St. Patrick's Day

But the United States and Ireland are not the only places that ... this holiday.

Read and choose. They use food ... to turn the water green.

Watch the video, read the questions and choose the answers. 1) When is St. Patrick's Day? 2) What color do you wear on St. Patrick's Day? 3) What may anyone do if you don’t wear green? 4) What countries celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

Read and choose. This spread St. Patrick’s Day ... to many communities there.

Read and choose. Today, in the city of Dublin about one million people ... in St. Patrick’s festival.

Read and match. 1) missionary 2) pinch 3) unsuspecting 4)four-leaf clover 5) leprechaun 6) look for 7) pot of gold 8) anniversary 9) celebrate 10) celebration 11) historian 12) honoured 13) bring luck 14) threaten 15) shoemaker

Read the texts and match the titles to the descriptions. One title is extra. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! A. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Unfortunately it is Sunday, which means that you cannot pinch (ущипнуть) your school friends (not wearing green) and get away with it, but there are always unsuspecting family members and neighbours that you can have fun with. Also, be sure to go on an extensive search for those lucky four-leaf clovers and look for leprechauns (гномы) that will hopefully lead you to the pot of gold. But before you do all that, be sure to read about the man whose death anniversary we celebrate and how all these unusual customs began. B. Though this day accounts for some of Ireland’s biggest celebrations, St. Patrick was not Irish! Born somewhere along the west coast of Britain in 385 AD, he was kidnapped and sold to an Irish sheep farmer when he was 16 years old. He ran away at the age of 22 and returned to Britain, spending the next 12 years in a monastery. In his early 30’s he went back to Ireland, this time as a missionary to turn the pagan Irish people to Christianity and remained there, until his death on March 17th, 461 AD. According to historians, he was forgotten for hundreds of years and it was not until the 7th century that he was honoured as a Revered Patron Saint of Ireland. C. While St. Patrick’s Day is now a national holiday in Ireland with the festivities lasting for four days, the first celebration was not held there, but in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1732 to help Irish soldiers serving in American colonies reconnect with their country. Over the years, the holiday has become popular with people even if they are not of Irish descent. The biggest parade outside Dublin, takes place in New York City. D. Oddly enough, green was not the original colour associated with St. Patrick – it was blue! Green was adopted in the 19th century because it represents spring, life and most importantly, the shamrock. As for the “pinching” tradition, nobody really knows how it began. Some believe it was started because pinching gives a green bruise, while others think that wearing green made one invisible to leprechauns. The Irish also think that finding a four-leaf clover brings luck. The Irish believe that each leaf means something. The first represents hope, the second faith, the third love and the fourth, happiness. E. According to Irish mythology, the leprechaun (whose name comes from the mixture of “small person” and “one shoemaker”) is a small fairy that knows the location of a pot of gold. But to get to that, you not only have to find and catch him, but also, threaten him. Apparently, the best way to find this stealthy little guy is to catch him while he is repairing shoes. But even after that be careful, for he is clever enough to escape!

