Divide into pairs and choose of the suggested tasks below

WRITING

Read the following table, then listen to the tape and tick the information mentioned. Finally, using the information from the table describe the festival.

Name of festival	Ch’u Yan Festival ________	The Dragon Boat Festival ___
Time	5th day of the 5th month in Chinese lunar calendar _____	5th day of the 5th month in Chinese solar calendar _____
Reason	To protect the river from dragons and spirits _____	To remember the tragic suicide of a politician ___
Preparations	Repaint boats ______ Train for boat races _______	Build boats _______ Design rote of boat race ____
Actual day	Throw rice dumplings into river ________   Eat rice cakes ________	Boat races _______   Search for Ch’u Yan’s body ________
Feelings	Not very interesting ______	An unforgettable experience ___________

Study the theory in the box and the plan on the right.

		Introduction Paragraph 1 set the scene   Main body Paragraph 2 preparations Paragraph 3 description of actual event Paragraph 4 explanation 1 and reason Paragraph 5 explanation 2 and reason Conclusion Final paragraph feelings, comments, final thoughts
	A descriptive composition about an event should consist of: · An introduction in which you mention the name / type, time / date, place and reason for celebrating the event; · A main body in which you describe the preparations for the event and the event itself; · A conclusion in which you describe people’s feelings or comments on the event. Such pieces of writing can be found in magazines, newspapers or travel brochures, or as part of a letter, story, etc.

Useful tips:

· When you describe annual events present tenses are used and the style is formal. However, when giving a personal account of an event which you witnessed or took part in, past tenses are used and the style may be less formal. The passive is frequently used to describe preparations / activities which take place.

· To make the description more vivid and interesting, narrative techniques and a variety of descriptive vocabulary can be used to set the scene and describe the atmosphere.

You are asked to describe a religious festival or event and explain its popularity. Write the composition on the suggested topic in 300-350 words.

VOCABULARY LIST

RELIGION, THE OCCULT, THE SUPERNATURAL

A halo of sanctity and miracle

Abbey, abbacy

Absolution

Acknowledgement

Act of god

Adherent

Administer/receive extreme unction (to)

Aisle

Altar

Amulet

Atheism

Atonement

Aura

Aureole

Auspicious

Baptism

Beads

Belfry

Benediction

Birth certificate

Blessing

Canonisation

Cathedral

Cell

Chalice

Chapel

Christmas carol

Civil funeral

Cloister

Commemoration

Compatriot

Confession

Confirmation

Conformist

Convent

Convert

Creed

Deadly sin

Deity

Desecration

Devotional

Dirge for the dead

Dissenter

Divinity

Doctrine

Double spoon

Elaborate

Electric

Eschatology

Esoteric

Established religion

Eucharistic services

Evocative

Exciting

Excommunication

Extreme unction

Faith

Feretory

Follower

Font

Forty day's prayers for the dead

Fundamentalist religion

Funeral repast

God Almighty

Godparents

Gratitude

Gravestone

Grieve

Grotto

Halo

Hard-headed

Heathen

Heavenly

Heretic

Hermitage

High mass

Holy Communion

Impiety

In praise of god

Indifferent

Inexpiable sin

Infidel

Irreligion

Juxtaposition

lavra

Life-size

Litany

Liturgy

Lord ’s Prayer

Love token

Mattins

Memorial

Monastery

Monotheistic religion

Mortal sin

Mourning

Neophyte

Nonconformist

Nothing out of the ordinary

Nunnery

Occasional religious rite

Occult

Oecumenical council

Organized religion

Original sin

Ornate

Pagan

Paternoster

Penance

Pew

Piety

Pilgrimage

Plaque

Plaster

Pointless

Polytheistic religion

Prayer

Preternatural

Profanity

Proselyte

Pulpit

Religionism

Religious

Religiousness

Requiem mass

Rite

Robes

Roman-Catholic church

Romantic

Rosaries

Sacrilegious

Sacristy

Scaffold

Schismatic

Sectarian

Secular

Sensible

Sermon

Service for the dead

Services of the Word

Shrine

Sin

Solemn mass

Sorrow for sin

State religion

Superstitious

Supporter

Taking of monastic vows

Taking the veil

Temple

Temptation

Theological seminary

Thrilling

To abjure a religion

To attend mass

To baptise

To believe in

To besiege

To bless, praise, worship god

To carve

To chant, recite liturgy

To commit blasphemy

To curse

To depart to god

To disperse

To dissipate

To forgive smb.'s sin

To get smb. into hot water

To grant, pronounce absolution from

To impose penance on smb

To impregnate

To practice a religion

To pursue

To recant a sin

To reenact

To rope off

To sway to and fro

To take a narrow/parochial view of smth.

To throng

To tolerate all religions

To unchurch

To utter blasphemy against

Ubiquitous

Under the guise of religion

Unearthy

Unforgivable sin

Unpardonable sin

Veneration

Venial sin

Veritable

Vestry

Votive

Wedding chest

Weird

Worship service

Hinduism Brahma the Creator Brahmans Caste system Karma Reincarnation, Samsara Sanskrit language Siva (Shiva) the Destroyer Transmigration Veda Vishnu the Sustainer	Judaism Exodus Jehovah Kosher Messiah Pesach (Passover) Rabbi Sabbath Synagogue Talmud Ten Commandments the Old Testament Torah Yom Kippur
Islam Allah Imam Jihad Kaaba Mecca Mosque Muezzin Muhammad Muslim Qur'an (Koran) Ramadan Sharia Shiah, Shiite Sunnis	Other religions, cults and sects Animism Atheism Aum Shinrikyo Confucians Jainism Paganism Rastafarianism Scientology Shintoism Sikhism
Christianity Absolution Catholicism Deliverer Determination to atone God the Father God the Son Jesus Christ Orthodoxy Patron saint Penance Protestantism Saintdom Saintless Saintlike	Second Coming Sorrow for sin Temptation Ten Commandments The Bible the Great Schism (1054) The Holy Spirit The Lord's Prayer The Saints The Sermon on the Mount To consecrate, dedicate a church To grant, pronounce absolution from church Trinity

Holidays