Reading Comprehension Text

Christmas
I. a. Read the text below and solve the following tasks:
Christmas is the biggest festival in Britain and is celebrated on 25th December. The four weeks before
Christmas are called Advent, and are traditionally celebrated in churches by lightening a candle each
Sunday during Advent. Nowadays, many people in Britain are not very religious, but they still
celebrate Christmas. But watch out – the preparations begin long before Advent. 1 (____)

The first places to tell us that we should be thinking about Christmas are the shops. People in Britain
spend on average over $1000 per person on Christmas every year, and the shops encourage people to
spend more and more. Shops put up Christmas decorations and play cheesy Christmas songs and
carols. 2 (____) Some big shops on Regent Street and Oxford Street in London create wonderful
displays in their windows with moving characters, falling snow, colourful lights and music.

3 (____) Well, Christmas decorations; Christmas cards to send to your friends and relatives; presents
for your loved ones and wrapping paper to wrap them up with. 4 (____) Apart from the special
Christmas dinner of roast turkey or goose, people buy lots of chocolates, nuts and snacks for everyone
to enjoy.

I. Four sentences have been removed from the text. Select the appropriate sentence for each gap
in the text. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 7.5x4=30 points

1. And of course food!

2. Some shop workers wear Christmas hats.
3. In fact, as early as September or October, you start to see sings that Christmas is on the way.
4. So what do people buy in preparation for Christmas?

II. Match the words in the text to their definitions given below 7.5x4= 30 points

A. church 1. a stick of wax with a string in it called a wick that

you burn to give light
B. candle 2. special paper that you use for wrapping presents
C. carols 3. a building that Christians go to in order to worship.
Traditional churches usually contain an altar and
long woodenseats facing the altar called pews.
The place where the priest or minister stands to talk to
the people is called a pulpit. A religious
ceremony that takes place in a church
is called a service
D. wrapping paper 4. a traditional song sung at Christmas

I. 1.c. Fill in the appropriate word(s) from the list below. Use the word(s) only once.

traditionally, displays, colourful, Christmas, turkey, wrapping 5x6=30 points

1. wonderful ... 4. ... celebrated

2. ... cards 5. ... lights
3. roast... 6. ... paper

10 points are offered by the teacher.