Advent

BBC Learning English
News about Britain
December 2008
Advent


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'Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!'

Christmas is the biggest festival in Britain and is celebrated on 25th December. The four weeks before
Christmas are called Advent, and are traditionally celebrated in churches by lighting a candle each
Sunday during Advent. Nowadays, many people in Britain are not very religious, but they still
celebrate Christmas. But watch out - the preparations begin long before Advent. In fact, as early as
September or October, you start to see signs that Christmas is on the way.

The first places to tell us that we should be thinking about Christmas are the shops. People in Britain
spend on average over £600 (around $1000) per person on Christmas every year, and the shops
encourage people to spend more and more. Shops put up Christmas decorations and play cheesy
Christmas songs or carols; and some shop workers wear Christmas hats. Some big shops on Regent
Street and Oxford Street in London create wonderful displays in their windows with moving
characters, falling snow, colourful lights and music.

So what do people buy in preparation for Christmas? Well, Christmas decorations; Christmas cards to
send to your friends and relatives; presents for your loved ones and wrapping paper to wrap them up
with. And of course food! Apart from the special Christmas dinner of roast turkey or goose, people
buy lots of chocolates, nuts and snacks for everyone to enjoy.

But the children are the most excited that Christmas is coming. They start making lists of presents they
would like, and give them to their parents, or send them to Santa Claus. In December, they can also
open their Advent calendars. Advent calendars are a way of counting down to Christmas. They have a
window to open for every day from 1st - 24th December (Christmas Eve).

A basic Advent calendar has a Christmassy picture behind each window, but the children's favourite
is usually a chocolate Advent calendar, with a chocolate for every day of the month. It's a great build-
up to the overeating that goes on at Christmas!


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Glossary

religious – following a system of beliefs and
practices relating to God
watch out – mind you; be prepared
on the way – approaching, drawing closer cheesy – of cheap quality or bad in style
carols – traditional and/or religious songs that
people sing at Christmas
Christmas hats – hats with pointy tips,
usually red in colour and with some fur
around them, traditionally worn at Christmas
for fun
wrapping paper – decorated paper used to
cover presents
apart from – here, in addition to
Santa Claus – the imaginary jolly old man
with a white beard and a red suit who brings
presents to children at Christmas
Christmassy – relating to Christmas and
capturing/representing the jolly mood of the
season
build-up – anticipation, increasing feeling as
a high point (here, Christmas celebrations)
approaches
overeating – eating too much


Read and listen to the story online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/britain/081216_advent.shtml












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1. Reading Quiz

Are these sentences true or false? Or is the answer not given in the text? Circle the correct
answer.

1. Preparations for Christmas start in December.
True / False / Not given

2. People in Britain usually eat turkey or goose for Christmas dinner.
True / False / Not given

3. Children send their present lists to Santa Claus or give them to their parents.
True / False / Not given

4. Most people in Britain are very religious.
True / False / Not given

5. Advent calendars never contain chocolate.
True / False / Not given




2. More or less?

Which of these expressions mean more than £600? Which mean less than £600? And
which mean approximately £600? Put each expression into the correct column:

£600 on average
about £600
at least £600
almost £600
roughly £600
over £600
up to £600
in excess of £600
not quite £600

More than £600 Less than £600 Approximately £600













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3. Wordsearch

Try to find the words associated with Advent in the puzzle below.

There are ten words to find. Words can be written horizontally (g), vertically (i) or
diagonally (m)




d f c a r j s o u b d t
e p a h t z n a d w m r
c h n c o n b v n e k a
o c t p a c a l x t j d
r c a r o l o g b r a i
a i v e q u e l e t y t
t r e s j m p n a v n i
i s r n a n g v d t s o
o f a a g y o z v a e n
n s g c a n d l e b r a
s g e k h l f h n x o l
h p b s i u h m t f r o


Advent carol average traditional candle
decorations snacks chocolate calendar Santa



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Answers

1. Reading Quiz

1. Preparations for Christmas start in December.
False

2. People in Britain usually eat turkey or goose for Christmas
dinner.
True

3. Children send their present lists to Santa Claus or give
them to their parents.
True

4. Most people in Britain are very religious.
False

5. Advent calendars never contain chocolate.
False

2. More or less?

£600 on average
about £600
at least £600
almost £600
roughly £600
over £600
up to £600
in excess of £600
not quite £600


More than £600 Less than £600 Approx. £600
at least £600 almost £600 £600 on average
over £600 up to £600 about £600
in excess of £600 not quite £600 roughly £600





3. Wordsearch

d c s t
e h a r
c c o n a
o a c t d
r c a r o l o a i
a v e l t
t e s n a i
i r n d t o
o a a v a e n
n g c a n d l e r a
s e k n l
s t