Christmas exercise

Read the text about Christmas then do these exercises to check your understanding.

1. Check your understanding: true or false

Circle True or False for these sentences.

1.Some modern Christmas traditions date from Roman times.

True               False

2. British people send money to friends, family, colleagues, classmates and neighbours at Christmas.

True               False

3. Gold, frankincense and myrrh are popular Christmas presents for young people in the UK.

True               False

4. Santa Claus is another name for Father Christmas.

True               False

5. ‘Killing in the name’ won number one position in the UK music charts at Christmas.

True               False

6. It doesn’t always snow at Christmas in Britain.

True               False

7. A Christmas cracker is a type of dessert.

True               False

8. Only Christians celebrate Christmas.

True               False

Christmas in the UK

Christmas in the UK is the biggest holiday of the year. Family gatherings, turkey, presents and parties are just some of the things that come to mind when we think about Christmas time.

Christmas can mean different things to different people. For many people it means eating a lot and spending time with family and visiting relatives and friends. For children it often means presents, presents and more presents!

The origins of Christmas

In ancient times people had mid-winter festivals when the days were short and the nights were very long. They believed that their ceremonies would help the sun’s power return. The Romans decorated their homes with green plants in December to remind Saturn, their harvest god, to return the following spring. In CE440 the Christian church decided that the birth of Christ should be celebrated every year on December 25th. Some of these ancient customs were adopted by early Christians as part of their celebrations of the birthday of Jesus Christ. Green plants are still used to decorate many British homes in December. At Christmas we cover trees (real ones or reusable synthetic trees) with shiny balls and flashing lights!

Time prepositions

about - aproximadamente, alrededor de
around - aproximadamente, alrededor de
before - antes de
after - después de
during - durante
over - durante
for - durante, por
throughout - durante todo

Direction prepositions

up - por, hacia arriba

down - por, hacia abajo

into - dentro de, al, hacia adentro

out of - de, afuera de, fuera de

on / onto - sobre, al

off - de, fuera de

over - sobre, por encima de

under - debajo de, bajo

to - a, hacia

from - de, desde

Place prepositions

on - sobre, en, encima de
upon - sobre, en, encima de(formal)
in - en, dentro de
at - en
inside - dentro de, en
outside - afuera, fuera, fuera de
above - encima de, sobre, arriba
below - debajo de

A food review

A review should…

• use interesting vocabulary.
• try to catch the reader’s interest.
• be clearly organised.
• use a neutral style, but you have to check who you are writing the review for.

What should you do before you start review writing…

• be sure about what you are reviewing and its purpose
• check who will read it.
• decide what style you will use for your review.
• be careful not to follow a report style.