Merry Christmas

Christmas Traditions Explained

What does the word 'Christmas' mean?

The word Christmas is taken from 'Christ's Mass' or, in the original Latin, Cristes maesse. Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on this day.

Is Christmas only a religious holiday?

Certainly, for practicing Christians around the world, Christmas is one the most important holiday of the year. However, in modern times traditional Christmas festivities have become much less related to the Christ story. Examples of these other traditions include: Santa Claus, Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and others.

Why is Christmas so important?

There are two reasons:
There are approximately 1.8 billion Christians in a total world population of 5.5 billion, making it the largest religion worldwide.

And, some think more importantly, Christmas is the most important shopping event of the year. It is claimed that up to 70 percent of many merchants' annual revenue is made during the Christmas season.It is interesting to note that this emphasis on spending is relatively modern. Christmas was a relatively quiet holiday in the USA until the 1860s.

Why do people give gifts on Christmas day?

This tradition most probably is based on the story of the three wise men (the Magi) giving gifts of gold, incense and myrrh following the birth of Jesus.
However, it is important to note that gift giving has only become popular in the last 100 years as figures such as Santa Claus have come to be more important, and emphasis has been shifted to giving gifts to children.

Why is there a Christmas Tree?

This tradition was begun in Germany. German immigrants moving to England and the USA brought this popular tradition with them and it has since become a much loved tradition for all.


A. What does the word 'Christmas' mean?
1. Christ's Mass
2. Many Christians
3. Birth of Jesus

B. Is Christmas only a religious holiday?
1. Yes, it is strictly a religious holiday.
2. No, it is based on religious traditions, but there are also other traditions.
3. No, it is strictly a non-religious fun holiday.

C. Which is NOT a reason for Christmas' popularity?
1. It is celebrated by one of the largest religions worldwide.
2. It is an important holiday for business.
3. It is a traditional exam period at universities.

D: Why do people give gifts on Christmas day?
1. Christ suggested it.
2. The tradition was probably based on the story of the three wise men.
3. Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer started the tradition.

E. Why is there a Christmas Tree?
1. It is a tradition introduced by the American Indians.
2. The pilgrims brought the tradition with them from England.
3. It is a tradition begun in Germany.

Key

A 1, B 2, C 3, D 2, E3

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve, also called Old Year's Night, is celebrated on December 31st, the final day of the year. It is celebrated all over the world with parties and social gathering with usually a lot of fireworks and noise.
In the United States of America, New York is the place where this celebration is associated with. People gather in the Times Square just before midnight in the last minute of the countdown to see the "ball dropping".
The celebration is also associated with parties in other parts of the world. In France, for instance, the celebration is called le Réveillon. Special food is prepared accompanied with champagne. People also go to the Eiffel Tower in Paris to see fireworks display. In Japan, people traditionally clean their home. Buddhist temple bells are rung 108 times at midnight. In Brazil, the beach of Copacabana is considered by many to be the place of the most beautiful fireworks show in the world.
On New Year's Eve, people commit themselves with resolutions. These are made to reform a habit and should go into effect and remain until fulfilment.

Questions

1. What "drops" at midnight in Times Square?

a. a ball
b. a clock

2. Where in The USA is the biggest New Year's Eve party?

a. New York b. Los Angeles c. Washington Square

3. Where do temple bells ring 108 times?

a. Japan
b. Brazil
c. France

4. Countries around the world celebrate New Year's Eve

a. In the same way
b. in different ways


KEY
1.a
2.a
3.a
4.b

2011 Boxing Day Activities and Celebration

Boxing Day is celebrated as a public holiday or a bank holiday in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada, United Kingdom and many countries in the Commonwealth of Nations. In South Africa this holiday is popular as the Day of Goodwill.

