Englische Lesetexte - In the course of the year

ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

Seite

Preface (Vorwort) ...4

The year (seasons, months, days of the week, birthday) ...5 – 15 Carnival ...16 – 17 St. Valentine’s Day ...18 – 19 April Fool’s Day ...20 – 21 Easter ...22 – 23 May Day ...24 – 25 Mother’s Day and Father’s Day ...26 – 27 Ascension Day and Pentecost ...28 – 29 German Unity Day ...30 – 31 Halloween ...32 – 33 Reformation Day ...34 – 35 St. Nicholas’ Day ...36 – 37 The weeks before Christmas ...38 – 39 Christmas facts ...40 – 43 New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day ...44 – 45 The time ...46 – 47

Solutions (Lösungen) ...48 – 56

Inhalt

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ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

Preface (Vorwort)

Friedhelm Heitmann & Prisca Thierfelder Liebe Kolleginnen, liebe Kollegen,

dieser Band zur Lese- und Schreibkompetenz weist 16 Kapitel auf, in denen es rund um den Ablauf eines Jahres geht. Dazu gehören die Jahreszeiten, die Monate, die Wochentage, die Feiertage und Uhrzeiten. Jedes Kapitel enthält einen Einstiegstext, auf den jeweils mehrere Übungen zum Leseverständnis und Schreiben folgen.

Der Band setzt die im Kohl-Verlag erschienenen Lesetexte Biographies (Bestell

nummer 12092) fort. Im Gegensatz zu diesen ist "In the course of a year"

durchgängig in einer Niveaustufe gehalten, da der vorliegende Band aus der Arbeit mit hauptsächlich lernschwächeren / leistungsschwächeren Schülern*

entstand

und dementsprechend konzipiert wurde.

Die Texte und Übungen können unabhängig voneinander – je nach Jahreszeit oder Thema – im Unterricht eingesetzt werden. Erleichterung für Sie (bzw. die Möglichkeit für Ihre Schüler zur selbstständigen Kontrolle) schafft der detaillierte Lösungsteil.

Viel Erfolg beim Einsatz der Materialien wünschen der Kohl-Verlag,

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1 ^{The year}

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5

10

True False

A year has 12 months.

b)

March has 28 days.

c)

Europe belongs to the southern hemisphere.

d)

There's winter in Australia when it's spring in Europe.

e)

All months of the year have 30 or 31 days.

f)

An hour has sixty seconds.

1.1 Tick the right answer.

In the Gregorian calendar, a year is a period of time divided into 12 months. There are 365 days. Normally, February has 28 days.

But every 4 years, February has 29 days. This year of 366 days is called leap

year. A year has 52 weeks. Each week is divided into 7 days. The northern and southern hemisphere have 4 natural seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Europe is in the northern hemisphere. Australia is in the southern hemisphere. Therefore, the seasons in Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) are at the opposite times of the year to Australia.

When it's summer in Germany and the UK, it’s winter in Australia. When it’s spring in Australia, it’s autumn in Germany.

A month has 30 or 31 days, except for February. Each day has 24 hours. And each hour is divided into 60 minutes. How many seconds does a minute have? Do you know?

ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

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1 The Year – The 4 seasons

ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

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Spring

You can read it in the calendar: Spring starts in March. People are glad because winter is over. It’s getting warmer and brighter. The clocks are turned one hour ahead. This makes days much longer and evenings much lighter. As it gets warmer outside, plants begin to grow and blossom. Animals (e.g. hedgehogs) awake from their winter sleep.

Birds of passage come back from the south. You can see and hear more and more birds outside. Some people go for a walk, others sit in the garden or parks enjoying the sunshine.

Summer

Summer is the warmest season. It's the season between spring and autumn. In summer, the fields and trees are green. Everything is in blossom. Fruit and vegetables grow and you can eat cherries from the trees! Children love summer because there are the summer holidays! In this time, they can go on holiday with their family, go swimming or play outside.

Autumn

Summer is over. We welcome autumn. Some people don’t like autumn because it gets colder outside. It gets light later and dark earlier. That makes days much shorter. Leaves change colours and fall from the trees.

However, there are some sunny days in autumn. People can take a walk in the colourful nature or fly a kite. Farmers harvest potatoes or make hay. However, autumn can be rainy, stormy or foggy, too. Thanksgiving is celebrated during this season.

