The Business of Christmas

STARTING OFF
Discuss the questions below in small groups.

1. Describe what a traditional Christmas is like in your home.

2. What do you like best about Christmas?

3. Are there any things you don’t like about Christmas?

BEFORE YOU READ

Look at the quotes below with your teacher. Then try to match each quote to the correct speaker.

A BUSINESSMAN “If Christmas isn’t in your heart, you won’t find it under a tree.”

A COMEDIAN “If Christmas did not exist, we’d have to invent it.”

A POET “Roses are reddish, violets are bluish, if it wasn’t for Christmas we’d all be Jewish.”

A PRIEST “The way you spend Christmas is more important than how much you spend.”

FIRST READING
Read the text quickly to check your answers.

SECOND READING
Below are the headings for each paragraph in the text. Match each to the correct paragraph.

Remembering The
Why Business A Season For All Whose Christmas
Real Message Of Christmas Is…?
Loves Christmas People Is It Really?
Christmas

VOCABULARY 1
Six items in the text are highlighted . Find them in the text and use the context to help you work out what they
might mean.

put aside feel-good telling shaping amidst joy

Now match the items to the correct definitions.

1. a situation or activity which makes

2. in the middle of
you happier and more optimistic

3. happiness 4. stop doing something for a time

3. happiness 6. something which reveals a lot about the truth

© Pearson Central Europe, 2013 (update 2017)

1
PHOTOCOPIABLE
VOCABULARY 2
Now use one of the words above to complete each sentence. You might need to change the word to make it fit.

1. The castle stood ________________ beautiful snowy mountains.

2. His face was ________________ - everyone knew what he was thinking.

3. The way people think is often ________________ by what they read.

4. Peace and ________________ to everyone this Christmas!

5. It’s a real ________________ film. You’ll leave the cinema with a smile on your face.

6. Let’s ________________ our arguments and be friendly to each other this Christmas.

THIRD READING
Read the text once again and decide if the sentences below are true or false.

true false

1. Christmas is only celebrated in Christian countries. ❏ ❏

2. People see Christmas in different ways. ❏ ❏

3. Shops make 30-40% of their profits on Christmas day. ❏ ❏

4. The UK economy is strong at the moment. ❏ ❏

5. The first adverts for Christmas presents appear in October. ❏ ❏

6. The author thinks it we can have both a commercial and a traditional Christmas. ❏ ❏

SPEAKING
Work in a small group to discuss the questions below.

1. How important are present at Christmas? Would you enjoy Christmas if there were no presents at all?

2. What are your plans for Christmas this year? Are they different from what you usually do?

3. What Christmas traditions from other countries do you know?

© Pearson Central Europe, 2013 (update 2017)

2
PHOTOCOPIABLE
1. ____________________________
Christmas is celebrated all over the
world, even in countries which are not
traditionally Christian such as Japan and
Korea. We often think of Christmas as a
season when we can come together and
put differences aside, spending time
with our friends and family, but is this
really true? Or is our romantic view of
Christmas just a feel-good fantasy?
2. ____________________________
How do we really see the Christmas
season? The answer, of course, depends
on who you ask:
THE POET: “The way you spend
Christmas is more important than how
much you spend.”
THE PRIEST: “If Christmas isn’t in your
heart, you won’t find it under a tree.”
THE COMEDIAN: “Roses are reddish,
violets are bluish, if it wasn’t for
Christmas we’d all be Jewish.”
THE BUSINESSMAN: “If Christmas did
not exist, we’d have to invent it.”
The last quote is telling: for business,
Christmas is always a great time…
3. ____________________________
Children look forward to
Christmas for months
before it comes but shops
look forward to it all year
long. The Christmas
period can be anything
from 30% to 40% of a
shop’s total profits for the
year!
In the UK this year,
shoppers will spend
around £23 billion this
Christmas. Supermarkets
will earn some £5 billion
and petrol stations will
earn about £1 billion in
December. This will be approximately
4% more than in 2008 - and all this
while the UK economy is officially in
recession. It’s no wonder that business
the world over loves the Christmas
season.
4. ____________________________
Business has had a big role in shaping
the way Christmas looks.
From cards to presents and Christmas
songs to Christmas holidays, business
has helped to build the commercial side
of Christmas for many years. And,
of course, Christmas does
come earlier every year:
nobody is surprised these
days to see adverts for
Christmas presents in
October or even earlier, or
Christmas special offers in
November.
5. __________________
Some feel that the real
message of Christmas is
lost amidst all the
commercialism. Perhaps
they have a point. And yet
it is not a question of one
or the other:
having – and enjoying – the commercial
side of Christmas does not mean that we
have to forget other aspects. We can
have the presents and the cards, the
shopping and the cinemas, but still
remember the best traditions of
Christmas: family, friends, love and joy.
The choice is up to us; the question is
whether we will take advantage of it.