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The most popular holiday in Great Britain is Christmas. They celebrate Christmas on the 25^th of December. People in Britain see Christmas as the major festival of the year – an occasion for parties, giving and receiving gifts, eating and drinking, and generally having fun.

There are a lot of traditions connected with Christmas.

In the afternoon the British people can watch the Queen on television as she delivers her traditional Christmas message to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Every year the people of Norway give the city of London a present. It’s the biggest Christmas tree in Great Britain and it stands in Trafalgar Square. Most families decorate their houses with a Christmas tree, buy the gifts for the family and friends, and write Christmas cards. Every English family sends and receives many Christmas cards. Traditionally there is a robin on almost every card (it is a Christmas bird). Sometimes there is a bunch of holly on the Christmas card. You can read on the card: “Merry Christmas!”

On Christmas Eve children hang stockings at the end of their beds or over the fireplace. They are told that Father Christmas or Santa Clause arrives at night from the North Pole on his flying sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, climbs down the chimney and fills each stocking with presents. The children open their presents – put there secretly by their parents – on Christmas morning.

On Christmas Eve people like to light candles. If there are children in the family, they often have Christmas crackers. When you pull a cracker it makes a bang and inside there is usually a Christmas hat, a small toy and a piece of paper with a joke on it.

Lunch is the most important point of Christmas Day. The traditional lunch consists of roast turkey with vegetables, followed byChristmas pudding. All the family stir the pudding and make a wish. When the pudding is hot, they put 5-penny piece in it and sometimes little silver charms – a horseshoe, a button or a ring. A 5-penny piece means you are going to have money the next year, the horseshoe brings good luck; the ring means a wedding. The button means you aren't going to get married.

A pantomime is a traditional performance for children at Christmas. All the children have much fun when they watch fairy tales with princes, beautiful princesses and fairies ("Cinderella", "Puss in Boots").

Centuries ago, it was the custom to put an ivy leaf in water on New Year’s Eve and leave it there until Twelfth Night (the 6^th of January). If the leaf remained fresh and green, it foretold a good healthy year; if black spots appeared on it, this meant illness and death in the family. All holly and ivy was taken down on Twelfth Night, as it was feared that it would attract goblins. It is still considered unlucky in Britain to leave Christmas decorations up after Twelfth Night.

The Twelfth night is on the eve of the 6^th of January. This is the twelfth day after Christmas Day. It is the last day of Yuletide. People eat the Twelfth cake on the Twelfth night. This is a big cake with a coin baked inside. The person who finds the coin in his piece of cake becomes the king of the Twelfth night.

Many people go to church at Christmas to a midnight mass onChristmas Eve or to the morning service on Christmas Day.

The day after Christmas Day is called Boxing Day and this is a public holiday. Traditionally people put their Christmas presents into boxes. A Christmas box is wrapped in bright coloured paper with ribbons.

New Year in England is not so widely observed as Christmas. Some people ignore it completely.

The most common type of celebration is a New Year party, either a family party or one arranged by a group of young people. This usually begins at about eight o'clock and goes on until the early hours of the morning. Sometimes the host makes a big bowl of punch which consists of wine, spirits, fruit juice and water in varying proportions...

There is usually a supper of cold meat, pies, sandwiches, cakes and biscuits.

At midnight the radio is turned on, so that everyone can hear the chimes of Big Ben, and on the hour a toast is drunk to the New Year. Then the party goes on.

Another popular way of celebrating the New Year is to go to a New Year's dance. Most hotels and dance halls hold a special dance on New Year's Eve. The hall is decorated, there are several different bands andthe atmosphere is very festive.

The most famous celebration is in London round thestatue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus where crowds gather and sing to welcome the New Year. In Trafalgar Square there is also a big crowd and someone usually falls into the fountain. Those who have no desire or no opportunity to celebrate the New Year themselves can sit and watch other people celebrating on television.

The 1^st of January, New Year’s Day, is a public holiday. Some people send New Year cards and give presents, but it is not a widespread custom. This the traditional time for making New Year resolutions, but they are more talked about than put in practice.

IV. Give the English equivalents for these Russian words and word combinations:

праздник; подарок; повод; украшать; рождественская елка; открытка; камин; сани; малиновка; остролист; северный олень; дымоход; хлопушка; «пятипенсовик» (монета в 5 пенсов); серебряные амулеты; подкова; фея; обычай; плющ; рождественские украшения; святки; месса; утренняя служба; пунш; приветствовать; падать в фонтан.

V. Insert the words in the gaps:

… is one of the main festivals in the Christian Calendar.
I was searching for a … for Mark’s birthday.
Children's pictures … the walls of the classroom.
… contain a small …, a paper hat, and a joke, and are used at Christmas in Britain.
It is believed that some plants can attract ….
Some people ignore … completely.

Decorate, present, gift, goblins, Christmas, New Year, crackers.

