Beginner one-piece

LESSON 14

Holidays and Traditions

Christmas comes but once a year. He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day.

Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening.

An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.

2. Match the dates with the festivities.

3. Choose the right variant from the box to guess which holiday it is.

Valentine’s Day, New Year’s day, Thanksgiving day, Easter, Christmas, April Fool’s day, Halloween

1.On ……… we celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of the new one.

2.……….. commemorates the miracle of Jesus coming back to life, after being crucified. Bunnies and eggs are the symbols of this holiday.

3.October 31st is a special night for kids as they celebrate ……. .They wear dress up as ghosts and monsters and go "trick or treat". They expect adults to give them sweets.

4.On ………… people from the US give thanks to God for all the blessings they received during the year.

5.…………. celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Houses are decorated with holly, bows and candles. Christmas trees bear shiny ornaments and stockings are filled with gifts.

6.February 14th is a day to tell people you love them and exchange cards. Girls often receive flowers or chocolates on ……… .

7.Playing tricks on April 1st dates back a long way. Today, …….. is celebrated with harmless pranks and jokes.

4.Here are some days connected with Easter. Match the names with their descriptions.

5. Choose the right variant out of two.

1.Easter is a Christian religious holiday that commemorates the crucifixion and ……….. (resurrection / revival) of Jesus Christ. These days, Easter has a lot of……… (secular / sectional) traditions as well, which is why many non-Christians also celebrate it.

2.Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It is an ………. (efficient / official) or “public” holiday in some parts of the English-speaking world.

3.Easter and all of its related holidays (Good Friday, Lent,

etc.) are known as …….. (movers / moveable) feasts / holidays, which means their date changes from year to year.

4.One of the main Easter traditions is ……. (decorating / dressing) eggs – which involves painting them in a variety of colours.

5.On Easter Sunday, many people participate in a traditional Easter egg ……. (look / hunt) – the coloured eggs are hidden by the parents, and the children have to look for them.

6.Many Christians (even the ones who don’t normally go to church) attend ……. (mass / sermon) on Easter Sunday.

7.A very popular symbol of Easter is the Easter ……. (Bunny / Hare), – traditionally, he's the one who “hides” and delivers the eggs.

8.Many families place colored eggs, and other decorated items, in an Easter ……… (basket / bowl). These are given to children when they wake up on Easter Sunday.

9.In England, many people …… (exchange / change) chocolate eggs instead of real ones.

10.Lent is a period of ……. (fasting / feasting) – when one is not allowed to eat certain foods – which starts 40 days before Easter. Most people no longer …….. (absolve / observe) Lent.

6.Read the following dialogues.

A:Are you going to the party on Saturday?

B:I was thinking about it. Are you?

A:Yeah, I heard it’s going to be a lot of fun.

B:Really? Well, what time does it start?

A:It starts at 8:00 pm, and I really think you should go.

B:Well, who all is going to be there?

A:Everybody from school.

B:How do you know it’s going to be so fun?

A:This party is going to have a DJ, food, and drinks.

B:Wow, that does sound like it’s going to be fun.

A:So am I going to see you at the party?

B:Yeah, I will be there.

*****

A:Do you have any plans for the weekend?

B:I haven’t given it much thought. What were you thinking of doing?

A:I was planning on taking a trip up the coast to the beach.

B:What a perfect thing to do on a beautiful weekend!

A:Would you like to come along?

B:I think I would enjoy that a lot. When would we leave?

A:Saturday morning around 8:00.

B:Good. That would get us there with time to look around. There is a music festival in Santa Barbara on the beach that day.

A:Yes, I was hoping to be able to go to the festival.

B:I am so glad we talked. Thank you for inviting me to the beach with you.

7. Read the text and do the activities.

In many parts of the world, Christmas is the day when people celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem two thousand years ago. People who remember Christmas as a religious holiday celebrate the birth of Jesus and his coming into this world. To them, he is recognized as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. According to the Bible, Jesus was born in a manger because there was no room for him and his parents, Mary and Joseph, in an inn.

