Traditional festivals

VOCABULARY

a c b

1 Complete the sentences with ONE word only. In three sentences the first letter of the word is given.

1. He’s now rich and famous, but he has never forgotten his humble o______________.

2. It is believed that light and noise frighten ____________ forces away.

3. People celebrate January 1 st _________ a public holiday.

4. In other countries, New Year falls______ a different time. 5. It’s so nice that Big Ben a_______________ the arrival of the New Year. 6. People often promise to give _________ bad habits. 7. As we d_____________ to the cellar, it became cooler and darker.

2 In the box find a synonym and an antonym for the words below.

1. generous ____________ ____________ 2. descend ____________ ____________ 3. tiny ____________ ____________ 4. display ____________ ____________ 5. important ____________ ____________

WORD FORMATION

climb up

go down

trivial little conceal

kind show

enormous

mean

significant

Making adjectives Change each word in capital letters to complete the sentence.

The new adjective/noun will end in -ed, -ing, -y, -ance, or -tion. e.g. It’s too windy to wear a hat today. WIND

1. Lenny looked very_____________ when he saw us. 2. We’ve got some very_____________ news for you. 3. In_________ weather, the yachts usually stay in the harbour. 4. This is a very good _____________ of an old master. 5. It’s really_____________ sitting at a computer all day. 6. Now we have central_____________ and the house is much warmer. 7. Her ___________ on the stage was a great shock for her family. SURPRISE SURPRISE STORM REPRODUCE TIRE HEAT APPEAR

Replace the underlined words with a phrasal verb with a similar meaning.

give off give away give in give back give up

1. It is too hot in here. The electric heater produces too much heat. _____________ 2. Her words revealed something about her mother which she didn’t want to say. _____________ 3. Jim tried hard during the match, but in the end he had to admit defeat. _______________ 4. I don’t know why Jason stopped bowling. ____________ 5. Why didn’t you return the money to Beth? _____________

PREPOSITIONS Complete these sentences using the correct preposition.

1. I think you should apply ______ this job. 2. People think that their good fortune depends _____ the first guest. 3. If nothing else, you must apologize _____ not visiting her when she was ill. 4. We knew he was suffering _____ severe shock. 5. My father doesn’t approve _____ Henry and won’t let me marry him. 6. All the members of the jury insisted _____ her innocence. 7. They all relied _____ the advice of their manager.

LINKING WORDS 1 Join the two sentences together using the word or expression given in bold.

Pay attention to their use: in spite of (despite) + noun or the gerund although / though / even though + clause

Study the example.

I went to the party. I didn’t feel very well. / Although Although I didn’t feel very well, I went to the party.

1. It rained heavily for a short time. The garden party was a great success. __________________________________________________________ 2. James had a sore throat. He sang beautifully at his brother’s wedding. __________________________________________________________ 3. Computers save a lot of time. Learning to use a computer is not easy. __________________________________________________________ 4. She has wrinkles. She looks really good. __________________________________________________________

Despite

In spite of

Although

Even though

2 Fill in the missing words. Choose from the following:

although except because however so that despite in case but

We were all going to the Lake District __________ my brother, Jason. He couldn’t go ________ he had to study for his university entrance exam. He thought the exam would be earlier, ________ he was mistaken. _________ the weather was bad, we decided to go because we needed some rest. __________ the public holiday, there were not many cars on the road. My father let me drive our car ____________ I could have some practice. It started to rain and I drove carefully ___________ the road became slippery. ____________, everything went well and we arrived at the Lakes safe and sound.

GRAMMAR

ARTICLES

1 Complete the following sentences with an article where necessary.

1. ____ Trafalgar Square is ____ most famous square in London. 2. ___ cousin of John’s, who joined____ Navy last year, sent him ____ parcel yesterday. 3. _____Mount Kilimanjaro is ____ highest mountain in ____ North Africa. 4. I am _____ strong believer in _____ love and _____ peace. 5. Children go to ____ school between _____ ages of five and sixteen. 6. _____ rich and _____ famous stay at _____Ritz Hotel in London. 7. We’re going to have _____ dinner in ______ garden. 8. _____ Amazon is ______ longest river in ______ world. 9. Jill has such ______ nice trousers. 10. My brother is studying to be _____ doctor. 11. ______ football is very popular in Great Britain. 12. We went for ______ walk along _____ Sava.

2 Complete the text with an article where necessary.

Speakers’ Corner, in (1)_____ north-east corner of (2)_____ Hyde Park in London, is by tradition (3)______ area where public speeches can be made by anyone who has something to say. (4)_______speakers talk to (5)______ crowds from (6)_____ soapbox - (7)___improvised platform. Individual speakers or representatives of various organisations deliver their speeches at weekends - to (8)_____ amusement of (9)_____ passers-by. Crowds often gather around (10)___ speaker and generally feel free to make comments on the speech or simply to interrupt (11)______ speaker if they do not agree with what he is saying. Speakers’ Corner is often taken as (12)______ symbol of free speech.

