Holidays

The word “holiday” comes from the _____ “holy days”. Holidays were first religious festivals. Now many holidays have nothing to _____ with religion. Almost every country has holidays honoring important ____ or people in its history. Some holidays are ____ in many countries. Some are observed in just one. Some are celebrated only in one ____ of one country. Some are celebrated by the people of ____ one religion. For example, Halloween always comes on the ____ day of the same month. Many other holidays do, too. But some do not. Easter, for ____ , is a movable holiday. It is ____ on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the beginning of spring. It can be as early as in March and as ____ as in May. Every person has his own private ____ when he is given gifts by his family and friends. It is his ____ .

________________________________

late, events, holiday, words, celebrated (2), birthday, part, only, same, example, do

6.Match the names of the holidays given in the box with their descriptions.

St. Valentine Day, Guy Fawkes Day, Easter, Shrove Tuesday, Christmas, Mother’s Day

1.This day commemorates the plot to blow up some government building.

2.It is the annual festival commemorating the birth of the Savior and observed by Orthodox Church on January, 7 and by other Christian churches on December, 25.

3.These are Pre-Lent spring festivities usually accompanied by making and eating pancakes.

4.This holiday gives children their chance to show their love and respect to their mothers.

5.On this day people send special cards to somebody they love and also give them symbolic gifts.

6.This holiday is the chief Christian feast which celebrates the resurrection of Christ and is held on the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring.

7.Speak on the following.

a)What holidays celebrated in Britain are also marked in Ukraine? Do they have the same traditions and rituals? Name at least three differences in celebrating Christmas and Easter.

b)Which holiday in Great Britain would you like to take part in? Why?

Reading Text a. Easter Sunday

1.Remember the following words and word combinations.

capture завоювати

vernal весняний

equinox рівнодення

denomination віросповідання

Good Friday страсна п’ятниця

ressurrect воскресати

settler поселенець

at dawn на світанку

hunt пошуки, шукати

bunny кролик

neighborhood околиця

multiple численний

seed джерело, початок

dye фарбувати

pray молитися

mistreat погано поводитися

tax податок

blow a loud horn хвастати

showoff хвалько

praise похвала

2.Read and translate the text. Why do a lot of people consider Easter Sunday to be the light holiday?

The meaning of customs observed during Easter Sunday lies in pre-Christian religions and Christianity. All in some way or another are a “salute to spring”, marking rebirth. The white Easter lily has come to capture the glory of the holiday. The word “Easter” is named after Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. A festival was held in her honor every year at the vernal equinox.

People celebrate the holiday according to their beliefs and their religious denominations. Christians commemorate Good Friday as the day that Jesus Christ died and Easter Sunday as the day that he was resurrected, Protestant settlers brought the custom of a sunrise service, a religious gathering at dawn, to the United States.

Today on Easter Sunday, children wake up to find that the Easter bunny has left them baskets of candies. He has also hidden the eggs that they decorated earlier that week. Children hunt for eggs all around the house. Neighborhoods and organizations hold Easter egg hunts, and the child who finds the most eggs wins a prize.

The Easter Bunny is a rabbit-spirit. Long ago, he was called the “Easter Hare”. Hares and rabbits have frequent multiple births, so they became a symbol of fertility.

The custom of an Easter egg hunt began because children believed that “All life comes from an egg”. Christians consider eggs to be “the seed of life” and so they are symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Why we dye, or colour, and decorate eggs is not certain. In ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia eggs were dyed for spring festivals. In medieval Europe, beatifully decorated eggs were given as gifts.