Today, people often attend church, organize family gatherings, and decorate their homes and businesses (with real or artificial Christmas trees). People feel the giving spirit and donate their time and money to worthy causes, or provide volunteer service to the needy. Christmas is also celebrated as a secular holiday when parents and children talk about Santa Claus and Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer.

a.Discussion

1.Is Christmas celebrated by people in your country?

2.What kinds of Christmas gifts do people give to each other? If not, do you have other holiday traditions or days at the end of the year?

3.What meaning does Christmas day have for you or other people you know?

b.Online investigation

Although Christmas is not celebrated by all people around the world, it does have important significance in the lives of many people. Choose a country and use the Internet to find out how Christmas is celebrated in that country.

8. Writing options. Try to make a story on the offered topics.

1.Why do we celebrate Easter? How do you celebrate Easter in your country?

2.If you could visit any other country during winter holidays, where would you go?

3.What are three holidays that you like to spend with your family?

4.What special foods (clothing / customs) are associated with your favourite holiday?

5.Do you celebrate holidays differently now than you did when you were a child?

6.What new holidays are needed in your country?

7.Is there any religious holiday that has a special meaning for you?

8.What do you think of Father’s Day? Mother’s Day? Parent’s Day?

HUMOUR TIME

“Can I invite a few friends to your Halloween party?” “Sure. The more, the scarier!”

*****

“Why are you studying your Easter candy?”

“I’m trying to decide which came first – the chocolate chicken or the chocolate egg!”

*****

“Dear Father Christmas, could you please send me some Crocodile shoes!”

Father Christmas: “Can’t do that one. He hasn’t said what size his crocodile takes!”

*****

“How did you get that bruise on your arm?” “I ate some Easter candy.”

“Eating Easter candy won’t give you a bruise.” “It will if it’s your big brothers candy!”

A:You don’t like pretty women?

B:Of course I do. But not on our flag!

A:Every nation should have a pretty woman on their flag.

B:You can’t go to war carrying a flag with a woman on it!

*****

Andriy: Look, mom! What’s that!

Mother: It is a cabin made from mammoth’s bones. A: Do you mean people live in it?

M: Not now, of course.

A: A mammoth … what’s that?

M:A mammoth was an animal that looked like an elephant. Mammoths were huge and their bones were large as well. That is why people used them to build their cabins more than ten thousand years ago.

A: Wow! Did people live in other unusual houses many years ago?

M: Sure. In caves, for example. In the XI century in Kyiv the monks settled in caves. “Pechera” means a cave, so later on their monastery was called “Pecherskiy”.

A: Isn’t it cold in there?

M: The temperature is about 10-12 degrees Celsius. Pecherski caves are long corridors with small side-rooms called caves.

A: Can we see the caves now?

M:Why not?

a.Look through the second conversation and mark sentences A (Andriy) or M (Mother).

1.It is a cabin made from mammoth’s bones ………

2.Isn’t it cold in there ………

3.Not now, of course ………

4.Why not ………

5.What’s that ………

6.Can we see the caves now ………

b.Read the dialogue again and explain the words in bold.

5. Read the text and do the activities.

The Ukrainians and their character

Modern archaeological evidence shows that Ukrainians are the original inhabitants of Ukraine – the land, that their forefathers lived on this territory from the 3d or 4th millennia B.C.

Ukrainian mentality was formed by many factors: geographical locations at the crossroads by the West and the East, specific climatic conditions and tragic historical events. Since long ago Ukrainians have been known as hard-working, thrifty, skilled farmers, good family men and devoted wives. They are typically kind-hearted, friendly, hospitable to both fellow countrymen and foreigners. They are cautious yet opened to romanticism and sentimentality. They are resourceful, brave, staunch, ready for self-sacrifice.

Ukrainians have always valued restraint, consideration and a realistic view of life. Their passions burn low but strong and steady. Characteristically, they are melancholic; they may be sad, then suddenly

burst with optimism and vitality. They have a very special sense of humor. They can be a bit ironical. Their very rich imagination shows the surrounding realities in a colorful, at times paradoxical way. Evidence of this is their inexhaustible folk vocal heritage, decorative art, and exotic folk rites.

a.Match the meaning of a word with its translation.