ESL Podcast 226 – Holiday Decorating

#ESL Podcast 226 – Holiday Decorating##GLOSSARY**to decorate –** to make something more attractive by putting objects on it*The students are going to decorate the high school gym so that it looks like adance club for their dance on Friday night.**to go all out –** to put all of one’s energy and effort into doing something*She went all out during the race and finished in first place.**Christmas tree –** a pine tree (or a plastic tree) that people decorate and place intheir homes to celebrate Christmas*Please put all of the presents from your grandparents under the Christmas tree.**ornament –** a small object used for decoration, usually with a string for hangingon the branches of a Christmas tree*My favorite Christmas tree ornament is the blue glass ball that my daughtergave me three years ago.**tinsel –** narrow, thin strips of shiny material used for decoration*The children were supposed to put the tinsel on the Christmas tree, but theyhad more fun putting it in each other’s hair.**wreath –** a circle of flowers and leaves hung on a door or wall for decoration*Everyone who visits their house admires the beautiful Christmas wreathhanging on their front door.**mistletoe –** a plant with green leaves and white berries that is used asdecoration during the Christmas holiday*I’m hanging mistletoe above the doors because tradition says that if a man anda woman stand under the mistletoe, they have to kiss each other.**chimney –** a brick or rock structure that carries smoke from a fireplace, throughthe roof and outside of a house*When we lit the fire, the room started to fill with smoke because we hadforgotten to open the chimney.**stocking –** a very large, colorful sock that is hung near the chimney and filledwith presents the night before Christmas*Last year, Josiah made a giant stocking because he thought he would get morepresents that way.**holiday cards –** a piece of paper folded in half, with a picture on the front and amessage inside, sent to friends and family to wish them happy holidays*This year we are sending a photograph of the children inside our holiday cards,so that our family and friends can see how much they’ve grown since last year.**lawn ornaments –** statues and other objects placed on the grass in front of ahouse as decoration*Look at the lawn ornaments across the street! That family must be very excitedabout the holidays.**snowman –** snow shaped in the form of a person*Myung and Oscar made a snowman with cookies for eyes and a carrot for anose.**reindeer –** a large animal that looks like a deer with long antlers (horns that looklike tree branches) on its head that lives in the snow*According to Christmas stories and songs, Santa Claus uses flying reindeer tohelp him go from house to house, delivering Christmas presents.**Santa Claus –** an imaginary fat, jolly (cheerful) man with a white beard and redclothing who delivers Christmas presents to good boys and girls*Many children behave very well in December because their parents tell themthat Santa Claus will bring them presents only if they are good.**outdoor lights –** lines of multi-colored, white, or blue lights that are placed alongthe roofs, doors, and windows of houses as Christmas decorations*Some neighborhoods are famous for their outdoor lights at Christmas, andmany people drive by to see their decorations.**to string –** to hang decorations in a line*When we learned that Katie was pregnant, we celebrated by stringing pink andblue decorations all around the living room.**it’s no wonder that –** it isn’t surprising that*It’s no wonder that you passed the exam. You have been studying every nightfor almost two months!##COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS1. Why is the family decorating the house?a) Because the house hasn’t been decorated for many years.b) Because this is how the family celebrates the holidays.c) Because Santa Claus visits only decorated houses.2. Where does the family put its holiday decorations?a) Only inside the house.b) Only out