Read the text again and mark the statements True (T), False (F), Not Stated (NS). Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Unfortunately it is Sunday, which means that you cannot pinch (ущипнуть) your school friends (not wearing green) and get away with it, but there are always unsuspecting family members and neighbours that you can have fun with. Also, be sure to go on an extensive search for those lucky four-leaf clovers and look for leprechauns (гномы) that will hopefully lead you to the pot of gold. But before you do all that, be sure to read about the man whose death anniversary we celebrate and how all these unusual customs began. Though this day accounts for some of Ireland’s biggest celebrations, St. Patrick was not Irish! Born somewhere along the west coast of Britain in 385 AD, he was kidnapped and sold to an Irish sheep farmer when he was16 years old. He ran away at the age of 22 and returned to Britain, spending the next 12 years in a monastery. In his early 30’s he went back to Ireland, this time as a missionary to turn the pagan Irish people to Christianity and remained there, until his death on March 17th, 461 AD. According to historians, he was forgotten for hundreds of years and it was not until the 7th century that he was honoured as a Revered Patron Saint of Ireland. While St. Patrick’s Day is now a national holiday in Ireland with the festivities lasting for four days, the first celebration was not held there, but in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1732 to help Irish soldiers serving in American colonies reconnect with their country. Over the years, the holiday has become popular with people even if they are not of Irish descent. The biggest parade outside Dublin, takes place in New York City. Oddly enough, green was not the original colour associated with St. Patrick – it was blue! Green was adopted in the 19th century because it represents spring, life and most importantly, the shamrock. As for the “pinching” tradition, nobody really knows how it began. Some believe it was started because pinching gives a green bruise, while others think that wearing green made one invisible to leprechauns. The Irish also think that finding a four-leaf clover brings luck. The Irish believe that each leaf means something. The first represents hope, the second faith, the third love and the fourth, happiness. According to Irish mythology, the leprechaun (whose name comes from the mixture of “small person” and “one shoemaker”) is a small fairy that knows the location of a pot of gold. But to get to that, you not only have to find and catch him, but also, threaten him. Apparently, the best way to find this stealthy little guy is to catch him while he is repairing shoes. But even after that be careful, for he is clever enough to escape! 1. Some traditions connected with St. Patrick’s Day are not pleasant. 2. If you find a leprechaun on St. Patrick’s Day you’ll be lucky all your life. 3. St. Patrick was born in Ireland but spent his life in England. 4. St. Patrick became the saint of Ireland much later after his death. 5. St. Patrick was a Christian monk. 6. The holiday started in America because there lived very many Irish people. 7. All the traditions connected with this holiday were born in America in the 20th century. 8. On St. Patrick’s Day crowds of people hunt for the leprechaun to find gold.

Read four texts. Your classmates have argued in the lesson about what kind of texts they are. Choose who is right. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Unfortunately it is Sunday, which means that you cannot pinch (ущипнуть) your school friends (not wearing green) and get away with it, but there are always unsuspecting family members and neighbours that you can have fun with. Also, be sure to go on an extensive search for those lucky four-leaf clovers and look for leprechauns (гномы) that will hopefully lead you to the pot of gold. But before you do all that, be sure to read about the man whose death anniversary we celebrate and how all these unusual customs began. Though this day accounts for some of Ireland’s biggest celebrations, St. Patrick was not Irish! Born somewhere along the west coast of Britain in 385 AD, he was kidnapped and sold to an Irish sheep farmer when he was16 years old. He ran away at the age of 22 and returned to Britain, spending the next 12 years in a monastery. In his early 30’s he went back to Ireland, this time as a missionary to turn the pagan Irish people to Christianity and remained there, until his death on March 17th, 461 AD. According to historians, he was forgotten for hundreds of years and it was not until the 7th century that he was honoured as a Revered Patron Saint of Ireland. While St. Patrick’s Day is now a national holiday in Ireland with the festivities lasting for four days, the first celebration was not held there, but in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1732 to help Irish soldiers serving in American colonies reconnect with their country. Over the years, the holiday has become popular with people even if they are not of Irish descent. The biggest parade outside Dublin, takes place in New York City. Oddly enough, green was not the original colour associated with St. Patrick – it was blue! Green was adopted in the 19th century because it represents spring, life and most importantly, the shamrock. As for the “pinching” tradition, nobody really knows how it began. Some believe it was started because pinching gives a green bruise, while others think that wearing green made one invisible to leprechauns. The Irish also think that finding a four-leaf clover brings luck. The Irish believe that each leaf means something. The first represents hope, the second faith, the third love and the fourth, happiness. According to Irish mythology, the leprechaun (whose name comes from the mixture of “small person” and “one shoemaker”) is a small fairy that knows the location of a pot of gold. But to get to that, you not only have to find and catch him, but also, threaten him. Apparently, the best way to find this stealthy little guy is to catch him while he is repairing shoes. But even after that be careful, for he is clever enough to escape!

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. You want to buy a present for your mother. You like all the presents in the picture, but you have only 25 pounds. Look, calculate and choose the present. What present will you buy?