Boxing Day Public Holiday

Boxing Day is usually celebrated on 26th December as St. Stephen's Day, the day following Christmas Day. Boxing Day is a worldwide holiday but it is not always celebrated on 26 December: If 26th December is a Saturday, the public holiday is commonly moved to next Monday. And if 25th December falls on Saturday, both the following Monday and Tuesday might be public holidays. Moreover, the actual date of Boxing Day celebrations differs between countries.
In Ireland, the 1871 UK Bank Holidays Act set up the banquet day of St Stephen as a non-moveable public holiday on 26th December. Since Partition, the name "Boxing Day" is employed only in Northern Ireland (which remained part of United Kingdom). Boxing Day is a movable public holiday like in the rest of the United Kingdom.
The Banking and the Financial Dealings Act of 1971 launched "Boxing Day" as a public holiday in Scotland. And In the Australian state of South Australia, 26th December is a public holiday celebrated as a Proclamation Day.
Boxing Day is commemorated in Canada, Britain and some other countries. There is not much participation in the United States because it is not an American Holiday.


Boxing Day Customs

• Bear in mind the people who have granted a service to you throughout the year. The person who delivers your newspaper, the post, and staff of your business or household ought to be remembered and rewarded with a gift basket, tip or bonus.
• Bear in mind those in need. Custom has it that on the Boxing Day in Victorian England, the poor went from house to house and were given boxes that were full of clothing, gifts and food. Give canned clothing, goods or your time to associations that assist the needy.
• Sporting events. In England football games, regattas, horse racing and Brighton Swimming Club's yearly dip into the icy English Channel are just some of those events that occur on Boxing Day.
• Shopping is a main part of Boxing Day activity. Malls are full with people capitalising on the benefits of after Christmas deals.
• Commemorate with friends. Make food and drink available. Make it low-key, as Boxing Day ought to be less frantic and more comforting than Christmas day.

Boxing Day Activities

Apart from recovering from an overload of turkey, pudding and additional substances, Australians have a few typical activities connected with Boxing Day.
The Boxing Day Test Match is held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and is between the Australian cricket team and the team that is touring Australia that summer. For several years, the test was held in Adelaide. Numerous Aussies watch or attend the match live.
The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race starts and this race is famous for the hazardous conditions frequently encountered. Deaths have occurred over the years.
In a few capital cities, the yearly post-Christmas sales start, with masses of shoppers speeding through the doors at opening time.

True/False

1. Boxing Day is always celebrated on the 26th December.
2. They celebrate Boxing Day in America.
3. People usually go shopping on Boxing Day.
4. Boxing Day meals with friends are not as formal as Christmas celebrations.
5. The Boxing Day Test Match is always played by Australian teams.

Complete the sentences and answer the questions

1. In Australia it is called ……………………. Day
2. Name three sporting events celebrated in England on Boxing Day.
3. Name three countries where Boxing Day is celebrated.
4. Name two Australian cities where the Boxing Day Test Match has been played.

Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given

1. happen
2. introduce, start
3. pay supplement
4. plunge
5. distribute

If you want to do some more activities on Boxing Day, click here

KEY

1. F
2. F
3. T
4. T
5. F

1. Proclamation Day
2. Football, regattas, horse racing, swimming, cricket
3. Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada, United Kingdom.
4. Melbourne, Adelaide

1. occur
2. launch
3. tip, bonus
4. dip
5. delivery

The giant Christmas tree made entirely out of Lego

A very unusual Christmas tree has been unveiled in London - it's made out of Lego bricks!
The 12 metre high tree is made out of a whopping 600,000 bricks and has taken two months to build. It's so tall that the builders needed to use a crane to put the star on the top !
The 1200 baubles are also made of Lego and have been made by kids at local schools and Scout groups.
The tree is on show at St Pancras International rail station in London and will be there until the new year.
The tree was created by Duncan Titmarsh who is the UK's only Lego Professional. Duncan has built many weird and wonderful things out of the plastic bricks, including a Lego house, but this is his most ambitious project yet.


Match the words below to their definitions

ambitious / baubles / crane / professional / unveiled / whopping

showed something new for the first time
very large
ball-shaped Christmas decoration for hanging on a tree
tall metal machine used for lifting heavy things
person who does a job that people usually do as a hobby
something that needs a lot of skill and effort to do


True or false?

1. The baubles were made by Duncan Titmarsh.
2. The tree took a long time to build.
3. The tree will be taken down right after Christmas.
4. St Pancras International station is in London.
5. There are 1200 baubles hanging on the tree.
6. This was Duncan Titmarsh’s first Lego project.
7. Children put the star on top of the tree.
8. There is only one Lego Professional in the UK.

