SESSION 10: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXTS

SESSION 10: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXTS

1. THESE ARE EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE READING COMPREHENSION, WORKING WITH VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS.

1.1. CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD: Delete the wrong word in each of the pairs of italics:

Christmas Eve is, of course, the day / days before Christmas Day. It’s quite a busy day for most people who celebrate Christmas. There are so many things to do – usually last / lastly minute things. For example, you have to quickly sent / send a Christmas card to people you forgot, especially when they sent you ones / one. You also have to do last minute Christmas shopping. I always find Christmas Eve afternoon is a good time to shop. Many people think this is a busy time, but the Christmas rushed / rush is over and the shops are quite / quiet empty. You just have to hope they haven’t run out of wrapping paper and sellotape. Then you have to go home and wrap all / every of your presents and put them under the Christmas tree in the living room. It’s such a lovely / lovelier sight seeing a decorated tree with lots of wrapped boxes and parcels under it.
Christmas Eve is not the some / same in all countries. In Denmark, for example, Christmas Eve is when people have Christmas dinner and open / opening their presents. I think most people go to midnight mass in / on Christmas Eve. This is a special church service holding / held at midnight to remember the birth of Jesus. I think one of the oldest jokes / joking in the world is: “What time is Midnight Mass?” It’s an easy joke to figure out. Of course, Christmas Eve is the busiest night of the year for Santa Claus. People in England caller / call him Father Christmas. If you look really carefully, you’ll see him flying through the air on his sleigh full / filled of presents. He used to climb down people’s chimneys to deliver / delivery his presents. I’m not sure what he does nowadays because people don’t have chimneys.

1.2. MULTIPLE CHOICE: Put the correct words from the table underneath into the article:

I love Christmas. It’s one of the (1) ____ times of the year. It’s such a great time for everyone – kids and adults (2) ____. The thing I like most about it is everyone getting together and eating and giving presents. When I was a kid, Christmas was an amazing (3) ____. We’d spend weeks at school making decorations, singing Christmas carols and practicing to (4) ____ in the nativity play. As I got older, I enjoyed giving presents more than receiving (5) ____. Even though Xmas shopping is stressful, it can be fun trying to find the perfect present for my children. One thing that has stayed with me since I was a child is my love of Christmas dinner. It has to be my favourite meal (6) ____. Christmas just isn’t Christmas without roast turkey.
I’m sure Christmas brings the same (7) ____ feelings wherever it is celebrated. I hope it continues to keep its message of love and peace. The Christmas (8) ____ is very important. Nowadays it seems to get a bit lost. Everyone is (9) ____ busy buying presents they forget the true meaning of Christmas. I spent quite a few Christmases in Japan, which was interesting. Everything looked as Christmassy as in England. The stores even (10) ____ Frosty the Snowman playing. People bought presents and had a party, but then they went for a Kentucky Fried Chicken dinner. One thing I would like to experience is Christmas on the beach in Australia. I can’t (11) ____ Christmas being so hot. But then I (12) ____ it wasn’t that cold in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.
Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1. (a) bust (b) best (c) beast (d) boast

2. (a) alike (b) like (c) liken (d) likely
3. (a) occasionally (b) occasions (c) occasioned (d) occasion
4. (a) performance (b) performs (c) perform (d) performer
5. (a) it (b) them (c) they (d) these

6. (a) ever (b) even (c) never (d) every

7. (a) happy (b) happily (c) happiness (d) happier
8. (a) spirits (b) spirited (c) spirit (d) spiritual
9. (a) so-so (b) such (c) so-called (d) so
10.(a) has (b) having (c) had (d) have to
11.(a) imagination (b) imagine (c) imagined (d) imagines
12.(a) supposedly (b) supposes (c) supposing (d) suppose

1.3. GAP FILLING: Put the words into the gaps in the text:

box - way - confusing - kind - other - used - bet - emptied

I think Boxing Day is __________ for people who don’t know much about Christmas. It is a strange name for a holiday. I __________ many people think it is a time when people have a fight and punch each __________. Well, it’s quite a bit different than that. Boxing Day started hundreds of years ago as a __________ of helping poorer people at Christmas. Shopkeepers and craftsmen __________ to put a special Christmas box in their store or workshop. Customers and visitors would put money into the __________. On the day after Christmas Day, which is December 26th, the shopkeeper __________ the box and shared the money with his workers. So that’s how Boxing Day started. This tradition __________ of continues today. Many companies give their workers a Christmas bonus.

on - feel - buy - open - another - get - kind - difference

I’ve always liked Boxing Day. It’s __________ of the same as Christmas Day. It has a nice __________ about it and we get to eat Christmas dinner all over again. There are also lots of good programmes and movies __________ TV. For children, it’s another day to play with all their new toys; and for adults, it’s __________ day off work – at least in countries where Boxing Day is a national holiday. The biggest __________ for me between the two days is that there are no more presents to __________ on Boxing Day. There is a lot of sport on Boxing Day so many people go to watch a football match or game of rugby. And if you don’t like sport, there are always the Boxing Day sales. You can go shopping and __________ all of the things you wanted for Christmas but didn’t __________!

1.4 PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article:

Match the following phrases from the article.
Paragraph 1
1.a week .......................................... a.the Swahili language
2.the first holiday ................................ b.other holidays
3.Americans of African .......................... c.long holiday
4.The name Kwanzaa comes from ............ d.in the celebration
5.Americans celebrate Kwanzaa alongside .. e.just for African Americans
6.All people can share .......................... f.descent
Paragraph 2
1.a different ...................................... a.called a kinara
2.cooperating ...................................... b.principle
3.a special candle holder ....................... c.celebrate who they are
4.People decorate their homes ................ d.in business
5.pieces of ........................................ e.in African colours
6.friends get together and ..................... f.African art

1.5 SPELLING: Spell the jumbled words from the text correctly:
Paragraph 1
1.It is always an ntgxeici time
2.people look orfdraw to welcoming a new year
3.people go back to their hetwonom for the New Year
4.the host ievnsti friends, families and neighbours
5.everyone nsecad to loud music
6.That’s the langis a new year has arrived

Paragraph 2
7.I have lots of good msomieer of New Year’s Eve
8.I really looked forward to going to iarpest
9.in the tenrec of London
10.it is linrtaditao to visit a shrine and pray
11.pray for good things to eaphnp
12.many amazing fireworks pldiasys