VI. Put in the right prepositions:

They celebrate Christmas … the 25^th of December.
There are a lot of traditions connected … Christmas.
The biggest Christmas tree … Great Britain stands … Trafalgar Square.
People decorate their houses … a Christmas tree
Children hang stockings … the end … their beds or … the fireplace.
Santa Clause arrives … his flying sleigh pulled … flying reindeer, climbs … the chimney and fills each stocking … presents.
The traditional lunch consists … roast turkey … vegetables, followed …Christmas pudding.
There was a custom to put an ivy leaf … water … New Year’s Eve and leave it there … Twelfth Night
The Twelfth night is … the eve … the 6^th of January.
Many people go … church … Christmas … a midnight mass …Christmas Eve or … the morning service … Christmas Day.
A Christmas box is wrapped … bright coloured paper … ribbons.
This the traditional time … making New Year resolutions, but they are more talked … than put … practice.

VII. Answer the questions:

What is Christmas? When do people celebrate it?
Who is Father Christmas? What other names of Santa Clause do you know?
What folklore characters are connected with Christmas? In what ways?
What traditions are connected with Christmas pudding?
What is Boxing Day?
How does New Year differ from Christmas? How is it celebrated?
Where can you celebrate New Year? What are the most popular places?

VIII. Translate into English.

С празднованием Рождества связано много языческих и христианских традиций.
Одним из символов Рождества является малиновка, которую часто изображают на открытках.
Рождественский пудинг – традиционное блюдо, в приготовлении которого участвует вся семья.
Хлопушки – любимая детская забава.
Считается, что Санта Клаус живет на Северном полюсе вместе со своей женой. На Рождество он развозит подарки, попадая в дом через дымоход. В благодарность дети оставляют для него молоко и печенье.

Did you know?

The first Christmas card, as the term is now understood, is believed to have been designed in England in 1843 by John Callcott Horsley. An edition of 1,000 hand-coloured copies was placed on sale in London. A triptych, the card depicted a family party in the centre, beneath which were the words “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” In the United States the owner of a variety store in Albany, New York, in the mid 19th century produced a card carrying Christmas greetings from “Pease's Great Variety Store in the Temple of Fancy.” Boston lithographer Louis Prang is credited with producing the first commercial Christmas cards in the United States; by the 1880s he was producing more than five million a year, using the chromolithography process, which allows subtle and realistic coloration and detail.
In most European countries gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve, December 24, in keeping with the notion that the baby Jesus was born on the night of the 24th. The morning of December 25, however, has become the time for the exchange of gifts in North America. In 17th- and 18th-century Europe the modest exchange of gifts took place in the early hours of the 25th when the family returned home from the Christmas mass. When the evening of the 24th became the time for the exchange of gifts, the Christmas mass was set into the late afternoon of that day. In North America, the centrality of the morning of the 25th of December as the time for the family to open presents has led, with the exception of Catholic and some Lutheran and Episcopal churches, to the virtual end of holding church services on that day, a striking illustration of the way societal customs influence liturgical practices.
The Russian Orthodox church and the Ethiopian Orthodox church also recognize January, 7 as Christmas day, and the Armenian church honours January, 6.
Christmas tree is an evergreen tree, often a pine, balsam, or fir, decorated with lights and ornaments as a part of Christmas festivities. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime; it survived further in the custom, also observed in Germany, of placing a Yule tree at an entrance or inside the house during the midwinter holidays. The modern Christmas tree, though, originated in western Germany. The main prop of a popular medieval play about Adam and Eve was a “paradise tree,” a fir tree hung with apples, that represented the Garden of Eden. The Germans set up a paradise tree in their homes on December 24, the religious feast day of Adam and Eve. They hung wafers on it (symbolizing the host, the Christian sign of redemption); in a later tradition the wafers were replaced by cookies of various shapes. Candles, symbolic of Christ, were often added. In the same room was the “Christmas pyramid,” a triangular construction of wood that had shelves to hold Christmas figurines and was decorated with evergreens, candles, and a star. By the 16th century the Christmas pyramid and the paradise tree had merged. Introduced into England in the early 19th century, the Christmas tree was popularized in the mid 19th century by the German Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. The Victorian tree was decorated with toys and small gifts, candles, candies, and fancy cakes hung from the branches by ribbon and by paper chains.
Blown-glass ornaments were offered for sale in Britain and the United States as early as the 1870s, many produced in small workshops in Germany and Bohemia, which also created decorations made from tinsel, cast lead, beads, pressed paper, and cotton batting. In the United States, F.W. Woolworth was selling $25 million in ornaments annually by 1890, by which time strings of electric tree lights were also available.
In South and Central America, unique religious and secular traditions mark the Christmas celebration. In Mexico, on days leading up to Christmas, the search of Mary and Joseph for a place to stay is reenacted and children try to break a piñata filled with toys and candy. Christmas is a great summer festival in Brazil, including picnics, fireworks, and other festivities as well as a solemn procession of priests to the church to celebrate midnight mass. In India, the fir as Christmas tree is replaced by the mango tree or the bamboo tree, and houses are decorated with mango leaves. Japan serves as illustration of a different sort. There, in a predominantly Shintō country, the secular aspects of the holiday – Christmas trees and decorations, even the singing of Christmas songs such as "Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer" or "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" – instead of the religious aspects are widely observed.