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?

1. weird
a) the same as familiar
b) the same as peculiar
c) the same as missing
2. unusual
a) the same as uncommon
b) the same as expected
c) the same as ordinary
3. created
a) the same as destroyed
b) the same as forecast
c) the same as made
4. project
a) the same as decision
b) the same as undertaking
c) the same as thought



KEY

True or false?
1. False
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. True
6. False
7. False
8. True

Vocabulary

unveiled showed something new for the first time
whopping very large
baubles ball-shaped Christmas decoration for hanging on a tree
crane tall metal machine used for lifting heavy things
professional person who does a job that people usually do as a hobby
ambitious something that needs a lot of skill and effort to do

What is the missing word?

1. peculiar
2. uncommon
3. made
4. undertaking

Advertising

How good is your memory?
Match each of the slogans below to the brand that used it in their advert:
1. Driving quality
2. Impossible is nothing
3. The future’s bright, the future’s …….
4. Because I’m worth it.
5. Shift the way you move.
6. Just do it
7. I’m lovin’ it
8. New thinking, new possibilities
9. We've run out of capsules up there
10. Leave an impression

L’Oréal
Nike
Macdonalds
Nespresso
Hyundai
Orange
Ballantine's
Adidas
Mitsubishi
Nissan

Key
1 Mitsubishi 2 Adidas 3 Orange 4 L’Oreal 5 Nissan 6 Nike 7 Macdonalds 8 Hyundai 9 Nespresso 10 Ballantine's

‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’
Do you agree or not?
Can we make people or animals change the way they do things?

You supposedly can't teach an old dog new tricks, but the marketing industry has come up with a novel way to sell pet food – by designing an advert that only canine consumers can understand.
The advert, which at first looks like a standard commercial for pet food, uses high-frequency squeaks and signals to grab the attention of any dogs in the room. The idea is that they will become so excited they will jump up and wag their tail at the screen, until the owner relents and buys the promoted product.
The advert has been created for Nestlé, the world's largest food company which owns the Purina brand of pet food.
Georg Sanders, a nutrition expert at Nestlé Purina PetCare in Germany, said: “Dogs’ hearing is twice as sharp as humans. They can pick up frequencies which are beyond our range and they are better at differentiating sounds.”
“Dogs who often play with a squeaky duck as they are running around with their owner will certainly react most strongly to this sound,” he added.
The advert is being aired in Austria this weekend and could hit Britain next year if successful. It features various scenes of a golden retriever and his owner frolicking about a field, interspersed with shots of falling bunches of vegetables.
However, the soundtrack contains various squeaks and bells as well as some high-pitch sounds which humans cannot hear.
This is not the first time that Purina has experimented with this form of advertising. Last year in Germany it put up a series of billboards which gave off the smell of pet food, hoping to catch the attention of dogs out for a walk.
However, advertising executives pointed out that adverts designed for animals had been tried before with limited success. Whiskas cat food tried a similar experiment more than a decade ago, when it screened a 40-second promotion during Coronation Street, featuring pictures of fish, mice and birds in an attempt to grab the attention of cat watchers.
However, none of the cats monitored during the advert appeared interested, or energetic enough, to rouse themselves from their owner's warm lap and approach the screen to investigate.

1 Choose the best title for this text
a) Animals get some exercise outside.
b) Animals get their own adverts.
c) Animals in TV programmes

2 Match the correct answer to each question:
a) How does the advert try and attract dogs’ attention?
b) How should dogs react to the commercial?
c) Which dogs are expected to respond more to the advert?
d) What will viewers see on the screen during the advert?
e) What technique did advertisers use last year in Germany?
f) Why was the Whiskas advert not a success?

i. Dogs which regularly play with high-pitched toys are predicted to respond more.
ii. It uses sounds that humans do not detect but dogs do.
iii. The animals did not express any interest in the advertising.
iv. They should express their interest in the dog food by moving their tails and bodies.
v. They will see shots of a dog and a person enjoying time in the countryside.
vi. Adverts in the streets produced aromas to attract dogs.



