Fill in the gaps

The Chinese New Year festivities are 1) ….. at the end of January or beginning of February for a period of one month. During this time, Chinese people 2)……the end of the winter season. Preparations begin in December when shops are 3)……with people buying gifts. Buying new shoes is extremely important because it is believed that if you walk in old shoes on New Year's Day, you'll have bad 4)……On New Year's Eve families gather at home and cover their doors with 5)……… of red paper. This is meant to 6)…….evil spirits. Gifts are 7)…..at midnight. Homes are filled with the sounds of happy children, who traditionally receive coins in red envelopes on New Year's Eve. For the next two weeks, all shops are closed as people enjoy visiting friends and relatives. The 8)….is friendly as children sing songs for sweet rice cakes and musicians 9)……in the streets. The final and most impressive event is the Lantern Festival. Colourful lanterns are hung outside homes and a dragon parade takes place. The dragon is very long, made of paper and painted in bright colours. Men stand under the dragon's head and body. The parade 10)…….the streets as crowds cheer and set off 11)….The Chinese New Year is an exciting holiday which everyone 12)….. It is a celebration rich in tradition and full of happiness.

5. Read and translate words and phrases connected with festivals

A lot of people are very superstitious, especially about numbers and colours, [have illogical beliefs about hidden forces in nature]

The festival celebrated the centenary/bi-centenary of the country's independence. [100th anniversary / 200th anniversary]

In some cultures, traditional festivals celebrate the end of periods of penance[actions to show you are sorry for bad deeds] and fasting [not eating for a long period].

The Rio de Janeiro carnival is always a very flamboyant [extremely colourful and exaggerated] and raucous [very noisy] event.

The Festival of the Dead was very sombre [serious, heavy and sad] and atmospheric [had a special feeling or atmosphere].

The annual holiday commemorates all those who died in the country's civil war. [formal: respects and remembers officially].

Here is an extract of someone talking about a festival using rather informal language. Write it as a more formal description, using words and expressions from the box instead of the underlined words, and making any other necessary changes.

parade atmospheric focus be believed to associate pagan symbolise sombre superstitious flamboyant raucous trace

Well, it's called the Festival of Flowers, and it's all to do with the coming of spring, after the dark, serious winter months. It all started with a religious tradition of taking flowers to the church to offer them to God. Spring flowers are the main thing in the festival, and there's always a big gang of people marching through the streets dressed in traditional costumes. It's all very lively and extremely colourful and rather noisy, and it has a great feeling about it. The flowers mean new life, and people thought they would be guaranteed a good harvest later in the year if they were offered to God. Nowadays most people don't have such funny beliefs about nature, but there's still a really old pre-Christian atmosphere about it all .

Practice

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
Look at these short extracts about Chinese cultural festivals and translate them.	\|	Which of these important days are celebrated in your country? Make sure you can describe what people do on these days in English. Use a dictionary or encyclopedia if necessary.

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