Lesson 23

35. Celebrating the New Year. The New Year has been celebrated for thousands of years. Every nation has its own New Year traditions. Read about some New Year festivals and be ready to describe ones of your nation. Choose the correct word in each sentence.

The Jewish New Year is (taken/celebrated) in September. Special services are (held/got) at the synagogue. Honey and fish are (done/eaten) – honey is for a sweet year and fish is for the year of plenty. Special round loaves of bread are (boiled/baked). People’s houses are (looked/cleaned) and new clothes are (bought/given) for children.

The Scottish New Year is called Hogmany. People go to parties. At midnight an old song called “Auld Lang Syne” is (sung/seen). There is also a tradition called “first footing”. If you are (voted/visited) by a man with a dark hair, you will have good luck during the next year.

The Muslim New Year remembers the journey (made/marked) by Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem. Children are (played/given) presents and new clothes.

Many Hindus celebrate the New Year in October, at the same time as “Diwali”, the festival of light. Little lamps called “divas” are (lost/lit) and they are (swum/floated) on lakes and ponds. The story of Rama and Sita is (talked/told) to children.

The Chinese New Year comes every January or February. Dragon and lion dances are (smiled/performed). Evil spirits are (frightened/haunted) away with firecrackers. Red clothes are (put/worn) for good luck.

36. Answer the questions.

1. What folk customs and rites do Ukrainians observe? 2. What are the most important holidays in the Ukrainian churches? 3. What Sunday does Easter fall on? 4. What main event is celebrated on Easter? 5. What dishes does Christmas consist of? 6. When is Epiphany marked? 7. What is the principle ceremony on Epiphany? 8. What kind of holiday is Easter? 9. What is the last Sunday before Easter called? 10. What do people bless in the church on Easter night? 11. What do Easter eggs symbolize? 12. What kind of Easter eggs do you know? 13. What family holidays do you mark? 14. What communal or state holidays do you know?

37. Read and memorize the following words:

to observe – дотримуватись

a custom – звичай

a rite – обряд, ритуал

Willow Sunday – Вербна неділя

Epiphany – Водохрещення

to mark – відзначати

to bless – освячувати, благословляти

Pentecost – П’ятидесятниця

Good Friday – Страсна П’ятниця

to whitewash – білити

a commemoration – поминання

a graveyard – кладовище

a bough – гілка

to decorate – прикрашати

a feast – свято

to plait a wreath – плести вінок

to float – пливти (за течією)

38. Read and translate the text:

PENTECOST

Pentecost is a church calendar feast day, celebrated fifty days after Good Friday; the first major event of the summer cycle in the Ukrainian ritual calendar. The feast of Pentecost known in Ukraine as Green Holidays, consisted of several days of ritual observances. Before the main day of the celebration (Sunday), houses were whitewashed and cleaned, and their earthen floors were worked over with an aromatic grass or herb. In addition, houses and churches were decorated both inside and out with tree branches. On Pentecost Sunday young people entertained themselves with song-games, the decorating the plaiting of wreath that were later floated in water, and the playing of games. In some parts of Ukraine it was common for farmyards, outbuildings, and fields to be blessed by a priest leading a procession.

The commemoration of the dead had an important role in Pentecost celebrations. Graveyards were decorated with tree boughs and in some cases with lit candles.

39. Make the choice:

1. Pentecost is a folk/church holiday.

2. It is celebrated before/after Easter.

3. The feast of Pentecost is celebrated on Sunday/during several days.

4. The houses are decorated with green branches/wreathes.

5. People entertain themselves with song-games/exchanging coloured eggs.

40. Paraphrase the following sentences as in the models (Consult §11).

Model: This is my coat. – This coat is mine.

1. This is our school. 2. This is my note-book. 3. This is your desk. 4. This is his bicycle. 5. This is her bag. 6. This is their classroom. 7. This is our bus.

Model: I’ve prepared my TV set … -- I’ve prepared my TV set myself.

1. I’ll go to the post-office… 2. She cooks breakfast … 3. We’ll water the flowers … 4. The soldiers built the bridge … 5. Mother said the boy, ”You must always make your bed …” 6. The professor performed the operation …

41. Fill in the blanks with some and any (Consult §12).

1. I have … English books. 2. Are there … arm chairs in the room? 3. There isn’t … chalk in the classroom. 4. There is … milk in the jug. 5. Mother has bought … butter. 6. There aren’t … mistakes in my dictation. 7. There are … lakes in this district. 8. Have you … relatives in Kyiv?