Key
a) ii b) iv c) i d) v e) vi f) iii

Match each word to its meaning:
a) A slogan is
b) A logo is
c) A jingle is
d) A billboard is
e) A brand is

i. A short verse or song used in an advert on the radio or TV.
ii. A very large board showing an advertisements, usually at the side of a road.
iii. A short, easily remembered phrase used to advertise a product.
iv. A product made by a particular company.
v. A symbol used to represent a particular company or product.

Key
i. jingle ii. billboard iii. slogan iv. brand v. logo

Here is the advert:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/purina-commercial-targets-dogs-owners-14656222?playlist=1363932§ion=1206834&tab=9482931

What is Purina’s slogan?
Answer: ‘Your pet, our passion’

Now, watch the advert with Harvey the dog and decide what the advert is for.



1 Is it?:
a) How useful dogs are.
b) How effective TV adverts are.
c) How easy it is to adopt a dog.
2 Which of these things does Harvey NOT do:
a) cut the grass
b) collect the children from school
c) play chess
d) turn on the TV
e) go for a walk in the park
f) iron clothes
g) cook
h) clean the windows
i) switch off the light

Key: 1 b) 2 e)

Ireland

Play the video and answer the following questions

1. What’s Ireland nickname?
2. Name the provinces Ireland was divided into.
3. Name of a famous Irish College.
4. What’s Newgrange?
5. When was it built?
6. Who supposedly visited the fortress of Cashel?
7. How high are the cliffs of Moher in Galway?
8. How many shades of green can you see in Ireland?
9. Name of the pub in Dublin

KEY

1. Emerald island
2. Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Ulster.
3. Trinity College
4. A tomb
5. 5000 years ago
6. St Patrick.
7. 650 feet from sea.
8. 40
9. Blazing saddles

What's a Hen Party?

In England, it is custom for the bride to have a 'Hen-do' and the man to have a 'stag-do'.

Read the article about hen and stag do's and try and fit the vocabulary in the correct gaps.

Note:
A hen night/party - a party for women only, usually one held for a woman before she is married.
A stag night/party - a party for men only, usually one held for a man before he is married.
A do is casual British English for party. "We're having a do this weekend for my son's birthday."

Missing Words
• Couple - two persons considered as joined together, as a married or boyfiend/girlfriend.
• Extravagance - spending more money than you need to.
• Stages - parts of an activity ; periods of development
• Emerge - to appear; start.
• Elaborate - containing a lot of careful detail or many detailed parts.
• Expert - a person with a high level of knowledge.
• Hotspots - popular and exciting places.

1. While stag parties have long been a pre-marital ritual, the hen do seems to be a more recent custom that began to _____________ in the mid-1980s.
2. Cities such as Brighton and Newcastle have become _________ for gaggles of young women, shuttled around from pub to pub in rented limousines, dressed with veils and L-plates.
3. Wedding etiquette _________ Peggy Post says in recent years, the tide has actually started turning in terms of what women want from a hen do.
Where once it was seen as a "last night of freedom", as life has become ever-more hectic for today's career-focused female, the hen night is instead about spending time with friends.
4. "It once had the reputation for being the one last fling but it's now more a last chance to bond with close friends before you're part of a ________," she says.
As someone who has been organising stag and hen parties in the UK since 1997, Ian Lucas of 5. Redseven can comment on how the occasion has evolved. He says that there have been three noticeable _________ in the development of the modern-day hen:
"What started off as a night with friends at home with a few bottles of wine in the 80s became a night on the town in the 90s and a weekend away in the 00s."
6. Over the years, as women have had more money through careers and marrying later, so hen parties have become increasingly __________.
"Alcohol forms a massive part of these celebrations. It's the key thing, the socialising. But it's not like it used to be with groups of girls and guys turning up in a town to get drunk and fall down in the streets," says Mr Lucas.
7. Of course, there are always those who can, and will, push it to the limit in ______. Before of her wedding to England footballer Wayne Rooney, Coleen McLoughlin spent £20,000 on a weekend with her friends.


Key
1. emerge
2. hotspots
3. expert
4. couple
5. stages
6. elaborate
7. extravagance

Scientists try to bring woolly mammoth back from dead

It sounds like the film, Jurassic Park but scientists in Russia and Japan are experimenting to see if they can bring a woolly mammoth back from the dead.

