Secret Santa revealed

Level 2 Intermediate

1 Key words

Complete the sentences with words from the box.

tunic unsuspecting anonymity sleigh

Santa Claus nickname deputy withdraw

1. _______ is an imaginary man with a white beard and red suit who brings gifts to children at Christmas.

2. A _______ is a long loose shirt.

3. A _______ is a vehicle pulled by animals and used for travelling over snow.

4. Shorty is a _______; my real name is James.

5. If you live in _______, then nobody knows who you really are.

6. _______ means not knowing about something that is happening or about to happen.

7. A _______ is someone who helps a leader and who takes over their responsibilities in some situations.

8. When you _______ money from a bank, you take out money from your account.

2 What do you know?

Lookinthetextandndthisinformationasquicklyaspossible.

1. Why is Larry Stewart called Secret Santa?

2. What is Larrys problem now?

3. Why did Larry start giving money to people?

4.Whowastherstpersonhegavemoneyto? D
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Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006

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NEWS LESSONS / Secret Santa revealed / Intermediate

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Secret Santa revealed
Level 2 Intermediate
Secret Santa reveals his identity
at last
Generosity born out of own experience of
poverty. Illness forces benefactor to retire from
giving role.
by Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
For years the fat man dressed in a red tunic and
wearing a large white beard has been delighting
unsuspecting strangers with his extreme
generosity. But now Santa has been forced to
hang up his sleigh bells and stay at home but
not before revealing his true identity.
Over the last 26 years, Larry Stewart, a 58-year-
old businessman from Kansas City, has given
$1.3m (687,000) to strangers he met in the
street. He started by handing out $5 and $10
bills to people who seemed down on their luck.
Withinationandariseinhisownwealthhe drive-in restaurant, he realised that were others
has made millions running a cable television and
long-distance telephone service the gifts rose
to $100 bills.
But Mr Stewart always insisted on anonymity,
never revealing his identity and earning him the
nickname Secret Santa. This spring, however, he
was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus,
which has since spread to his liver. The $16,000
monthly cost of the chemotherapy is not covered
by his health insurance policy, and the treatment
has left Mr Stewart weak.
So he has decided to reveal his identity in the
hope that he might inspire someone else to take
over his Santa duties.
Mr Stewart still has a team of little helpers,
who in recent years have given out $100,000
travelling between Chicago and Kansas City and
he has also trained four deputy Santas who this
year will hand out $65,000.
Over the years Stewart has become something
of a celebrity, featured in news reports and
appearing in full costume on Oprah Winfreys
television show, still hiding his identity. Why, you
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
NEWS LESSONS / Secret Santa revealed / Intermediate
really are Santa, she told him. There is a Secret
Santa website and even a book telling his story,
Santas Secret: A Story of Hope, written by a
local journalist.
Stewarts generosity was born out of his own
experience of poverty. In the early 1970s, poor
and jobless, he resorted to living in his car, a
yellowDatsun510.Onedayhenallydecidedto
approach a church to ask for help. He was told
that the person who could help had left and he
should return the following day.
As I turned around, I knew I would never do that
again, Mr Stewart told Associated Press.
By the late 1970s Stewart had a job and some
money, but he was still unlucky. In 1979, for the
secondyearinsuccession,hewasredfrom
his job in the week before Christmas. But when
he saw a shivering, roller-skating waitress at a
worse off than him.
It was cold and this waitress didnt have on a
very big jacket, and I thought to myself, I think
I got it bad. Shes out there in this cold making
nickels and dimes, he said.
He gave her a $20 bill.
And suddenly I saw her lips begin to tremble
andtearsbegintoowdownhercheeks.She
said, Sir, you have no idea what this means to
me.
Stewart went to the bank, withdrew $200 and
drove around Kansas looking for people to give it
to. The Secret Santa myth was born.
Guardian News & Media 2006
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Secret Santa revealed
Level 2 Intermediate

3 Comprehension check
Choosethecorrectanswertothequestions.

1. Larry Stewart 6. In 1979, Larry

a) gives money to Santa Claus. a) lost his job just before Christmas.
b) dresses as Santa Claus and gives money to poor b) lost two jobs.
people. c) quit his job for a Christmas holiday.
c) dresses as Santa Claus and takes money from

poor people. 7. Larry gave the waitress $20 because

a) she parked his car.

2. In the beginning, Larry Stewart gave out b) she gave him good food.
a) $100 bills. c) she didnt look very happy.
b) $5 and $10 bills.

c) $1.6 million.

3. Larry has cancer and now

a) he wants somebody else to be Secret Santa.

b) he wants to give people $16,000.

c) he doesnt want to work anymore.

4. In the United States, Secret Santa

a) is unknown.

b) is quite famous.

c) is in every city.

5. In the 1970s, Larry Stewart asked the church

a) for help with his car, a yellow Datsun.

b) for a job.

c) for help only once.

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Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006

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NEWS LESSONS / Secret Santa revealed / Intermediate

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Secret Santa revealed
Level 2 Intermediate

4 Vocabulary: American idioms

Put the words in order to make American English expressions from the text.

1. dimes shes and making nickels.

2. bad I think got I it.

3. people are worse there me than off.

4. this means you idea what no have.

5. luck are down on their they.

5 Vocabulary: American idioms 2

Matchthedenitionsbelowtotheexpressionsin4.

a) I believe my situation is bad.

b) She isnt making a lot of money.

c) There are people in a worse situation than mine.

d) They are not in a good situation.

e) You dont understand what it means.

6 Vocabulary: Collocations

Complete the gap with a suitable word.

1. ___________ a secret / a true identity / an answer

2. ___________ millions of dollars / phone calls / a mistake

3. ___________ with cancer / correctly / by the doctor

4.___________reports/ash/item

5.___________appear/owdown/llyoureyes

7 Discussion

What do you think of people like Larry Stewart? Should more rich people give money to poor people?
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Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006

O DO O
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T O

NEWS LESSONS / Secret Santa revealed / Intermediate

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