Unit7 Christmas

1  In England, Christmas is the most important of all the “Bank Holidays” in the year. Two important things, apart from its religious significance, help to set this holiday apart from all others: the custom of giving gifts and the habit of spending it with the family.

2  In the present highly commercialized age we are reminded of Christmas many weeks before the event. In the shops the special Christmas displays appear and outside them the special Christmas decorations. In the shopping centers of very large towns decorations are put up in the streets. In London thousands of people flock into the center of the town to see the decorations in Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and elsewhere. The advertisements in all the newspapers remind us repeatedly that there are “Only x more shopping days to Christmas”. The Post Office vans are covered with brightly colored posters tempting us to “Post Early, for Christmas”, for hundreds of millions of Christmas cards and millions of parcels are sent every year. Everywhere one turns, one is made aware that Christmas, which comes “but once a year”, is coming once again.

3  Many people feel sorry for what they consider the over-commercialization of a sacred holiday, but, underneath all the business activity, a great deal of genuine Christmas spirit is to be found. The custom of giving presents to one’s family and friends is a very pleasant one so long as one remembers that it is the spirit behind the gift which matters most and not the gift itself. And how good it is at Christmas to return to the family home and meet parents, grandparents and as many aunts, uncles and cousins as can be accommodated. Without twentieth-century means of transport, many families would be denied the Christmas reunion.

4  On Christmas Eve, the traditional ritual of hanging up a stocking at the foot of the bed is performed by millions of excited children. During the day the Christmas tree will have been decorated. All is now ready for the great morning, which comes round soon enough, in spite of the efforts of many of the younger children to stay awake until Santa Claus (or Father Christmas, as some call him) steals in to deliver the presents they have asked him for.

5  Christmas Day is spent quietly at home. The excitement of all the presents is hardly over before it is time for the traditional Christmas dinner: turkey, duck or chicken with rich fruity Christmas pudding afterwards. At tea-time the crackers are pulled. The evening is spent in games, merriment and more eating and drinking. There is always Boxing Day(the Bank Holiday after Christmas Day)on which to recover, if all the excitement and food have proved a little too much.