By Itsarin Tisantia
Photos courtesy of Reuters, AFP and AP
Joyful celebrations in many places around the world will take place on December 25. On Christmas Day, people will enjoy listening to festive music and carols, while kids will be delighted to receive gifts.
Read the following story to learn about some of the traditional symbols of Christmas Day.
GIFT GIVER
The legendary character of Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, is based on a historical figure known as Saint Nicholas. Santa Claus is said to bring gifts to the homes of good children. He is believed to live in the North Pole with a great number of magical elves and nine flying reindeer.
Kids are taught to believe that Santa will get into homes, usually by climbing down a chimney, during the night of Christmas Eve on December 24. On that night, children hang Christmas stockings near their fireplaces ready to be filled with gifts from Santa.
TREE TIME
Before Christmas Day, Christmas trees are decorated with nuts, fruits and candy. The idea of decorating Christmas trees was originally developed in Germany around the 16th century.
Christmas trees, which are usually made to resemble evergreen conifers, are embellished in many different ways. One of the world’s best known Christmas trees is the National Christmas Tree outside the White House in the US.
GUIDING STAR
One of the most popular Christmas decorations is the Christmas Star, which is used to represent the Star of Bethlehem. The star appears in the story of the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible.
Many Christians believe that the Christmas Star is a sign to mark the birth of Jesus Christ. According to the Bible, the star appeared in the sky when Jesus was born in order to show the way to his birthplace.
Exercises
Match each of the following vocabulary words used in the story with their correct definitions from the choices given.
| ….. 1. Represent | a. connected with the past |
| ….. 2. Delighted | b. very pleased |
| ….. 3. Resemble | c. to look like or be similar to another person or thing |
| ….. 4. Historical | d. to be a symbol of something |
Vocabulary
- marker (n): a sign that shows something exists or what something is like
carol (n): a Christian religious song sung at Christmas
elf (n): a fictional creature like a small person with pointed ears, who has magic powers
reindeer (n): a type of large deer that lives in cold northern regions
chimney (n): a structure through which smoke or steam is carried up away from a fire, etc. and through the roof of a building
Christmas stocking (n): a long sock which children leave out when they go to bed on Christmas Eve so that it can be filled with presents
fireplace (n): an open space for a fire in the wall of a room
conifer (n): any tree that produces hard dry fruit called cones
embellish (v): to make something more beautiful by adding decorations to it
