Christmas Quiz

Find out how much you know about English Christmas culture!

QUIZ 1. Choose the correct option:
 

1. Where does the word ‘Christmas’ come from?
a. It comes from the Old English name Christ’s Mass.
b. It comes from the Old Latin Christus Masium.
c. It comes from the Old Arabian Christham Mashibe.

2. The abbreviation for Christmas to Xmas is derived from…
a. The new language created by young people when they send sms.
b. The Greek alphabet.
c. The Roman numeral.

3. What new ideas were added to the Christmas’ celebrations in Victorian times?
a. Decorate homes with holly.
b. Pray to God on New Year’s Eve.
c. Father Christmas and Christmas cards.

4. What is the Boxing Day in England?
a. It is the day after Christmas day.
b. It is the day before Christmas day.
c. It is the day when people watch Boxing matches, ones of the national sports.

5. What is another name for Father Christmas?
a. Santa Claus.
b. Salsa Claus.
c. Santa Xmas.

6. Christmas carols were banned in England by:
a. Oliver Cromwell.
b. Queen Victoria.
c. They were never banned.

7. A Christmas cracker usually contains:
a. A paper hat, a joke, a gift and a small strip that makes the ‘crack’ noise.
b. Flour, water and salt.
c. A paper hat, a poem and a sweet.

8. What do people do on the Twelfth Night?
a. Prepare all the presents for the children.
b. Remove all Christmas decorations to avoid bad luck.
c. Burn all the Christmas decorations on a traditional bonfire.

9. When do people open their Christmas presents?
a. On Christmas Day.
b. On Boxing Day.
c. On Twelfth Day after Christmas day.

10. Who is Rudolph?
a. He is one of the Three Kings’ young assistants.
b. It is Father Christmas’ nickname.
c. He is Father Christmas’ Red-Nosed Reindeer.

11. Father Christmas is dressed in a red suit because …
a. he is warm despite the cold of the winter. Red keeps you warm even the cold weather.
b. this colour became the most popular after a Coca Cola advertisement during the 1930s.
c. he was bored with the green one.
Christmas Corner for Secondary Courses

QUIZ 2. What’s True? What’s False? At Christmas:

1. The first Christmas card was printed in 1843.

2. ‘To go caroling’ means ‘singing carols in the street at Christmas’.

3. ‘Santa Claus is coming down’ is a Christmas carol.

4. Christmas crackers were invented in 1846 and they were wrapped sweets.

5. Twelfth Night is the evening of the 6th January.

6. The Twelfth Night Cake is made of chocolate and milk.

7. At seven o’clock in the evening, the Queen gives her Christmas Message to the nation.

8. The Royal Channel on the website YouTube shows Queen’s Christmas message.

9. At Christmas, two people usually hold an end and pull the wishbone of the turkey. The one who achieve the larger piece of the bone will make a wish.

10. The Christmas tree became popular in England when Henry VIII put one in Windsor Castle.

Forces of Nature vocabulary

FORCES OF NATURE

NATURAL DISASTERS

Avalanches

Tsunamis

Hurricanes

Tornadoes

Earthquake

Bushfires

Volcanic eruptions

Rock slides

Twister

Seaquake

EXTREME WEATHER

Floods

Droughts

Heat/Cold waves

Monsoon

Sand storm

Storms

Thunderstorm

Snow drifts

Hail

Lightning

Thunder

Heavy rain

Torrential rain 

Wind storm

Words used to describe memory and memories

Words used to describe memory and memories

Blurred: borroso, confuso

adjective

difficult to understand or remember clearly

catchy: pegadizo, atrayente

adjective

if a tune or phrase is catchy it attracts your attention and is easy to remember

commemorative

adjective

produced for an important event to help you remember it

conscious

adjective

a conscious thought, memory, experience etc is one that you realize you are having

dim: vaga

adjective

a dim memory is something that you cannot remember very well because it happened a long time ago

dimly: vagamente, remotamente

adverb

if you dimly remember or understand something, you only remember or understand a little of it

elusive: vago, impreciso

adjective

difficult to remember or understand

Phone chat

Do you like spending time with your mates? How do you organise a night out? Look at the phone chat and do the exercises to improve your reading skills.

Extreme sports

Summer's just around the corner, encouraging some to dust off the tennis racket or rummage round the cupboard for the cricket bat. But for some in Britain traditional outdoor pursuits are just not enough. So how do extreme sports devotees get their kicks?

Extreme sports are about exhilaration, skill and danger. They do not normally involve teams and there are very few rules. People who take part use their skills and experience to control the risks. That control is what makes them sports and not just dangerous behaviour.

Here are just some of the extreme sports which are popular in Britain:

Kitesurfing: a growing band of enthusiasts have been discovering the thrilling combination of kite, board and waves. These kites can be up to 17 metres long. Catch a gust and you're motoring - up, down and across the surf. British Ladies kitesurfing champion Jo Wilson says: "It's always an adrenalin rush. It's unpredictable. You could jump 5ft or 35ft. You never know if you're going to go up in the air, and your heart is just going boom, boom, boom all the time."

