Christmas in Great Britain

Christmas Day, December 25, is probably the most popular holiday in Great Britain. It is a family holiday. Traditionally all relatives and friends give each other presents. So, before Christmas all the department stores and shops are crowded, everybody is choosing a present.

In general, people get prepared for this holiday very carefully. They decorate their houses in the traditional way. Christmas trees are set up in houses, in the streets and churches. They are always decorated with fairy lights, angels and small toys. In addition, little packets with nuts, candies and special biscuits are hung on the tree. Presents are put around the tree and artificial «frost» is scattered over the branches.

The Germans are believed to be the first to use the Christmas tree in their celebrations and Martin Luther was the first to place a star on the top of the tree. This star represents the star appeared over the stable in which Christ was born.

In Great Britain, the Christmas tree became popular while Queen Victoria ruled the country.

Besides the Christmas tree, holly and mistletoe are used to decorate the house. Branches of holly are put up behind pictures and mistletoe is hung over doors, so the young people have a chance to kiss the girls under it, plucking each time a red berry from the mistletoe. It is said that the girl who was not kissed under it at Christmas would not get married that year.

On the eve of Christmas children hang their stockings, so that Santa Claus could put presents into them: oranges, sweets, nuts and if the child didn't behave properly Santa Claus can put there a piece of coal as punishment.

Santa Claus got his name from a man known as St. Nicolas, who lived in the fourth century. He gave his wealth to the poor and often to children. After he died, the Dutch brought this legend to colonial America. Soon the Dutch name Sinter Klaus became Santa Claus.

Carol singing is an essential part of Christmas. No church or school is without its carol service. Carols may be traditional or with some variations that express different feelings. Carols were used for the first time during Christmas in the fifteenth century.

Usually children come around in the evening to the front doors and start singing carols and people who live in these houses give children candies, nuts, pies and so on, to thank them for carol singing.

A typical Christmas lunch includes turkey with cranberry sauce and pudding. Every young woman in each household helps to stir the Christmas pudding, if she wishes to be married that year. Usually a coin or two are hidden inside the pudding and part of the fun is to see who finds it.

After the lunch they go to the sitting room to listen to the Christmas speech of the Queen, shown on TV.

So, Christmas is a merry family holiday for all the people of Great Britain. Christmas comes but once a year.

Questions:

1. Is Christmas a popular holiday in Great Britain?
2. How do people get prepared for this holiday?
3. How is the Christmas tree decorated?
4. Who was the first to use the Christmas tree?
5. When did the Christmas tree become popular in Great Britain?
6. Who was the first to place a star on the top of the Christmas tree?
7. What do children usually do on the eve of Christmas in Great Britain?
8. Where did Santa Claus get his name from?
9. What is the carol?
10. What does a typical Christmas lunch include?

Vocabulary:
relative — родственник; родственница
department store — универсальный магазин
to choose — выбирать, избирать
carefully — тщательно, аккуратно; внимательно; осторожно
Christmas tree — рождественская елка
nut — орех
candy — леденец; амер. конфета; сладости
biscuit — сухое печенье
frost — мороз; иней
to scatter — разбрасывать, раскидывать; рассыпать; посыпать, усыпать
branch — ветка
Martin Luther — Мартин Лютер
stable — конюшня; устар. загон для скота, хлев, овчарня, коровник, свинарник
holly — бот. падуб
mistletoe — бот. омела (в Англии традиционное украшение дома на Рождество)
to pluck — срывать, щипать, собирать
berry — ягода
eve — канун, преддверие
to behave — вести себя, поступать, держаться
punishment — кара, наказание
wealth — богатство
the Dutch — датчане
to bring (past brought, p.p. brought) — приносить, привозить; приводить; доставлять
carol — веселая песня; гимн (обыкн. рождественский)
pie — пирог
turkey — индюк; индейка
cranberry sauce — соус из клюквы
pudding — пудинг, запеканка
household — хозяйство; двор, дом
to stir — мешать, помешивать, размешивать; взбалтывать
coin — монета, мелкая монета

TEXT 7

English Meals

The English proverb says: every cook praises his own broth. One can not say English cookery is bad, but there is not a lot of variety in it in comparison with European cuisine. The English are very particular about their meals. The usual meals in England are breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner.

Breakfast time is between seven and nine a.m. A traditional English breakfast is a very big meal. It consists of juice, porridge, a rasher or two of bacon and eggs, toast, butter, jam or marmalade, tea or coffee. Marmalade is made from oranges and jam is made from other fruit. Many people like to begin with porridge with milk or cream and sugar, but no good Scotsman ever puts sugar on it, because Scotland is the home of porridge. For a change you can have sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, cold ham or perhaps fish.

But nowadays in spite of the fact that the English strictly keep to their meals many people just have cereal with milk and sugar or toast with jam or honey.

The two substantial meals of the day are lunch and dinner. Lunch is usually taken at one o'clock. For many people lunch is a quick meal. Office workers usually go to a cafe at this time. They take fish, poultry or cold meat (beef, mutton, veal and ham), boiled or fried potatoes and all sorts of salad. They may have a mutton chop or steak and chips, followed by biscuits and a cup of coffee. Some people like a glass of light beer with lunch. Pubs also serve good, cheap food. School children can have a hot meal at school. Some of them just bring a snack from home.

Tea is very popular among the English; it may almost be called their national drink. Tea is welcome in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening. The English like it strong and fresh made. The English put one tea-spoonful of tea for each person. Tea means two things. It is a drink and a meal. Some people have afternoon tea, so called «high tea» with sandwiches, tomatoes and salad, a tin of apricots, pears or pineapples and cakes, and, of course a cup of tea. That is what they call good tea. It is a substantial meal.

Cream teas are also popular. Many visitors, who come to Britain, find English instant coffee disgusting. Dinner time is generally between six and eight p.m. The evening meal is the biggest and the main meal of the day. Very often the whole family eats together. They begin with soup, followed by fish, roast chicken, potatoes and vegetables, fruit and coffee.

On Sundays many families have a traditional lunch consisting of roast chicken, lamb or beef with salads, vegetables and gravy.

The British enjoy tasting delicious food from other countries, for example, French, Italian, Indian and Chinese food. Modern people are so busy that they do not have a lot of time for cooking themselves. So, the British buy the food at the restaurant and bring it home already prepared to eat. So we can conclude that take-away meals are rather popular among the population. Eating has become rather international in Britain lately.

Questions:

1. What are the usual meals in England?
2. What time do they have breakfast?
3. What is a traditional English breakfast?
4. What are the two substantial meals of the day?
5. When is lunch usually taken?
6. What does lunch include?
7. Is tea popular among the English?
8. When do they usually have dinner?
9. Do the British enjoy tasting delicious food from other countries?

Vocabulary:

Every cook praises his own broth — каждый повар хвалит свой собственный бульон; аналое, каждый кулик хвалит свое болото

cookery — кулинария; стряпня

rasher — тонкий ломтик бекона/ветчины (для поджаривания)

in spite of — несмотря на

strictly — бдительно, внимательно, неусыпно

cereal —злак; крупа, крупяной продукт (полученные из зерновых культур)

substantial — питательный (о пище); существенный, большой

poultry — домашняя птица

beef — говядина

mutton — баранина

veal — телятина