David, 18 I hate going to shops and especially supermarkets. You never know how to find yourself in this crowd of people running in many different directions. I am always loosing my head when I go shopping to one of these malls. And the same happened last weekend – I lost my head. I went window shopping with my 6-year old sister. She spent hours on Saturday morning begging me to walk with her to
…to go to a New Year’s Eve party for a whole night Mum, Dad… I’d like to go to a New Year’s Eve party and I’d like to stay overnight, because… 1. It is much safer to stay for the night than to return home in the middle of the night. At New Year’s Eve it is really difficult to catch a taxi because everybody wants to get home and taxi drivers want to
Let’s organize a party! When you organize a party for your friends, you must think about food and drink before. We don’t want a situation when a host prepares everything and pays for that, so when this is excluded, we have the following three options. 1. What have you brought? Each person brings something to eat or/and drink. It is really good because they are people (rare!) who can bake a cake, and there are people
1. Traveller’s party If you feel you are bored with New Year’s Eve parties, you might decide the best idea will be to fill your backpack and go somewhere. Lots of people go to the mountains and opt for a kind of ski-party. Zakopane is full, however, and a much better and more original option could be actually going to… the seaside. You can take a bottle of champagne and drink it on
Quiz How much do you know about Christmas? Do you know anything about traditions in other countries? Answer the questions choosing A or B and you find out! One letter from the correct answer is one letter of the password (in brackets you are given a position of the letter you should put into the password). Look at the example: 14. The American name of Christmas’ gifts giver is…………… (the 1st letter) A.
Rumors Another film star pregnant! Nicole Kidman, who married a country musician, Keith Richards few months ago, is said to be going to have a baby! Although the rumours have not already been confirmed, papparazzi noticed that famous actress, and mother of two adopted children, looks like she was the happiest person in the world. It is not an easy time for Nicole, whose husband has been drying out from alcohol addiction
CHRISTMAS TREE In Liberia oil palm decorated with bells is a typical Christmas Tree. In India banana or mango trees are decorated. In Greece there are Christmas trees but the main plant associated with Christmas is… basil. It is wrapped around a wooden cross and, once a day, dipped in holy water. Than a person from the family (usually the mother) sprinkles the water around the house. It is supposed to keep the spirits
Święta to świetny czas na odpoczynek… Szczególnie dla licealistów… Ania, 17 For me Christmas is not only a family time but most of all a time for me. I love family gatherings and the food which is especially prepared for this time in year but I treat Christmas like a nice break at the end of the year. I spend days reading books and magazines which I borrowed from the libraries or bought especially for this occasion.
Spotkania rodzinne w święta… Może być nastrojowo, miło albo wesoło… My family is crazy and we can witness it every Christmas. Lots of funny or strange situations usually happen to us and the same was last Christmas. My little brother, who is 4 years old, loves to line up cars. He used to just arrange them in endless straight lines across the floor, but then we discovered road-map rugs, and now
Let’s tidy up! Sprzątanie przed świętami? Na pewno go nie unikniesz! Two serious cleaning seasons At my home there are two serious cleaning seasons. First comes at spring and prepares the house for Easter and the second starts before Christmas. My mum plans everything beforehand and organizes the whole family into teams. There are five of us at home and there is always enough housework to go through the whole fortnight
Giving and getting presents is a difficult thing. We asked a few people about their Christmas time and presents they get and receive… Aleksander I hate Christmas because of presents! I never have enough money to buy what I would really like to and I finish with some cheap deodorants and some crap. I always feel very guilty because I get some pocket money so theoretically I could save money for presents, but I always spend everything. Also sometimes I get presents
1. First check how much money you can spend and divide it. You don’t have to divide it evenly. Example: you have 120 zloty, parents, older brother and a little sister. You can divide it evenly (30 zloty each) or decide that you want to spend more on your parents (40 zloty each) than your brother and sister (20 zloty each), because if you don’t do it and spend all the money on
Marta, 17 Well, I don’t really like getting books because I never get what I want. My aunt always buys me a book I read when I was twelve – like “Anne from Green Gables”! I think it is not easy to buy books for teenagers, but she could at least ask my mum. I often give books as presents, however, because my parents love reading. My mum is a fan of criminal stories, she simply loves them and
It’s a good idea! Books are best presents. They are not as expensive as perfumes, but give you as much pleasure as new Chanel. Giving books is like opening a new world for people you love, giving new experience and new taste for life. Probably the worst thing which happens when you buy books for presents is that you see books for you everywhere… and it is not always easy to decide
About food We don’t want to encourage you to prepare the family dinner. We just want to convince you that cooking is fun and that if you really want, you can make some Christmas food or decorations everybody will enjoy! CRACKERS AND THE LIKE As you well know from your English lessons, there is no Christmas in England without crackers. Crackers were invented by a London baker in the 19th century. They
Shopping in Britain Christmas is the shopping time, but only if you live in Britain… Poland Christmas Eve 24th Fasting broken when the sun goes down. Decoration of the Christmas tree. w Traditional twelve-dishes dinner. Opening the presents at the first star in the sky. Nativity Play at midnight at church. Christmas Day 25th Family meetings Boxing Day 26th Family meetings Britain Christmas Eve 24th Parties Santa Claus comes during
Quiz Do you like winter? Check it! 1. First thing you do when you wake up in the winter morning: a. You turn on the other side and almost cry because you feel the cold outside and you do not want to leave your bed. b. You get up unhappy but promise yourself that you will be strong. Hot tea makes you optimistic about the day and you start looking
What about the weather? E-mail to: Laura Hi Laura, I am writing to ask you about your preparations for Christmas. I am so happy that you and your parents are going to spend these holidays with us. I am sure we will have a great time this year. Have you all already packed? You have asked me recently about the weather conditions this time in the mountains. I have decided to check the weather forecast
Quiz This little quiz that you have in front of you has been based on the traditional test proposed by Anne Moir and David Jessel. Are you ready to check whether your brain is feminine, masculine or perhaps both? Go! 1. You are alone at home. Suddenly you hear a cat miaowing. How well can you localize the cat? a) After thinking for a while, I can say where the cat is. b)
News from the universe Do you remember this date? The 24th August? Didn’t you feel different? Didn’t you feel the world had changed and nothing would be the same again anymore? If you did, you were right. Something had changed. Pluto stopped to be a planet. What happened? Did it vanish into thin air, full of stars? Was it swallowed by one of the black holes? Did it die? Was there an explosion changing it