Winter

Look at the snowman! It’s winter. Winter starts in December. I’s cold and icy outside. People wear warm clothes like woollen caps, scarfs, down jackets and snow boots. Snow lies on the ground.

The ground is frozen. Streets and tracks are slippery.

Children enjoy snow in winter. They love building snowmen, going sledging or ice skating. Girls and boys often have a snowball fight.

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1.7 Autumn Find the statements in the text. Write down the line.

Attention! You won't find the same sentence.

a) Not all people like autumn. Line ___

b) Days are not as long as in summer. Line ___

c) There are colourful leaves in autumn. Line ___

d) But sometimes the sun shines in autumn. Line ___

e) Potatoes have grown and farmers pick them. Line ___

ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

1 The Year – The 4 seasons

1.8 The autumn words have gone by the wind. Put the letters in the right order and find the words. Write them in your exercise book.

l

e

a v

s e

t s

o r

m y

y r a

i

n a

u t

u m

t

e

k i

1.9 Winter Find the words from the text.

namwons rebmeceD yreppils gnigdels

1.10 Put the words together. They make up 6 winter words.

snow ice

woollen snow-

men skating

caps ball

n

+

nezorf

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1 The Year – The months

There are 12 months in a year. It starts with January, February and March. April, May and June follow. Then there are July, August and September. The last three months of the year are October, November and December. A month has 30 or 31 days. However, in February, there are 28 days. Every four years, February has 29 days. That’s called leap year.

1.11 The pictures show the 4 seasons in our northern hemisphere.

Match the months to the seasons.

Example: 1) January (say: “The first month of the year is January”)

_____________

_____________

_____________

Spring Summer

_____________

_____________

_____________

Winter

_____________

_____________

_____________

Autumn

_____________

_____________

_____________

August January July May November June

December March October February September April

ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

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ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

4 April Fool's Day

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5

On 1^st April a teacher went into the staff room. He found a slip of paper on his table.

There was written: “Please call Mr Lion. His phone number is 54000147”.

The teacher called the number. It was an employee of Zoo Hagenbeck' s who picked up the phone. But the teacher wanted to speak to Mr Lion and said: “Hello, Mr. Johnson speaking. May I talk to Mr Lion?” The employee answered: “I’m sorry, you cannot speak to Mr Lion. He is lying in the cage and is holding his afternoon sleep.”

Then the teacher knew that he had been tricked by his students.

4.1 True or false? Tick the right answer.

True False

A student had been tricked on 1

April.

b)

The teacher called the number of Circus Hagenbeck’s.

c)

Mr. Lion picked up the phone.

d)

Mr. Lion was lying in the bed.

e)

The students had tricked the teacher.

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ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

4.3 Find the words from the text. Write them down.

4.2 Compare the word pairs. Colour the differences.

4 April Fool's Day

cage phone teacher employee Hagenbeck’s cake clone preacher employer Hagemdeck’s

speaker staff paper noon answer

sneaker stuff pacer moon anchor

lying holding students tricked speaking flying hoping studies trilled sparking

zooteacheremployeestudentcallphonetrickpaperliontigercagegiraffepenguin

AFTERNOONMORNINGEVENINGSTAFFSPEAKERROOMANSWERPHONE APRILMARCHDECEMBERMAYJUNEAUGUSTSEPTEMBERJULYOCTOBER

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ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

6 ^{May Day}

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5

The first day of May is a public holiday in many countries of the world. The day is called May Day. Other names for it are Labour Day and International Workers’ Day. Labour Day has a long

tradition. In 1890, 1^st May was organized as Labour Day for the first time in several states of the United States of America.

On this day trade unions, workers and other employees demonstrate in the streets for their rights. There are demonstration marches and meetings in many countries.

People also celebrate May Day to welcome spring. On 30^th April there are May balls for people who like dancing into May. In England, people dance and make music.

Children dance around the maypole holding colourful ribbons. Germany and some other northern European countries celebrate Walpurgis Night the night before May Day by dressing in costumes and creating loud noises to keep evil away. They make large bonfires and dance.

True False

b) 1^st May was organized in 1890 for the first time.

c) On this day, people dance in the streets for their rights.

d) Children dance at May balls.

e) At Walpurgis Night people make bonfires and dance.

f) Walpurgis Night isn’t celebrated in Germany.

