Christmas Video

1. Jot down the associations that come to your mind when you hear the word ‘Christmas’.

2. Match the words to their definitions:

1. a pagan a. to shout at
2. winter solstice b. to increase quickly
3. a bough c. a Jewish holiday
4. to appropriate d. the most basic and important part of smth
5. reciprocity e. a tradition
6. to yell at f. the shortest day of the year
7. Hanukkah g. a person who worships many gods
8. the essence of h. a mutual exchange in a relationship
9. a custom i. a main branch on a tree
10. to skyrocket j. to take something for your own use

3. Answer the questions below:

1) What does Sheldon say about the tradition to put up a

Christmas tree?
2) Does he like to be given presents? Why/Why not?
3) What do you think the following expressions mean: ‘The
die has been cast’, ‘The moving finger has writ’,
‘Hannibal has crossed the Alps’? Think of an appropriate
translation into your native language.

4. Fill in the gaps:

1) Penny: Are you and Leonard __________ ____ a Christmas tree?

2) Howard: Gather ________, kids. It’s time for Sheldon’s __________Christmas ________.
3) Sheldon: In the ________________era, as the winter solstice ___________ and the plants died,
pagans brought ___________boughs into their homes as an act of sympathetic magic, intended
to ___________the life essences of the plants until spring. This custom was later
______________by Northern Europeans and ___________it becomes the so-called Christmas
tree…
There is no wonder __________ ___________skyrocket this time of year.

5. Discuss the following questions:

1) Do you celebrate Christmas?

2) What do you like more: giving presents or receiving them?
Why?
3) What was the worst Christmas present you’ve ever gotten?
And what was the best one?