SGK Tiếng Anh 8 - Unit 13: Festivals

UNIT 13
FESTIVALS
GETTING STARTED
Work with a partner. Where should these people go on their visits to Viet Nam? Why?
Tom likes swimming and sunbathing.
David is interested in ancient cities.
Huckleberry likes mountain-climbing.
Oliver is keen on pottery.
Robinson is fond of crowded places.
m LISTEN
AND READ.
Liz:
Thanks for inviting me to the rice-cooking festival. Ba.
Can you explain what is happening?
Ba:
Sure. There are three competitions: water-fetching, fire-making and rice-cooking.
Liz:
Where does the water come from?
Ba:
There’s a river about one kilometer away. One person from each team has to run to the river. There are four bottles of water on the river bank and each runner must take a bottle and return to the starting position.
Liz:
That man seems upset. What did he just yell?
Ba:	He urged his teammate to inn faster.
Liz:	What’s special about the fire-making contest?
Ba:	The fire is made in the traditional way. Two team members try
to make a fire by rubbing pieces of bamboo together. The winners are the first ones to make a fire.
Liz:	I’m interested in the rice-cooking contest, too.
Ba:	Six people from each team participate in this event. They have
to separate the rice from the husk and then cook the rice.
Liz:	How do they decide who wins the contest?
Ba:	The judges try the finished products and the most delicious rice is
the winner. Then all the points are added and the grand prize is awarded.
Liz:	Is that what is happening now?
Ba:	The council leader just said that he was pleased to award the prize
to the Thon Trieu team.
Practice the dialogue with a partner.
True or false? Check (Z) the boxes. Then correct the false sentences and write them in your exercise book.
T
F
a) Two team members take part in the water-fetching
contests.
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b) One person has to collect four water bottles.
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c) The fire is made without matches or lighters.
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d) Pieces of wood are used to make the fire.
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e) In the final contest, the team members taste the rice.
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f) The grand prize is given to the team with the most points.
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SPEAK.
Work with a partner. Mrs. Quyen is talking to Lan about their preparations for Tet. Put their sentences in the correct order. Start like this:
MRS. QUYEN
A. Have you tidied the bedrooms?
F. Yes, I have. Where are you going, Mom?
Have you tidied the bedrooms?
Not really. But I want our house to look nice at the festival.
c. To the market. I have to buy some oranges and some pomegranates.
Sure. I will.
That’s very good. Bye-bye, Sweetie.
LAN
Yes, I have. Where are you going, Mom?
Mom, I know what to do now. I’ll clean all the glass windows.
Could you collect my new ao dai at the tailor round the comer?
Bye, Mom.
Thanks, Mom. Is there anything you want me to do while you’re out?
Now make up your own dialogue. Talk about preparations for another festival. The list below will help you.
a village festival	• a harvest festival
a school festival	• a flower festival
a spring festival
LISTEN.
Listen to the conversation and till in the gaps.
The Robinson family are making preparations for Tet.
Mrs. Robinson wants	to go to
the	.
Mrs. Robinson wants some marigolds
because they are	at Tet.
Mrs. Robinson wants Liz to buy a
packet of	.
Mrs. Robinson is asking Mrs. Nga how
to	spring rolls.
Complete the notes.
Things tc ỔC
Mr. Robinson: 	
■ Lfz:	
Mrs. Robinsc r 	
READ.
Christmas is an important festival in many countries around the world.
The Christmas Tree
One Christmas Eve in the early 1500s, some people decorated a tree and put it in the market place in the Latvian city of Riga. This custom spread throughout Europe, and finally to America in the 1800s.
In the mid-nineteenth century, an Englishman wanted to send Christmas greetings to his friends, so he had someone design a card. Forty years later, cards were a part of the Christmas tradition.
Christmas Carols
Eight hundred years ago, Christmas songs were performed for people in towns and villages. These songs were stories put to music and most people enjoyed them. The leaders of the Church, however, did not. They said the songs were unsuitable, but about 180 years ago, the songs became popular again.
