AUDIO

AUDIO
EASTER

EASTER
The Origins
The actual date of Easter changes every year.
A holiday with a variety of meanings.

What do you do at Easter? For some it’s a Christian festival that marks the death of Christ. For others, it’s
a chance to eat lots of chocolate. Find out more about Easter in English-speaking countries.
Egg Games
There are lots of games associated with eggs. The two most
Most churches set Easter as the first Sunday common ones are the Easter Egg Hunt and the Easter Egg
after a full moon on or following the Spring Roll. For the Egg Hunt an adult hides lots of eggs (often
Equinox (21st March). This means Easter chocolate eggs) in the garden. The children then see who
Sunday can be as early as the third week can find the most eggs. The Egg Roll consists of seeing
in March or as late as the fourth week in who can roll a real egg the furthest distance down a hill
April. This year (2006) it’s in the second without it breaking. Some say that the tradition of rolling
week in April. Easter eggs is representative of the rolling away of the rock
from the tomb of Jesus.
Religious Traditions
So what does Easter celebrate? According to Christian tradition, Easter The Easter Bunny
marks the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was crucified Another symbol associated with Easter is the rabbit (or “bunny” as
on what is known as Good Friday, and was resurrected three days later it is commonly known). Parents tell their children that it’s the Easter
on Easter Sunday (for more information on this topic, visit: http://www. Bunny who comes to bring them chocolate eggs, and who hides them
religioustolerance.org/resurrec1.htm). in the garden for the Easter Egg Hunt. Children also get little chocolate
Officially, Easter marks the end of the period of Lent that begins on Ash Easter bunnies to eat.
Wednesday. The last week of Lent is celebrated as Holy Week and begins The first use of the bunny as a symbol of Easter appears in Germany
with Palm Sunday. This was the day that Jesus came into Jerusalem as in the 1500s. Not surprisingly, it was also the Germans who made the
the crowds laid palms at his feet. Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday) first edible Easter Bunnies in the 1800s. The Pennsylvania Dutch took
celebrates Jesus’ Last Supper. the Easter Bunny to the United States in the 1700s, and it’s been there
ever since.
Pagan Traditions
In pagan times, Easter was a special period. It was the celebration Other Easter Symbols
of the end of winter – a time to look to the warmth of Other symbols associated with
the coming summer. Easter include the Easter bonnet,
The actual name, Easter, comes from “Ostara” or and the Easter basket. Bonnets
“Eostre”, the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring. In are basically hats that are dec-
pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her orated with flowers. They come
honour. from the days when people wore
plain clothes during Lent, then
Eggs celebrated the end of Lent by
For many people in English-speaking and northern European countries, wearing something nice, new and
Easter is all about eggs. In the very early days, eggs were used as bright. There’s another tradition
symbols of fertility. Traditionally, eggs were decorated with bright col- that says that the wearing of three
ours to represent the coming of spring, and the growth of new plants. new things at Easter will bring you
Different countries have different traditions for their egg decoration. good luck in the coming year.
People from Slavic countries prefer to paint theirs in gold and silver. The Easter basket started from the
In Greece they use red to represent the blood of Christ. And in parts of ancient custom of taking Easter
Germany and Austria they paint their eggs green. These days, children food to church so it could be
often decorate eggs at school as part of the Easter celebrations. And blessed. So, what will you be do-
in shops, you can buy brightly-coloured chocolate eggs. ing for Easter?

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Information Box – The Jewish Passover BEGINNER’S
ENGLISH!
Another important religious festival around Easter time is the
Passover feast. This is an important date in the Jewish calen-
dar. It celebrates the flight and freedom of the Israelites from
Egypt. Legend says that the Angel of Death “passed over” their
dwellings, offering them protection.
One of the things associ-
ated with the holiday is
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bread to rise.
In the past, Christians
celebrated both holidays
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THIS BOOK FEATURES OVER...
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✔ 80 hours of quality learning activities!
“Bonnets are basically hats that are ✔ 100 pages divided into 34 units!
decorated with flowers. They came
from the days when people wore plain
clothes during Lent, then celebrated
Take your first steps in
the end of Lent by wearing something English with our Beginner Book!
nice, new and bright.”

GLOSSARY Learn Hot English: English for

to set vb a tree that grows in the desert work, life, exams & speaking!
to fix; to establish the Last Supper n
a full moon n
when there is a “full moon”, the moon appears
the last dinner that Jesus had before he was
captured by the Romans
www.learnhotenglish.com
as a complete circle fertility n
the Spring Equinox n the ability to reproduce
a time in spring (March/April, etc) when day a hunt n
and night are the same length an attempt to find something
crucifixion n edible adj
a punishment that involves fixing someone that you can eat
on a cross to bless something exp
resurrection n when a priest “blesses” something, he/she
the act of becoming alive again after death asks God to protect that thing
Lent n flight n
a period of time in the Christian calendar be- the act of escaping
fore Easter. It’s a time when you are supposed unleavened bread n
to control your eating, etc bread that hasn’t risen (become higher)
to lay something at someone’s feet exp in their rush to do something exp
to put something on the ground near some- as they were trying to do something quickly
one’s feet
a palm n
to rise vb
to become higher physically
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 AUDIO

EASTER, EGG AND RABBIT TRIVIA

Learn some fascinating facts about Easter, rabbits and eggs
EASTER TRIVIA

More than one billion Easter eggs are hunted in the United States each
year in parks and gardens.
Americans spend 2 billion dollars on Easter sweets and chocolate Easter
eggs, and eat 3 billion kilos of Easter candy each year.
According to a recent survey, most children (74%) eat the ears of their
chocolate bunny first. 16% eat the feet first, and the rest prefer the tail.
can only lay one egg a day.
The first battery bunny to appear in adverts was the Duracell bunny. The
Energizer Bunny appeared later and was a parody of the Duracell bunny toys.
Alice’s adventures in the book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” begin
when she meets the White Rabbit. She first notices him saying to himself,
“Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!”.

