UK CULTURE (33) ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR ELEMENTARY

ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR ELEMENTARY

UK CULTURE (33)

A	Special days Festival Date What people do Christmas 25th December send Christmas cards, give presents, spend time with their families, decorate a Christmas tree, eat a lot New Year’s Eve/ Hogmanay (Scotland) 31st December sing and dance, toast the New Year New year’s day 1st January a bank holiday [day when most organisations are closed] Valentine’s day 14th February send cards to boyfriend / girlfriend / husband / wife Easter dates vary give children Easter eggs [chocolate eggs] Halloween 31st October children dress up, children knock at doors and ask for sweets Bonfire Night 5th November have a bonfire and fireworks
B	Food Traditional UK food is fish and chips and roast beef and roast potatoes [cooked in the oven] with Yorkshire pudding [dish made of flour, milk and eggs]. Chicken tikka masala [a kind of curry] comes from India, but is very popular in the UK
C	By train The train arriving at platform 3 is the 16:50 train to Paris. The Edinburgh train departs / leaves from platform 6. (departs is formal) Is there a restaurant car on this train? A: Do I have to change trains for Toulouse? [get off one train and get onto another] B: No, it’s a direct train.
D	Education Type of school What it is nursery school for children aged 2-4 primary school for children aged 5-11 secondary school for children aged 12-18 state school parents don’t pay for children to go here private school parents pay for children to go here
E	Politics The UK has a royal family, with a king or a queen. Political decisions are made at the Houses of Parliament. The Prime Minister is the political leader of the UK.

Exercises

33.1	Which festivals do these pictures show?
33.2	Look at the pictures. Find 10 more words connected with food in the puzzle.
33.3	Answer these questions about traditional UK food. 1 What do British people traditionally eat with fish? chips 2 Where does chicken tikka masala come from? ___________________ 3 What is chicken tikka masala a kind of? ___________________ 4 Do British people eat Yorkshire pudding after their main course? ___________________ 5 In or on which part of the cooker do you make roast beef and roast potatoes? ___________________
33.4	Which kind of school do these British children go to? 1 Lily is seven. Her parents pay for her to go to school. a private primary school 2 Gabriel is 14. His school is free. ___________________ 3 James and Ellie are three. ___________________ 4 Mehmet is ten. His parents don’t pay for him to go to school. ___________________ 5 Nick is 16. His parents pay for him to go to school. ___________________
33.5	Answer these questions about politics in the UK. 1.        Who is Prime Minister at the moment? 2.        Where does the Prime Minister work? 3.        Who is head of the royal family at the moment?

TIP

Learn about the UK life by suing the BBC learning English website which has up-to-date articles and news stories: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/

ANSWER KEY

33.1	2	Christmas
	3	Bonfire Night
	4	Easter
	5	Valentine’s Day
	6	New Year’s Eve/ Hogmanay

33.2

33.3	2	India	4	No. They eat it with their main course (with roast beef).
	3	currry	5	in the oven

334	2	a state secondary school	4	a state primary school
	3	a nursery school	5	a private secondary school