Celebration of Holidays

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Unit 6

• Celebration of Holidays

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• Main Points
• ?. Leading In
• ?. Text A
• ?. Text B
• ?Vocabulary Practice
• ?. Practical Writing

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?.Leading In

• Introduction to the Holidays
• ?Western holidays
• ?Chinese holidays

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Western Holidays

• ?Christmas
• ?New Years Day
• ?Valentines Day
• ?April Fools Day
• ?Easter
• ?Halloween
• ?Thanksgiving Day

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Christmas (Dec.25)

• Christmas is a holiday shared and celebrated by
  many religions.
• It is a day that has an effect on the entire
  world.
• To many people, it is a favorite time of the year
  involving gift giving, parties and feasting.
  Christmas is a holiday that unifies almost all of
  professing Christendom.
• The spirit of Christmas causes people to decorate
  their homes and churches, cut down trees and
  bring them into their homes, decking them with
  silver and gold.
• In the light of that tree, families make merry
  and give gifts one to another.

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Christmas Traditions

• Christmas tree

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Santa Claus

• ?Santa Claus and St. Nicholas
• The true story of Santa Claus begins
  with Nicholas,
• who raised him to be a devout Christian, died
  in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young.
  Obeying Jesus words to sell what you own and
  give the money to the poor, Nicholas used his
  whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick,
  and the suffering. He dedicated his life to
  serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while
  still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known
  throughout the land for his generosity to those
  in need, his love for children, and his concern
  for sailors and ships.
• ?Legends about Santa Claus
• There are many legends about santa Clause and
  his kindness and love. The following two stories
  are selected just for class use.

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(No Transcript)
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Chinese festival

• ?Spring Festival
• ?The Lantern Festival---Yuanxiao Jie
• ?Qingming---The Clear Bright Festival
• ?Dragon Boat Festival
• ?Festival of Qi Xi Jie (Chinese Valentine's Day)
• ?Moon Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival
• ?Double Nineth (Elder Day)
• ?Dong Zhi - Winter Solstice Festival Dec 22,2004
• ?Ethnic Group Festivals
• ?The Date of Chinese festival

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The Date of Chinese festival

• New Year's Day First Day of the First Month of
  the year
• The Lantern Festival ---Yuanxiao Jie 15-th Day
  of the First Month of the year
• Qingming---The Clear Bright Festival
• Dragon Boat Festival 5-th Day of the 5-th Month
  of the year Sweet Dumpling Dragon Boat Races
• Festival of Qi Xi Jie 7th Day of the 7th Month
  of the year Sometimes called the 'Chinese
  Valentine's Day'
• Moon Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival 15-th Day of
  the 8-th Month of the year
• Double Ninth (Elder Day) 9-th Day of the 9-th
  Month of the year
• Dong Zhi - Winter Solstice Festival Dec 22,2004
• Ethnic Group Festivals

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?. Text A

• Happy New year

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• ?.Pre-reading Activities
• Prepare the following topics in groups
• ?celebrations of the New year in China
• ?celebrations of the New Year in their hometowns
• ?their most recent celebration of the New year
• ?their plans for this years celebration of the
  New Year
• ?the party they are going to have to celebrate
  the coming New Year

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• ?. While-Reading Activities
• (?) Read the text through, try to answer the
  following questions, and then do reading
  comprehension exercises on page 94.
• 1. Is New Years celebration the most important
  one for Americans? Why or Why not?
• 2. How do people celebrate New Year?
• 3. What do most Americans and Europeans
  promise to do?
• (?) Read the text paragraph by paragraph, and
  find the topic sentence in each paragraph

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• (?) Language Points
• 1. eve the night or day before the stated
  religious day or holidays
• In the United States, many people go to New
  Years Eve parties.
• 2. measure v.
• 1)show or record
• Time is measured by the hour, minute, and second.
• 2)find the size length, amount, degree etc. of
  sth. in standard units
• How does a teacher measure his students
  success?
• 3. give importance to pay attention to
• We should give much more importance to English
  learning.
• Importance is given to learning foreign
  languages.
• 4. bring in cause to come in introduce
• They brought in different customs and cultures.

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• 5. common adj.1) usual a common error
• Everybody should know it, as it is common sense.
• Havein common share with someone else
• They have many interests in common.
• 6. tradition n.
• 1) principles, beliefs, practices, etc. passed
  down from the past to the present
• In Germany, some people still follow this old
  tradition.
• 2)a customary way of thinking or behaving
  that has been passed down in this way
• The writer is sad because he feels that old
  traditions are being forgotten.
• 7. drive away drive off force away
• Dont drive away the students who want to help
  you.
• 8. gather v. 1) come together
• On New Years Eve, crowds gather in Times Square
  in New York City.

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• 2) collect
• They have gathered a lot of information on the
  subject.
• 9. let off fire or cause to explode
• The inexperienced soldier let the gun off in
  error.
• 10. in the shape of in a certain form in which
  something may exist or appear
• He has a watch in the shape of a rabbit.
• 11. light up cause to begin giving out light
• When the play ended, all the lights lit up.
• 12. put up build, or raise into position
• They planned to put up a statue of the late
  President.
• 13. resolution n. a firm decision
• He made a resolution to lose weight through
  exercising.

