Easter

©

Macmillan Polska 2008 PHOTOCOPIABLE

Student’s Worksheet

First published online 07.03.08

Before you read

1. How much do you know about Easter and its celebrations in England? Try to answer
the questions below. Then read the text below and find out the answers.

1.

When is Easter celebrated?

2.

What do we call the week before Easter?

3.

What religious event does Easter commemorate?

4.

What are some Easter traditions in the UK?

5.

What kind of food is eaten at Easter?

2. Read the text and complete the gaps with words from the box below.

chocolate

Good Friday

resurrection

bunny

hot cross bun

Simnel cake

movable

costumes

Holy Week

Lent

Easter is the most important religious festival for Christian people who celebrate the (1)__________________ of Jesus
Christ on the third day after crucifixion. Easter is a (2)_______________ holiday and it takes place on the first Sunday
after the first full moon following the first day of the spring which means Easter always falls sometime between March
22 and April 25. The celebrations of Easter put an end to (3)___________________, the forty-day fasting period. The
week before Easter is called the (4)____________________ and important religious ceremonies take place on
(5)_____________________ when church services are held to meditate on the death of Jesus.

Although Easter is certainly the most important religious event, it is not as festive as Christmas which has become the
number one religious festival all over the world in terms of traditions, family reunions, and shopping. Yet there are
several Easter traditions which are still observed in the UK and other English-speaking countries.

One of the most important symbols of Easter are the Easter eggs. They used to be hard-boiled and dyed or painted in
different colours but nowadays they have mostly been replaced by (6)________________ ones, which are hidden
around the house and garden and hunted by English children on Sunday morning. Another important symbol is the
Easter (7)_________________ and small children are told that if they are good, the rabbit will leave chocolate eggs
filled with sweets for them to find. In some English-speaking countries you can still see Morris dancers who dress up in
(8)____________ and perform a folk dance in the streets.

Traditional Easter food includes roast lamb eaten for Sunday dinner as well as the (9)___________________, named so
after Simon and Nelly, who according to a legend, were the first to cook it. It is a light fruit cake covered with
marzipan, with eleven marzipan balls to represent the eleven faithful apostles of Jesus. Another traditional dish is the
(10)_____________________, small and slightly sweet buns, filled with raisins, with a cross cut out in the top of the
bun. They were originally eaten on Good Friday but now they are eaten throughout the whole Easter period.

3. Discuss these questions.

1.

What are some typical Easter traditions in Poland?

2.

Are Polish Easter traditions very different from those in the UK and other

English-speaking countries? What are the differences?