2. Christmas in Britain

3. Christmas in Great Britain is celebrated on the 25 th of December. It is a religious holiday devoted to the birth of Jesus Christ.

4. On Sunday before Christmas many churches hold a carol service where special hymns (carols) are sung.

5. Most families decorate their houses with coloured paper or holly, and they usually have a Christmas tree in the front room. It is decorated with coloured lights and beautiful toys.

6. The Germans were the first to use the Christmas tree in their celebrations in the 16 th century and Martin Luther was the first to place a star on the top of the tree. This star represents the star appeared over the stable in which Christ was born.

7. On the eve of Christmas children hang their stockings, so that Santa Claus could put presents into them: oranges, sweets, nuts and if the child didn't behave properly Santa Claus can put there a piece of coal as punishment.

8. Santa Claus got his name from a man known as St. Nicolas, who lived in the 4 th century. He gave his wealth to the poor and often to children. After he died, the Dutch brought this legend to colonial America. Soon the Dutch name Sinter Klaus became Santa Claus.

9. In 1995, in Canada, Santa Claus was given his own postcode – HOHOHO.

10. Another Christmas tradition is performing comic sketches or pantos, short for pantomimes, known to everybody. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sulw4U8I-MU&feature=player_embedded#! The example of a panto:

11. On this day the whole family gather at a typical Christmas dinner which includes turkey with cranberry sauce, potatoes and pudding. Usually a coin or two are hidden inside the pudding and part of the fun is to see who finds it.

12. After the dinner they go to the sitting room to listen to the Christmas speech of the Queen, shown on TV. Then they can listen to Christmas songs or just talk to each other. One of the best selling Christmas songs is White Christmas by Bing Crosby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aShUFAG_WgM

13. So, Christmas is a merry family holiday for all the people of Great Britain.