6 .1 True or false?

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ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

6.2 Put the statements from the text into the right order.

Write letters 1 – 7 inside the boxes.

1^st May was first organized in the United States of America.

Children dance around the maypole holding ribbons in different colours.

There's Walpurgis Night in Germany and some other countries.

In England, people dance and make music.

There are May balls on 30^th April.

In Germany, people make large bonfires and dance.

Other names for May Day are Labour Day and International Workers' Day.

6 ^{May Day}

6.3 Put the sentences into the right order. Write them in your exercise book.

a) of flowers and spring / Chloris. / of the goddess / The name / was b) has / in England. / a / history and tradition / May Day / long c) Germany / Walpurgis Night. / people / In / celebrate

d) use / Many girls / hoops and hair garlands. / flowers and leaves / to make e) in / are / large / There / bonfires / Germany.

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ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

11 Reformation Day

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31^st October is the day called Reformation Day by the Protestants and the Protestant Church. A monk named Martin Luther began to question the practices of the Catholic Church. When he studied the Bible, he found that some biblical texts were not conform with the Catholic Church.

The legend says: On 31^st October 1517 the monk nailed a list of 95 points where he thought the Church had done wrong, to the door of a Catholic church.

Later on the Protestant Church separated from the Catholic Church.

True False

is on 31

November.

b) Martin Luther was a monk who studied the Bible.

c)

The monk thought the Catholic Church was wrong.

d)

It is said that he put a list with 95 points under the door of a Catholic Church.

e)

The Protestant Church separated from the Catholic Church.

11.1 True or false?

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ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

11.2 Match the words with the definitions

11 Reformation Day

monk

(to) go wrong

a member of a religious order

(to) become divided something that closes an entrance Bible

(to) separate (to) question

the sacred book of the Christians

(to) disagree

door (to) be in error

11.3 Put the statements from the text into the right order.

Write letters 1 – 4 inside the boxes.

The Protestants split from the Catholics.

Martin Luther did not agree to the practices of the Catholic Church.

People say he nailed a list of 95 points to the door of a Catholic Church.

Protestants call 31 October

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ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

14 Christmas facts

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14.2 True or false?

You have written text 14.1 in your exercise book, haven't you?

Then read it again and tick the right answer.

14.1 Can you read the text? Fill in the words from the box and write it in your exercise book.

True False

b) Carols sings Christmas songs every year.

c) Santa Claus' clothes have always been red.

d) The first Christmas trees didn't have electric lights.

e) The idea of decorated Christmas trees was born in Germany.

What is Christmas?

Christmas is the time when Christians celebrate the ___________ of Jesus Christ. Christmas Eve is on 24^th December. 25^th December is called Christmas Day and 26^th December is Boxing Day. Half of the __________ in the world celebrate the Christmas season. The Christmas songs are called Carols. Santa Claus did not originally ___________ red. People say he first had green, blue or purple___________. Santa has nine reindeers: Their _________ are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, Blixem and Rudolph. The tradition of the Christmas ___________ was born in Germany in the 16^th century. Christians bought trees for their homes and ____________them with candles. In 1895

electric lights were used for the ___________ time.

names • first • people • clothes • decorated • birth • tree • wear

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ENGLISCHE LESETEXTE In the course of a year – Bestell-Nr. P12 241

16 ^{The time}

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We deal with time every day. Time is the ongoing order of things that happen. We measure in past, present and in the future. The past is the time where things already happened. The present is an action happening at the moment or that we usually do. The future is an action that has not happened yet. It will follow in time to come.

Time is measured in years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds. A second is the basic unit of time. We measure time with clocks.

The day has 24 hours. An hour has 60 minutes and a minute has 60 seconds.

However, there’s not only one time worldwide. There are different time zones. When it's 1 a.m. in Germany, it's 7 p.m. in New York (USA) and 7 a.m.

in Bangkok (Thailand).

16.1 True or false? Tick the right answer.

True False

b) The action that has already happened is called present. c) A second is the only unit of time

d) An hour has 60 seconds.

e) The world has one common time zone.

f) When it's 1 p.m. in Germany, it's 7 a.m. in New York.

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