Their starting point could be a fossilised thigh bone found in August which contains well-preserved bone marrow cells.

They'd be cloned and inserted into an egg of an African Elephant, the mammoth's closest surviving relative.

The woolly mammoth became extinct over 4000 years ago.

Experts think that might have happened when climate change affected the vegetation they ate.
Bringing a mammoth back won't be easy.

The Russian and Japanese scientists will need to find a suitable female elephant to have the calf but woolly mammoths were much bigger than modern elephants, so this may not be possible.

The calf would also actually be half-elephant, half-mammoth, so it wouldn't look exactly like a pre-historic mammoth.

On the other hand, we know cloning can work. The first animal to be cloned was a sheep named Dolly, in 1997, who lived to the age of six. And an extinct Pyrenean ibex was brought back from 10-year old DNA, though it didn't survive very long.

Vocabulary
Match each words to its definition
cloned / experimenting / fossilised / ibex / marrow / prehistoric / suitable

performing scientific procedures to find something out.
when a dead animal or plant has turned into rock
soft, fatty tissue in the centre of a bone
when an animal of plant has been created using the genes from another one.
acceptable or right
describes the period before there were written records
type of wild goat

True or false?

1. The cells came from a mammoth’s leg bone.
2. No one has ever cloned an animal before.
3. The scientists have found a suitable female elephant.
4. The clone would be exactly like a mammoth.
5. Woolly mammoths ate plants.
6. Mammoths and elephants are closely related.
7. The Pyrenean ibex was called Dolly.
8. Over 4,000 years ago, the climate changed.

What is the missing word?

9. They'd be cloned and __________ into an egg of an African Elephant.
10. Climate change affected the __________ they ate.
11. Woolly mammoths were much bigger than ___________ elephants.
12. The __________ would also actually be half-elephant, half-mammoth.



KEY

experimenting
performing scientific procedures to find something out.
fossilised
when a dead animal or plant has turned into rock
marrow
soft, fatty tissue in the centre of a bone
cloned
when an animal of plant has been created using the genes from another one.
suitable
acceptable or right
prehistoric
describes the period before there were written records
ibex
type of wild goat


1. True
2. False
3. False
4. False
5. True
6. True
7. False
8. True

inserted
vegetation
modern
calf

Penguins filmed bathing in mud spa to keep cool

Penguin chicks move from a river dip to mud-bathing to try to cool down.
You might think life as a penguin is all about keeping warm in freezing cold temperatures, but cooling down in the sunshine is just as important.
A group of king penguin chicks have been caught bathing in a load of mud to do just that. Summer temperatures in St Andrews Bay, South Georgia, can reach 17C so the birds use streams and thick, cooling mud to stop their large, fluffy bodies from overheating.
They were filmed for the Frozen Planet series. The crew said that although they were expecting to see the chicks paddling in rivers and streams, their mud-bathing display was "unexpected".Penguin chicks move from a river dip to mud-bathing to try to cool down.

VOCABULARY

Match each word to its definition

bathing / fluffy / overheating / paddling / spa

place where people go to become more healthy, by doing exercises, eating special food and so on
going for a swim
soft and woolly or like fur
becoming too warm
swimming in shallow wáter

True or false?

1. Penguins need to cool down when it is cold.
2. The mud cools the penguins.
3. In winter, temperatures can reach 17C in St Andrew’s Bay.
4. Young penguins have fluffy feathers.
5. The sunshine helps the penguins to cool down.
6. The penguins only use mud to cool down.
7. The penguins were filmed for the series “Frozen Planet”.
8. All the streams are full of thick mud.

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?

1. freezing
a) the same as icy
b) the same as humid
c) the same as stopping

2. unexpected
a) the same as anticipated
b) the same as surprising
c) the same as early

3. chicks
a) the same as adults
b) the same as females
c) the same as infants

4. load
a) the same as heavy
b) the same as pool
c) the same as pile


KEY

spa place where people go to become more healthy, by doing exercises, eating special food and so on
bathing going for a swim
fluffy soft and woolly or like fur
overheating becoming too warm
paddling swimming in shallow water

True or false?
False
True
False
True
False
True
True
False

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?
1 icy
2 surprising
3 infants
4 pile