There are six states and two territories in Australia. Two territories and their capitals are Northern Territory (Darwin), and Australian Capital Territory (Canberra). The states and (10)…capitals are New South Wales (Sydney), Western Australia (Perth), Tasmania (Hobart), the state of Victoria (Melbourne), South Australia (Adelaide), and Queensland (Brisbaine). English and Aboriginal languages are state languages. There is no Aboriginal language, (11)…is spoken by all Aborigines. But many Aboriginal languages are dying nowadays. Australia is one of the ten foremost countries in terms of its level of economic development. Agriculture and mining industry are highly (12)…. Australia exports beef, lamb, wool and wheat. The country is self-sufficient in food. The country is rich in minerals such as lead, copper, iron ore, gold silver, tin, uranium and others.

0	A swum	Bwashed	Cdived	Dset
1	A bounded	Blimited	Cbound	Dmade
2	A do	Bmake	Ccontain	Dbe
3	A off	Bby	Cof	Dfrom
4	A crosses	B connects	C surrounds	Doccupies
5	A flatest	Bflatter	Cmost flat	Dflattest
6	A plenty	Bmost of	C lots	Dmuch
7	A by	Bwith	Cfrom	Dto
8	A other	B the other	Canother	Dmore
9	A frequently	Bsimilarly	Cpreviously	D obviously
10	A its	Bthere	Ctheir	Dthey’re
11	A where	Bwitch	C who	Dwhich
12	A developing	Bdeveloped	Cdevelops	Ddevelop