GATE 04 | december 2016 | Volume 05
TEACHERS’ FILE
december 2016
This Teachers’ File contains activities and exercises that go with the articles from the magazine and
recordings on the Gate CD. The Recording Scripts, solutions, and other TEACHERS’ FILES can be
downloaded from www.bridge-online.cz once you register with the password: secret.
Christmas Comes to Town pp. 4-5
A Wizard of Earthsea
T Reading Comprehension
T Speaking Recap
Choose the correct word or phrase to complete the sentence.
teachers’
info
What do you remember about the main character from the series?
New Yorkers love to do their Christmas shopping in Oxford
Street / at Macy’s.
Sparrowhawk
1
Who is Sparrowhawk? What is his true name?
2
Another popular activity in New York is watching the Radio
City Rockettes, which is a dance group / an ice–skating team.
2
Do you remember the name of Sparrowhawk’s teacher?
3
What does Sparrowhawk do at the wizard school?
3
Prague has a special tradition of nativity / pantomime
scenes in churches.
4
How does Sparrowhawk change throughout the first
episode?
4
London’s Christmas tree traditionally comes from
Norway / Moravia.
1
Task 1 (Episode 2, Part 1: Comic) pp. 6–7
5
The biggest Christmas tree in London is put up in Trafalgar
Square / Piccadilly Circus.
6
Australians typically eat ham / prawns for Christmas dinner.
Read the comic, then mark the sentences True (T) or False (F). Correct
the false sentences.
7
Christmas trees are unusual in New York / Sydney.
1
Sparrowhawk tries to help a sick young girl.
2
Sparrowhawk makes a big mistake.
3
Sparrowhawk kills the child.
T Reading Comprehension
T Speaking
Talk to your classmate about Christmas celebrations.
4
The dragon tells Sparrowhawk the shadow’s true name.
1
Where is the biggest Christmas tree put up near you?
5
Sparrowhawk knows how to stop the dragon.
2
What Christmas events are there in your town?
6
The strange man gives Sparrowhawk a weapon.
3
How do you celebrate Christmas?
7
The shadow stops Sparrowhawk’s magic.
4
What do you like best about Christmas?
8
Sparrowhawk doesn’t want to fight the shadow.
Task 2 (Episode 2, Part 2: Listening) CD Track 2
Christmas Odd One Out
T Listening Comprehension
Fill in the gaps with the correct words from the box. Listen to the
second part of the story and check your answers.
T Vocabulary
Which word doesn’t go with the others? Use a dictionary to help you
with more difficult words.
1 Holly
Daffodil
Christmas Star
Mistletoe
2 Cable
Candles
Balls (baubles)
Christmas Lights
Fried Carp
Roast Turkey
Ham
Cupid
Lassie
Prancer
Gingerbread
Christmas
Pudding
6 Santa
Claus
Father
Christmas
7 Christmas
Eve
Boxing Day
3 Hot Dogs
4 Dasher
5 Christmas
Cookies
young find away brought there learn scared
1
Sparrowhawk: I’m almost ____________ . But I can’t keep
going…
2
Narrator: A beautiful ____________ woman walked into
the room.
Eggnog
3
Serret: I saw you fall in the snow and ____________ you
inside.
Snowman
Baby Jesus
4
Serret: You can even ____________ the name of the shadow.
5
Black Friday
Christmas Day
Sparrowhawk: I think I will ____________ another way to
fight the shadow.
6
Narrator: Sparrowhawk was so ____________ that it gave
him energy.
7
Sparrowhawk: I have to get __________ from here now!
1
2016-17_04_december_TF_activity_tips.indd 1
16.11.2016 16:51:17
The Land of Giants pp. 8–9
Christmas Jokes Activity CD Track 8
T Reading Comprehension
T Listening Comprehension
Listen to the jokes and complete the sentences.
It's usually very rainy and windy in Northern
Ireland.
T  F 
2
There are six counties in Northern Ireland.
T  F 
3
Ships have been built in Belfast for about
100 years.
