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Reading and speaking Culture
1
Look at the photos. Describe what you can see.
2
Read the introduction and check your ideas.
4
Compare answers in your groups.
5
What do you do to prepare for an
important festival? Tell your partner.
1
2
Christmas is the biggest festival of the year in the
UK. The celebration is on 25th December. Families
have a big meal together and exchange presents.
But the preparations for Christmas start right
at the beginning of December. All through the
period of advent, people are getting ready,
sending cards, putting up decorations,
getting together to sing Christmas songs
and eating delicious, traditional treats.
3
Work in groups (A, B and C).
Read your text and answer.
1
What is the text about?
2
Which photo matches your text?
3
What dates does the text mention?
Why are they important?
4
When did the tradition start?
5
Find ways that the tradition
has changed.
A
B
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3
Singing Christmas carols is one of the oldest Christmas
traditions in the UK. It started in the Middle Ages. Many
of today’s popular Christmas carols were written in the
19th century. The tradition of going door to door in your
neighbourhood, singing and collecting money for charity
became popular then, too.
The traditional time to sing carols is from 21st December to
the morning of 25th December. Today, you can hear Christmas
carols at any time in December.
Many schools and some businesses have a carol concert before
Christmas. Everyone gets together to sing the traditional
Christmas songs. More modern songs like Rudolph the Red-
Nosed Reindeer are popular now, too.
c
Christmas cards are an important part of Christmas celebrations in the
UK. On average, every family sends about 50 cards. Royal Mail employs
18,000 extra people over Christmas to deliver all the cards and presents on
time! Christmas cards used to be delivered on Christmas morning, but now
Christmas Day is a holiday for everyone.
The first Christmas cards were sent in the UK in the 19th century. Today,
around 700 million are sold every year in the UK! A Christmas card is a nice
way of keeping in touch with friends and family.
People put up Christmas cards and decorations in their homes before
Christmas. It’s traditional to keep the decorations up until 6th January.
Christmas is a time when we eat lots of special
food. Mince pies are a delicious Christmas treat.
They are little pies full of raisins and sugared
fruits. The recipe has changed, but the tradition
of making them started in the 13th century.
There are lots of old superstitions about mince
pies! When you eat your first mince pie of the
Christmas season, you can make a wish. And if
you eat a mince pie every day during the 12 days
of Christmas between Christmas Day and 6th
January, it brings good luck for the coming year.
People don’t really believe these old ideas, but
they enjoy eating the mince pies!
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Season’s greetings!
My dad and I make turrón for Christmas.