8/14/2019 Modern Easter in the UK

1/1

Modern Easter in the UKAs soon as 2 January arrives, shops remove the Christmas product lines from their shelvesand the Christmas [1] _ _ c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ from their windows. What fills the empty spaces?

Chocolate Easter [2] _ g _ _, Easter [3] _ _ _ _ i _ _ and Easter [4] c_ _ _ _ _, despite the factthat Easter itself doesnt come along until a few months later.

This year Easter Day is on Sunday 27 March. Easter also means we have public holidays,[5] _ _ _ d Friday and Easter Monday, its the longest public holiday after Christmas and people sometimes take the opportunity to take a short break away from work by extendingtheir leave. Cheryl from Liverpool said, I use the Easter break to visit relatives and socialisewith friends, the chocolate giving and receiving is a good bonus!

What it meansEaster is a spring festival. In the [6] _ _ r _ _ _ _ _ _ festival, it celebrates the [7] _ _ r _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ of Christ. In the European pre-Christian tradition, it celebrates the return of nature and greenery after the cold, snowy winter. Both the Christian and [8] p_ _ _ _ versions

of Easter celebrate life and rebirth. The Easter chick symbolises new life,the [9] _ _ b _ _ _ represents fertility and the egg symbolises both. That is why painted eggsor chocolate eggs are given as gifts at Easter.

Chocolate eggsChocolate Easter eggs are sold in larger numbers every year in the UK.[10] _ _ _ f _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ companies make chocolate eggs for every type of chocolate bar available throughout the rest of the year. The British people consume more confection thanany other country in the world! That's not even per head; that's per country! Of course, itdepends on the amount of [11] _ _ _ _ _ s, but the average child in the UK receives 6 10large chocolate eggs and thats not including the small ones.

A matter of taste? Not only are the British eating more and more chocolate, but they are also demandingchocolate of better quality. European Union law means that British chocolate-makingcompanies have to put more [12] _ _ c _ _ solids in their 'chocolate' than they used to. Britishcompanies that fail to do so are not allowed to say they make 'real' chocolate! New chocolatehas come onto the market that is slowly educating the British pallet and changing consumer [13] _ _ _ _ _ _ n _.

Marie

March 2005The original text reproduced by the kind permission of Trend UK

TASK 2

1. decorations 2. eggs 3. bunnies 4. chicks 5. Good 6. Christian 7. resurrection 8. pagan 9.rabbit 10. Confectionery 11. givers 12. cocoa 13 . patterns