3 Fill in the gaps with the correct relative pronoun.

1. The film is about a female boxer ______ was very successful. 2. I saw several apartments ________ were not suitable for living in. 3. This is a young couple __________ parents didn’t agree to their getting married. 4. The firm _______ I work for is sending me to England. 5. The waiter, ____________ name was Jim, was very impolite. 6. He was the first man _____ climbed Mount Everest.

Track 23 LISTENING Listen to the text and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only ONE word in each gap. It can be an article, a preposition, a verb, or an adverb. The first is done as an example. Then listen again to check your answers.

January 1st is an important date in Greece because it is not only the first day (0) of_ the New Year (1), _______ it is also St. Basil’s Day. St Basil (2)_______one of the forefathers of the Greek Orthodox Church. He is remembered (3)________ his kindness and generosity to the poor. It is believed that he died (4)________ this date, so this is how they honour him. New Year is perhaps even more festive and important (5)________ Christmas as it is the main day for gift-giving and for stories of St Basil’s kindness (6)________ children and stories of how he would come in the night and leave gifts (7)_______ the children in their shoes. There are many special dishes that (8)________ prepared at New Year but the (9)________ important dish is St Basil’s cake; a silver or gold coin is placedinside the cake. The cake is distributed in a strict order. The first piece is for St Basil, the second for the house, the next for the most senior member (10)________ the household down to the youngest member, also including absent members. Whoever finds the coin in their piece of cake will be lucky (11)_______ the next year.

EVERYDAY LANGUAGE 1 What do we say in these situations? Use the expressions in the box to complete the sentences below.

‘Break a leg!’ ‘Watch out!’ ‘Congratulations!’ ‘It was a great party.’ ‘Merry ..... and a Happy .... !’ ‘Bless you!’ ‘Cheers!’

• For Christmas and New Year we greet people saying ‘______________________’ • When people sneeze, we say: ‘____________________________’ • We often say ‘______________________’ to wish people well before an exam. • When you are in danger from an oncoming car, people shout: ‘ __________________’ • We say ‘________________’ when we hold our glasses before we start drinking with friends or relatives.

• When your friend passes an exam successfully, you say ‘________________________’ • When leaving a party you say to the host ‘ ___________________’

2 Today many people still believe that if they do certain things, it will bring them good or bad luck. Read the following sentences and decide whether such things are considered to be lucky or unlucky. brings good luck brings bad luck

E.g. (6) (In England a black cat is lucky.)

1. I broke a mirror yesterday. 2. Be careful today. It is Friday 13th. 3. Chris found a four-leaved clover. 4. Look! He’s walking under a ladder. 5. Touch wood! 6. Look! A black cat is crossing our path. 7. I decided to put a horseshoe above my front door. 8. Don’t open your umbrella indoors. 9. I have a key ring with a rabbit’s foot. 10. My mother was angry when my brother spilt some salt on the tablecloth.

EXPAND YOUR VOCABULARY Expressions with ALL A Look at the expressions with all (1-6) and match each one to the correct meaning (a-f).

1. all over 2. all of a sudden 3. all in all 4. once and for all 5. (to be) all the same (to) 6. after all a. on the whole b. to make no difference c. in spite of what has been said d. quickly and unexpectedly e. everywhere (on the surface of something) f. for the last time

B Use one of the expressions with all to complete these sentences.

1. Let’s settle this matter _____________________. 2. When we entered the room, we found books ______________ the floor. 3. So you’ve come __________________! 4. We were reading silently when, _________________, we heard a terrible noise. 5. I don’t think it’s a bad result, ______________. 6. I’ll let you decide. It’s __________________ me.

Track 24 PRONUNCIATION 5 How does –e change pronunciation? Listen to the following words or read them aloud. Put them into the right box.

fit sit fine site bite cat tap lane swim lake time take rid tape game shape tame ride bit hit shine

/I/ /aI/ /eI/

MY JOURNAL Choose either task 1 or 2 and write a short composition.

1. Write a note to a friend, inviting him/her to a New Year’s party at your house. Give details of the time, the day, and what type of party it is. Ask if your friend can bring someone or something – friends, CDs, food or drink, and give them directions on how to get to your house.

2. In your journal write about a time you spent with your friends (parents, relatives, alone) on New Year’s Eve. _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________

DISCUSSING A PROVERB Explain the meaning of the following saying in your own words.

You can’t put the clock back.