T  F 
4
Belfast is a dangerous city.
T  F 
5
St Patrick is the patron saint of Northern
Ireland only.
1
T  F 
7
Finn McCool built the Giant’s Causeway.
T  F 
8
If you go to Northern Ireland you might see
some famous actors.
T  F 
Farmers ate a big breakfast in the past.
T  F 
9
1 This event contains a word
that means ‘to jump’.
2 This event was named
after a type of material.
3 This doodle celebrates
an event that takes place
every four years. The next
one will be in 2020.
b
c
2 This person was born in
Ireland in 1847.
3 This person created the
most famous vampire in
the world.
1 Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit!
2 This event takes place
every March 17th.
3 It is an Irish celebration but
is celebrated all over the
world. People wear green
and have a big party.
1 This doodle celebrates two
special things that are on
the same day.
d
2 Both things are connected
to people who are very
important in England.
3 One of them killed
a monster and one is
maybe the most famous
writer in the world.
What _____________ is Santa Claus?
3
Why are turkeys smarter than chickens? Have you ever
heard of Kentucky _____________ turkey?
4
Who brings presents to little ____________ ? Santa Jaws.
5
What goes “oh,oh,oh”? Santa walking _____________ .
Listen again to the jokes and try to answer the questions.
e
1 This doodle remembers
something that happened
27 years ago.
1 This doodle celebrates
someone’s birthday.
2
Task 2
Can you match the description to the doodle? You get 3 points if you
can guess it after one clue, 2 points after two clues and 1 point after
three clues.
a
What did one snowman say to the other snowman? What?
Do you smell _____________ ?
I don’t know.
North Polish.
Google Doodle Quiz p. 18
3 It happened in
Czechoslovakia, people
shook their keys to say
goodbye.
1
T  F 
The Giant’s Causeway is visited by a lot of
tourists every year.
6
Task 1
1
Why do snowmen smell carrots?
2
If Santa is North Polish, where does he come from?
3
Which fast food does the joke make fun of?
4
Which famous movie does the joke mention?
5
What does Santa walking forwards say?
SONGS
2 365.2422
Happy Xmas (War is Over) cd Track 11
John Lennon & Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band
1 This doodle celebrates the
birth of a man who was
once a dog salesman.
f
T Vocabulary / Listening Comprehension
Task
2 He was born on April 30th
1883.
Write the answers to the questions to find out the missing lyrics. Then
put them in the right place. Listen to the song to check.
3 He created one of the
most famous characters in
Czech literature.
A
This word means not having much money.
B
A word that can mean important. It sounds like an animal
and we use it at the start of letters.
1 02.06.53
C
The opposite of right.
2 On this day someone wore
a special hat and sat on
a special chair for the first
time.
D
The past participle of do.
E
The past participle of begin.
F
A period of 365 days.
3 This doodle celebrates
a very famous English
woman doing her job for
60 years.
G
The opposite of strong.
H
Mix this with blue to make purple.
I
A synonym of close.
g
So this is Christmas
And what have you 1 _____________
Another 2 _____________ over
And a new one just 3 _____________
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The 4 _____________ and the 5 _____________ one
The old and the young
A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
15–21 points Well done,
you are a doodle master! Do
you work for Google?
8–14 points Not bad, your
doodle skills are strong.
0–7 points Maybe
you should get on Google
to improve your general
knowledge!
2
2016-17_04_december_TF_activity_tips.indd 2
16.11.2016 16:51:17
I Won’t Be Home For Christmas cd Track 12
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For 6 _____________ and for strong
For rich and the 7 _____________ ones
The world is so 8 _____________
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and 9 _____________ ones
Let’s stop all the fight
A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now
Happy Christmas
Blink-182
Task 1
Before you listen to the song, match the words to their definitions.
1
joy
A
annoying, sth that you don’t like
2
irritating
B
don’t disturb me
3
I snapped
Cpolicemen
4
I grabbed
D
I took something
5
leave me alone
E
I lost control, got angry
6
cops
Fhappiness
Task 2
Listen to the song and put the events in the correct order.