Every Easter, more than 60 million chocolate bunnies are sold, and 118
million cards are sent.
The most famous Egg Rolls and Egg Hunts take place at the White House
in Washington DC. In 1878 President Hayes and his wife Lucy officially
opened the White House grounds to the children of the area for egg rolling
on Easter Monday. The event has been held on the South Lawn ever since.
Afterwards, children hunt for brightly coloured wooden eggs hidden in
hay. Many of these eggs have been signed by famous people, including
the athletes, astronauts, musicians, and celebrities from film, television,
and theatre who visit the White House during the year.
In the Eminem movie 8 Mile, Eminem plays Jimmy B-Rabbit Smith, Jr.
Bob Hoskins starred in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a film which combines
animation and live action.
Hugh Heffner (creator of adult magazine Playboy), chose a bunny as
Playboy’s logo. He said, “I chose the bunny because of the humorous
sexual connotation, and because he offered an image that was frisky
and playful. I put him in a tuxedo to add the idea of sophistication…
the notion of a rabbit dressed up in formal evening attire struck me as
charming, amusing and right.”

The most famous decorated Easter eggs were those made by the well-
known goldsmith, Peter Carl Faberge. In 1883 the Russian Czar, Alex-
ander, commissioned Faberge to make a special Easter gift for his wife,
the Empress Marie. This egg was an egg within an egg. It had an outside
shell of platinum which opened to reveal a smaller golden egg. The
smaller egg, in turn, opened to display a golden chicken and a jeweled
replica of the Imperial crown.
This special Faberge egg so delighted the Czarina that the Czar promptly
ordered the Faberge firm to design further eggs to be delivered every
Easter. In later years Nicholas II, Alexander’s son, continued the custom.
Fifty-seven eggs were made in all.
Frank Sinatra once dated former Playboy Bunny Marianna Case.
The 1992 film City Hunter, a comedy kung-fu movie starring Jackie Chan,
takes place in a casino onboard a luxury cruise ship, and features real
Playboy Bunny waitresses.
The film Animal House (1978) has a scene with Bunnies on a Playboy float
during a parade. All of a sudden one of the Bunnies is propelled off the
float, through a house window, and onto the bed of a young boy, who’s
in the middle of reading a copy of Playboy magazine. The boy gratefully
exclaims, “Thank you, God!”

Ham has come to be the traditional favourite for Easter dinner. In pre-re- The two films Legally Blonde (2001) and Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) both
frigeration days, pigs were slaughtered in the autumn and cured for six have scenes in which the lead characters (Reese Witherspoon and Renee
to seven months – just in time for Easter dinner. Zellweger respectively) arrive at a party wearing Bunny Girl costumes.

The white lily is the special Easter flower, and is said to be the symbol GLOSSARY
of the resurrection. These days, most lily growers are located along the
to hunt vb
California-Oregon border in an area known as the “Easter Lily Capital of to try to find something
candy n US
the World”. They produce 95 percent of all bulbs for the Easter lily market. sweets and chocolates
a survey n
a series of questions about people’s prefer-
In China there is a celebration called Ching Ming which ences/likes/dislikes, etc
the grounds n
takes place at the same time as the Western tradition the land around a house/building, etc
of Easter. Chinese families visit the graves of their hay n
dried grass that horses eat
ancestors and take along meals and sweets. to sign vb
to put your name on an official document
a goldsmith n
Laying eggs takes 24-26 hours according to research from a person who makes things with gold
to commission something exp
the University of Illinois-Urbana. Even the best chickens to pay someone to make something for you
a shell n
the hard, outside part of an egg
to slaughter vb
to kill an animal
to cure n
to prepare meat by smoking it
a grower n
a company/person that grows vegetables/
fruit/flowers, etc
a bulb n
a root that grows into a plant or flower
a grave n
a place where a dead person is buried (put
in the ground)
to lay an egg exp
if a chicken “lays an egg”, an egg comes
out of it
a battery bunny n
a toy that looks like a rabbit (a bunny), and
that is powered by batteries
an advert n
a piece of publicity on television, etc
frisky adj
energetic, difficult to control, and possibly
with a desire to have sex
a tuxedo n
clothing that consists of a formal black
jacket and black trousers
formal evening attire n
clothing that you wear for formal occasions
to strike you as something exp
to appear to be something to you
a float n
a large vehicle in a carnival for carrying
people or things
gratefully adv
with feelings of gratitude (thanks)
to exclaim vb
to shout; to say loudly and emotionally

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