Santa Claus
n 1823, the patron saint of children, Saint Nicholas appeared in a poem
called A Visit From Saint Nicholas. The character in the poem was a fat ———— -	jolly man who wore a red suit and gave children
presents on Christmas Eve. The poem, which was written by Clement Clarke Moore, an American professor, became popular in the USA. Santa Claus is based on the description of Saint Nicholas in this poem.
Ị. Complete the table.
Christmas Specials	Place of origin	Date
mid-19th century
Christmas carols
USA
Answer the questions.
How long ago did the Christmas tree come to the USA?
Why did the Englishman have someone design a card?
When were Christmas songs first performed?
Who wrote the poem A Visit from Saint Nicholas?
What is Santa Claus based on?
WRITE.
Use the information in the dialogue on page 121 to fill in the gaps in this report.
The Rice-cooking Festival
by Festival Councilor Pham Phuong Link
This report shows how the (1)	 festival was held.
The festival was held in the communal house yard about
(2)	 kilometer away from a river. There were three
competitions: (3)	, fire-making and rice-cooking. The
festival took one day.
In the water-fetching contest one person from each team had to (4)	to the river to get the (5)	.
In the fire-making contest two team members had to make a fire in
the (6)	 way. They tried to rub pieces of (7)	
together to make the fire.
(8)	people from each team took part in the rice-cooking
contest. They had to (9)	the rice from the husk and then
cook the rice.
After the three contests, all the points were (10)	and the
Thon Trieu group won the grand prize. The festival was wonderful.
Write a similar report on a festival you joined recently. The answers to the questions below can help you.
What is the name of the festival?
Where was the festival held?
How long did the festival last?
How many activities were there? Were there any competitions?
How were the activities organized?
How many people took part in each activity?
What did you think about the festival?
language Focus	- WHHi
Passive form: be + past participle
Compound words: rice-cooking, fire-making, etc.
Reported speech
Complete the sentences. Use the passive forms of the verbs in the box. Decide whether the time is past, present or future.
put make perform write hold award decorate
Christmas songs	for people in towns and villages eight
hundred years ago.
On Christmas Eve in the early 1500s, a tree	and	
in the market place in the Latvian city of Riga.
In the rice-cooking festival, a fire .	in the traditional way.
An English-speaking contest 	 at Nguyen Hue
School next month.
The first prize	to the Mekong Team just after the final match
yesterday.
The Christmas carol “Silent Night, Holy Night”	in
Austria by Franz Gruber in the 19th century.
Complete the conversation. Use the verbs in the box.
break (2) jumble	scatter pull
Hành and her mother have just got home from the market.
Hanh:	Mom! Something has happened to our kitchen.
Mrs. Thanh: What’s wrong?
Hanh:	Mom! Look. The cupboard is open and everything has
been (1)	.
Mrs. Thanh: Oh, no. The jar I like has been (2)	.
Hanh:	Many bowls and dishes have been (3)	, too. And look
at this, Mom. The dried mushrooms have been (4)	all
over the floor.
Mrs. Thanh: And where is the pan of fish I left on the stove?
Hanh:	Here it is. It has been (5)	 into the sink.
The fish has gone.
Mrs. Thanh: Who has done all this?
Hanh:	Mom, it must have been the cat!
Rewrite the sentences in your exercise book. Use a compound word in your sentences.
Example:
It is a contest in which participants have to cook rice.
=> It’s a rice-cooking contest.
It is a contest in which participants have to make a fire.
It is a festival in which people have their bulls fight against each other.
The United States has a big industry that makes cars.
Last week Tran Hung Dao School held a contest in which students arranged flowers as attractively as they could.
Viet Nam is a country which exports a lot of rice.
This is a machine which is used to wash clothes.
Yesterday Lan’s grandmother, Mrsi Thu, needed a plumber. A man came to her door. Report what the man told Mrs. Thu.
Example:
“I’m a plumber.”
He said he was a plumber.
“I can fix the faucets.”
“The pipes are broken.”
“New pipes are very expensive.”
“You must pay me now.”