Coasteering: this is exploring the coastline without worrying about a coastal path or finding a rocky cliffy cove blocking your route. You climb, dive, swim and clamber from A to B. There are about 15 operators in the UK offering coasteering.

Sky diving: traditional parachuting just doesn't sound risky enough, does it? So now skydiving is the name for jumping from a plane and listening to your heart pounding as youhurtle towards earth before you open your parachute at the last moment. Once you've got a few jumps under your parachute you can throw in some extra risks, for example try a 'hook turn'. Dean Dunbar is a participant of extremedreams.com and his first sky dive was in 1998. Since then he's been hooked on the buzz of the extreme, saying: "Every so often I have to go out and do something scary."

Mountain biking: it's been around so long that bikers are no longer satisfied with just going up and down a mountain. Nowadays thrill seeking mountain bikers want a big slope to go down very, very fast. "It's pure mad, downhill," according to Dean Dunbar. "People go to old ski resorts, take the chair lift to the top then bomb down - amazingly not killing themselves."

Text messaging: Abbreviations

LOL: laugh out loud

Bcs/coz: because

Brb: be right back

Asap: as soon as possible

C u l8r: see you later

Hun: honey

Rofl: rolling on the floor laughing

b-day: birthday

g2g: got to go

2day: today

2mrw: tomorrow

Ox ox: hugs and kisses

Omg: oh my god

ATB // All the best // A way of saying goodbye

ATM // At The Moment // Now

B // Be

B4 // Before

B4N // Bye For Now // A way of saying goodbye

BBL // Be Back Later // I will return later

BBS // Be Back Soon // I will return soon

BF // Boyfriend // A boy a girl is seeing romantically

BFN/B4N // Bye for now // A way of saying goodbye

BFz4evr // Best friends forever // A promise to be best friends

BHL8 // Be home late // I will be home late tonight

BN // Been

BOL // Best of luck // Wishing someone success on something that he / she is going to do

BRB // Be Right Back // I will return very soon

BRT // Be Right There // I will come to where you are

BTW // By The Way // A way of mentioning a new subject

CMON // Come On // Expression meaning 'are you serious?', or 'I don't believe you'

CU // See you // A way of saying goodbye

CU Soon // See you soon // A way of saying goodbye

CU@ // See you at // Making an appointment to meet someone at a specific time, for example 'CU@11pm'

CUB L8R // Call you back later // I will telephone you latter

CUL // See you later // A way of saying goodbye

CUL8R // See You Later // A way of saying goodbye

CYA // See you around, See ya // A way of saying goodbye

DO U WNT ME // do you want me? // Asking a person if they want to be with you romantically

doN // Doing // Explaining what a person is doing at the moment

Dur? // Do you remember // Asking a person about a memory of the past

EVRY1 // Everyone

EZ // Easy

EZY // Easy

F? // Friends? // Would you like to be friends with me?

F2F // Face to face // In person

F2T // Free to talk // I can talk now

FAQ // Frequently Asked Questions // Important questions asked by many different people

FC // Fingers Crossed // I'm hoping that something happens

FOMCL // Fell out of my chair laughing // Very, very funny

FWIW // For What It's Worth // This is my opinion, good or bad

FYA // For your amusement // I think you might find this funny

FYI // For Your Information // This is something I thought you might want to know

KIT // Keep in touch // Let's keep talking to each other in the future

L8 //Late

L8R // Later // A way of saying goodbye

LETS C A FLCK // let's see a flick // Should we see a movie or film?

LMAO // Laugh My Ass Off // Very funny

LOL // Laughing Out Loud // Very funny

LTNC // Long time no see // We haven't seen each other for a very long time

LtsGt2gthr //Lets get together // We should meet

LUV //Love

Luv U // Love You

Luv U2 // Love you too

PLS // Please

PLZ 4GV ME // Please forgive me

PRT // Party

PTB // Please Text Back // Please write me back an SMS

PUKS // Pick Up Kids // Pick up the children from somewhere

QT // Cutie // Attractive, pretty

R // Are // The verb 'to be'

RGDS // Regards // A way of saying goodbye, or of greeting another person's friend or family

RINGL8 // Running Late // I'm behind schedule today

RLR // Earlier // Something that happened before

ROFL // Rolling On The Floor Laughing // Very funny

ROFLOL // Rolling On The Floor Laughing Out Loud // Very funny

ROTG // Rolling on the ground // Very funny

RTFM // Read the flaming manual // You should learn how to criticize someone

RU CMNG // Are You coming // Are you going to come with me / us?

RU? // Are you?

Y // Why?

YBS // You’ll be Sorry // You'll regret what you are going to do

YGM // You got mail // You have e-mail

YR // Your

ZZZZ // Sleeping // I'm tired, bored or annoyed