A
The singer is arrested by the police.
B
The singer hears some carollers.
C
The singer takes a baseball bat and chases the carollers.
D
The singer goes to prison and meets a new friend.
E
The singer listens to the carollers unhappily.
F
The singer gets irritated by the carollers voices.
Solutions to Activity Tips
Carol of the Bells cd Track 14
Christmas Comes to Town:
1 Macy’s, 2 dance group,
3 nativity scene, 4 Norway,
5 Trafalgar Square, 6 prawns,
7 Sydney
Odd One Out: 1 daffodil
(spring flower, the others
are plants associated with
Christmas), 2 cable (not
a Christmas decoration,
the other words are types
of Christmas decorations),
3 hot dogs (not a typical
Christmas meal), 4 Lassie
(a dog, the others are
names of Santa’s reindeer),
5 eggnog (drink made of eggs
and rum, milk; the others
are Christmas desserts),
6 snowman (doesn’t deliver
presents), 7 Black Friday (the
day after Thanksgiving, the
other words describe special
Christmas holidays)
T Listening Comprehension for Detail / Spelling
Task 1
Listen to the song and see if you can fill in the missing words
Hark how the bells
1 _____________ silver bells
All seem to say
Throw cares away
Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To 2 _____________ and 3 _____________
Meek and the bold
Ding dong ding dong
That is their 4 _____________
With joyful ring
All caroling.
One seems to hear
5 _____________ of good cheer
From 6 _____________
Filling the air
Oh how they pound,
Raising the sound
O’er hill and dale
Telling their tale.
Gaily they 7 _____________
While people sing
8 _____________ of good cheer
9 _____________ is here
Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas…
On on they send
On without end
Their joyful tone
To every 10 _____________
Wizard of Earthsea: Recap:
1 a young wizard student /
apprentice; his true name is
GED, 2 Ogion, 3 He lets out
a shadow from the world of
the dead; the leader of the
school Archmage Nemmerle
dies, 4 he is more patient, kind
Task 1: 1F (boy), 2T, 3F (he
doesn’t save the child, but
it dies from an illness), 4F
(it knows the shadow’s true
name but doesn’t say it), 5T,
6F (promises to bring him to
the weapon), 7T, 8T
Task 2: 1 there, 2 young,
3 brought, 4 learn, 5 find,
6 scared, 7 away
Northern Ireland: 1T, 2T,
3T, 4F (not anymore, peace
between nationalists and
unionists), 5F (Saint Patrick
is the patron saint for all
of Ireland), 6T, 7F (not,
that’s a fairy tale), 8T, 9T
Jokes: Task 1: 1 carrots,
2 nationality, 3 fried,
4 sharks, 5 backwards,
Task 2: 1 Because their noses
are made of carrots, 2 from
the North Pole, play on the
nationality adjective Polish,
3 Kentucky Fried Chicken,
4 Jaws – a horror film about
a killer shark, 5 ho, ho, ho
John Lennon: A poor, B dear,
C wrong, D done, E begun,
F year, G weak, H red, I near;
In the song – 1 done, 2 year,
3 begun, 4 near, 5 dear,
6 weak, 7 poor, 8 wrong, 9 red
Carol of the Bells: 1 sweet,
2 young, 3 old, 4 song,
5 words, 6 everywhere,
7 ring, 8 songs, 9 Christmas,
10 home; merry = 16×
Blink-182: Task 1: 1F, 2A, 3E,
4D, 5B, 6C; 2: B, F, E, C, A, D
SOLUTIONS FROM THE MAGAZINE
Christmas Comes to Town p. 5
London
Prague
New York City
Sydney
Weather
Cold
Freezing, snow
Cold, freezing
Summertime
Christmas Tree
Location
Trafalgar Square Old Town
Square
Rockefeller
Center
Martin Place
Ice Skating,
Dance
Peformance
by Radio City
Rockettes
Going to the
beach
Special Activity Pantomime
Nativity Scene,
Carp killing
Christmas Food turkey, potatoes
turkey, ham,
fish soup, fried
carp / schnitzel + Chinese food
potato salad
seafood
(prawns) +
salad
Day Christmas
Is Celebrated
24th December
Christmas Eve
25th December
Christmas Day
25th December
Christmas Day
25th December
Christmas Day
Strange December Traditions p. 10
Part 1, Task 1: 1B, 2E, 3F, 4C, 5D, 6A
Part 1, Task 2: 1 island, 2 warm, 3 matter, 4 enters, 5 stranger, 6 hospital, 7 heavy, 8 carry,
9 foot, 10 actually
Part 2
Tradition
Place in the USA
What happens
Santa and Guns
Arizona
People take pictures with Santa and
their favourite gun.