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• 14. involve v. have as a necessary part or
  result
• This will involve a lot of time and energy.
• 15. carry out
• 1) fulfill
• Dont blame me ---Im only carrying out orders.
• 2) perform conduct
• They then held a meeting to discuss how to carry
  out the operation

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?.After-reading Activities (Homework)

• 1.Please read Text B after class and prepare
  more information about the Chinese Spring
  Festival and Christmas. Compare them in class
  next time.
• 2. Answer the following questions about the text.
• a. How do people celebrate Christmas in the
  West?
• b. Who decided the date of Christmas?
• c. How many cards do Americans send every year?
• d. Why does Father Christmas put presents in
  stockings instead of other places?

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?. Text B

• Christmas Tradition

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• ?Language Study
• 1. honor show honor to
• They built the statue to honor the friendship
  between France and the United States.
• 2. attempt n. C an effort made to do
  something
• He made an attempt to escape, but failed.
• v. make an effort at
• He attempted to leave but was stopped.
• 3. select v. choose
• He was selected to play for England.

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• Selected as choose to be
• He selected a novel as a birthday present for his
  sister.
• 4. design v. develop and draw the plans for
• The book is designed mainly for college students
• 5. exchange v. give and receive in return
• At the end of the meeting, they are exchanging
  phone numbers and addresses.
• 6. original adj. first earliest
• He found an original drawing of Picassos in the
  basement of his fathers house.
• 7. hang up hang a piece of clothing on something
• Did you notice those hams hanging up in the
  butchers window?

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• 8. in debt the state of owing
• Wasteful people usually end up in debt.
• 9. be about to be just ready to
• He looked as if he was about to burst into tears.
• 10. land v. come down from the air onto a
  surface
• The plane was forced to land in the desert

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• Ex. ? Fill in the blanks with the correct form of
  the word given.
• 1. Their house is in a very (favor)
  _____________position near the park.
• 2. I was ____________( honor) to have been
  mentioned in his speech.
• 3. This shows that they do not understand the
  (important)____________ of the question.
• 4. The (celebrate) ____________didnt end until
  midnight.
• 5. They took part in all kinds of social (act)
  ___________on campus.
• 6. The writers sudden (die)___________ was much
  regretted in Britain.
• 7. December25th had been a (wide)
  ___________celebrated day in the Roman world.
• 8. The test will involve (answer)
  ____________questions about a picture.
• 9. The streets were very (noise)
  _____________throughout the night.
• 10. Six theatre companies have been (select)
  _____________to take part in this years
  festival.

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• Ex. 2 Choose the best item to complete each of
  the following sentences.
• 1. Its all right to borrow money sometimes, but
  dont let it become a(n)____________.
• A. habit B. tradition C.
  spirit D. action
• 2. Theres a (n)__________ in our office that
  when its someones birthday, they bring in a
  cake for us all to share.
• A. habit B. tradition C.
  spirit D. action
• 3. The baby___________ an attempt to stand up,
  but failed.
• A. did B. took C.
  wanted D. made
• 4. The fact that he didnt say No immediately
  is a good___________.
• A. activity B. experience C.
  sign D. design
• 5. Have you discovered that the two cultures have
  a lot in___________.
• A. spirit B. effort C.
  common D. fact
• 6. The house was just as what she
  had______________.
• A. thought B. believed C.
  considered D. imagined
• 7. He _____________ and built his own house.
• A. designed B. believed C.
  determined D. put
• 8. The practice of hanging up stockings is
  believed to be _________with St. Nicholas.
• A. included B. connected C.
  determined D. selected
• 9. He never carried___________ his promise to
  stop playing PC games
• A. on B. about C. out
  D. in

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? Practical Writing
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• Personal letters have five parts
  date, opening, body, closing and signature.
• Here are some samples

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• Sample 1
• Your Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• E-mail (optional)
• Date
• Name of Receiver
• Title
• Company Name
• Address
• Dear __________
• When writing a letter using block form, no
  lines are indented. Include your name, address,
  and phone number where you can be contacted, as
  well as the date. You then include the name and
  address of the person you are sending the letter
  to. With new paragraphs, just skip a line
  instead of indenting. Add your phone number where
  you can be contacted in the last paragraph. If
  the receiver needs to use a relay service to call
  you, briefly explain that you are deaf/
  hard-of-hearing and that s/he can call you
  through relay. Give the receiver his/her state
  relay number and explain that s/he will need to
  give the operator your number. Then give him/her
  your number. Click
• here for a list of state relay numbers.
• Sincerely,
• Your Signature
• Your Name
• Your Title

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• Sample 2
• Your NameAddressPhone NumberE-mail (optional)
• 
  Date
• Name of Receiver
• Title
• Company Name
• Address
• Dear __________
•         When writing a letter using indented
  form, indent each paragraph.
• First include your name, address, phone number,
  and the date. This
• information should be located at the top of the
  page, either in the center,
• or indented on the right side of the paper. You
  then include the name and
• address of the person to whom you are sending the
  letter.    At the end of the letter, place your
  signature on the right side of the
• page. Don't forget to provide any relay
  information if necessary.
• Sincerely,
• 
  Your Signature
• 
  Your Name
• 
  Your Title

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The End

• Thanks for your participation and have a good time