Comprehension

Exercise 1.

A. Explain what is meant by the following four types of holidays.

Bank holidays	Religious holidays	National holidays	Special observances with historical background

B. Place the holidays from the list below into the correct column in the above table.

1 January – New Year’s Day

2 January – Bank Holiday

6 January – Epiphany

25 January – Burn’s Night

14 February – St Valentine’s Day

47 days before Easter Sunday (Tuesday before Lent) – Shrove Tuesday

1 March – St David’s Day

17 March – St Patrick’s Day

fourth Sunday in Lent – Mother’s Day

1 April – April Fools’ Day

Thursday before Easter Sunday – Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday)

The Friday before Easter Sunday – Good Friday

Easter Day

23 April – St George’s Day

1 May – May Day Holiday

first, second, or third Saturday in June – Queen Elizabeth II’s Official birthday

3d Sunday in June – Father’s Day

31 October – Halloween Night

5 November – Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night

11 November – Remembrance Day (Armistice Day)

? November – The State Opening of Parliament

30 November – St Andrew’s Day

25 December – Christmas Day

26 December – Boxing Day

31 December - New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay in Scotland

Exercise 2. Describe the celebration of national holidays in the four parts of the UK.

Country	Date	Traditions
England
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland

Exercise 3. Match the following religious holidays with the traditions observed on those days. What other traditions are connected with these holidays?

Epiphany Shrove Tuesday Maundy Thursday Good Friday Easter Day Christmas Day Boxing Day

a. Family gathering at the home of parents or grandparents b. Egg rolling and egg jarping c. Baking hot cross buns d. A Vigil service in churches e. Singing carols f. The Queen’s giving money to elderly people g. The end of the Christmas festivals when the decorations are taken down h. Eating plum pudding i. Remembering the visit of the three Wise Men to the infant Jesus j. Indulging in the kinds of food forbidden during the Lent k. Remembering the Last Supper l. Children hanging their stockings up ready for presents m. Fasting n. Broadcasting the Queen’s message to the people o. Pancake races

Exercise 4. Describe the historical background and the modern traditions connected with the following holidays.

• St Valentine’s Day

• Mother’s Day (Mothering Sunday)

• April Fools’ Day

• May Day

• Halloween Night

• Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night

• New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay in Scotland

Exercise 5. What observances do the following paragraphs describe?

A A celebration marked in London by the ceremony of Trooping the Colour, a military pageant or ceremony performed by regiments of the Commonwealth and the British Army and attended by the Queen. Events at Buckingham Palace after the Queen's return include another march past, a 41-gun salute in the adjacent Green Park, and a flypast by the Royal Air Force.

B Two minutes of silence to commemorate the sacrifice of veterans and civilians in World War I and other wars.

C Ceremonies are held at local communities’ War Memorials, poppy wreaths are laid, poppies are sold and worn on clothes to commemorate the soldiers who perished on the battlefields on Flanders.

Exercise 6. Describe the ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament and explain the historical meaning of the traditions.

• Where is the ceremony held?

• Why are the cellars searched before the beginning?

• Who and how summons the Commons to the meeting?

• Where are the MPs positioned during the ceremony?

• What is the subject of the Queen’s Speech?

• How do the peers and MPs react to the speech?