Christmas Lights Ohio, Cincinnati
on a Trash Pile
People Decorate Trash with
Christmas Lights
Santacon
People dress up as Santas and go
around the city, collect money, drink
Cities around the world,
New York, Moscow
Celebrity Siblings p. 14–15
1 Gigi and Bella Hadid, 2 The Jonas Brothers,Liam and Chris Hewmsworth, 3 Pippa
Middleton, 4 Ella and Dakota Fanning, 5 Gigi and Bella Hadid, 6 The Jonas Brothers
Task 2
Listen again and count. How many times can you hear the word
“Merry”?
Films p. 16
1 RO/AC, 2 AC, 3 RO, 4 RO/AC
Dreidel p. 19
Hannah is the winner
3
2016-17_04_december_TF_activity_tips.indd 3
16.11.2016 16:51:17
Lesson Plan
GATE
December 2016
1 Lead in (
10 mins)
Write the following cities on the
board: London, New York, Prague,
Sydney. Elicit what countries they
are in and a few facts about each
one. Then ask the class what they
know about Christmas customs
in each country / city. Show them
the following pictures and let
them guess which city it is. Can
they guess the name of the city in
picture 5?
Topic Focus: Traditions in English-speaking countries, Christmas
Vocabulary Focus: Christmas
This lesson plan is based on the article, Christmas Comes to
Town on pages 4–5 of the magazine.
Liam Peach (UK)
2 Reading for specific
information, writing
( 10 mins)
1
Put the students into four groups
and give each group a city. Tell them
to read about their city in the article
and fill in the column in the table on
p. 5 that relates to that city.
3 Speaking, writing
( 15 mins)
2
1
Now put the students into groups of
four, each containing one student
from each of the previous four
groups. Tell the students to present
to the group what they learnt about
their city while the other three
students fill in their table.
2
4 Check answers, follow
up ( 10 mins)
3
Return the students to their original
places and go through the table as
a class, reviewing the answers. Take
a vote to see which place would
be the most popular Christmas
destination. As a follow-up activity,
ask the students to write how they
would spend Christmas in their
preferred destination.
3
4
5 Extra activity
Write the following scrambled
words from the article on the
board. See who can be the first to
unscramble them all. Which city do
they go with?
When you unscramble them, play
an association game. Which word
comes to your mind first. E.g.
Christmas Tree: Christmas Lights
5
4
1PACR
2ETAIMOPNM
3KRIN
4TEKARMS
5SOTERKTEC
6IMTMRSEUME
7ATATNMHAN
8HIROC
9 NIBDO ECBAH
5
Solutions: 1 CARP (Prague);
2 PANTOMIME (London);
3 RINK(New York); 4 MARKETS (Prague);
5 ROCKETTES(New York); 6 SUMMERTIME
(Sydney); 7 MANHATTAN (New York);
8 CHOIR (Prague, London); 9 BONDI
BEACH (Sydney)
Solutions, Photos: 1 London,
2 New York, 3 Prague, 4 Sydney,
5 Washington, DC
4
2016-17_04_december_TF_activity_tips.indd 4
16.11.2016 16:51:18