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Christmas
简体
Christmas
圣诞节

How to Use the Present Perfect Tense

Date: Dec 23 2011

Themes: Holidays

Grammar: Present Perfect Tense

Intro

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There are a lot of reasons to love Christmas. The beautiful lights, the happy children, the caroling and the presents are just a few. Many people look forward to Christmas and love to get in the Christmas spirit. But not everybody is filled with holiday cheer at this time of year. Some people even hate Christmas and would rather skip all the festivities if they could. Find out why Jeff is one of those people.

喜爱圣诞节有很多理由。漂亮的彩灯、兴高采烈的孩子、圣诞颂歌和礼物,这些只是其中的一小部分。很多人都期盼圣诞节并喜欢感受圣诞节的气氛。但不是每个人都在每年的这个时候充满节日的兴奋。有些人甚至讨厌圣诞节,如果可能,他们想逃离所有节日。找出为什么杰夫就是其中一员。

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Devan

Devan

Jeff

Jeff

Devan:  I’m so excited that Christmas is coming up. It’s my favorite holiday. I love everything about it. I love caroling, I love the lights, I love all the cheer, and…

Jeff:  Yeah, you sound pretty festive alright.

Devan:  Yeah, I couldn’t be more excited. What about you?

Jeff:  I couldn’t feel any more opposite. I can’t stand it. Every job I’ve had for the last seven years has revolved around the busy Christmas season, or as people like to say hundreds and hundreds of times over the months surrounding Christmas, “the holidays.” The holidays, the holidays.

Devan:  And that’s not fun? Isn’t there a lot more hustle and bustle at work, and Christmas cheer, and everybody’s laughing and happy?

Jeff:  No. Just a lot of stressed out, impatient people for three months.

Devan:  Huh. I’ve never thought about it that way. I guess I’ve never worked in retail. I’ve always been the person probably bothering people like you.

Jeff:  Well, I don’t work in retail right now, but I did, and that was pretty bad.

Devan:  Thanks, Jeff. That was really depressing. You kind of ruined my Christmas spirit.

Jeff:  Yeah, no problem, Devan.

 

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Devan loves Christmas and gets very excited about it each year. She especially loves the cheerful, festive feeling of the holiday. She loves to get in the Christmas spirit.

Jeff couldn’t disagree more. For him, the holidays are all about stress. He worked in retail for many years, and Christmastime was always very busy because of all the extra shoppers. Jeff says that people are often hurried and impatient during the holidays, making it an even more stressful time.

Do you love the holidays, or do you think it is a stressful time of year?

 

Comments

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broandon

China

merry christmas


 

12:36 PM Dec 24 2011 |

1 person likes this

elahe493

Iraq

Hey world … merry christmass ..

11:54 AM Dec 24 2011 |

peaktoptip

peaktoptip

Iraq

It’s Christmas time, come back home and spend sometime with your folks.

11:03 AM Dec 24 2011 |

TachiToan

TachiToan

United States

Xmas times is a long holiday that people, especially people who are living in the U.S, should have in order to celebrate and cheer for the long year of work. So, let enjoy the holiday season everybody. Merry Christmas and Happy new year. 

09:38 AM Dec 24 2011 |

shinebayar

Mongolia

hi everybody


09:28 AM Dec 24 2011 |

kikimasho

kikimasho

China

i am trying to find fun on line as i am alone at home and so bored. i love holidays like X’mas, people can go partys in big city, but in our little towm, it is not so popular and few people will do have the X’mas spirit~~

08:21 AM Dec 24 2011 |

Angelia Liu

China

Now Christmas seems a global festival.wow ,happy to U all!

07:24 AM Dec 24 2011 |

razzaghi

razzaghi

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

From Iran to the world; Happy chistmas!


with Best wishes!!!

05:38 AM Dec 24 2011 |

1 person likes this

david yun

South Korea

There are some big holidays a year in my country, and I like most of the hoildays. Since I like feeling something cheer and festive, I like them. Even if I have to work out for the day a lot such as making some special food and cleaning my house for visiting people, I like doing them even. I have never felt that these works bother me ever. I just enjoy it.  

01:15 AM Dec 24 2011 |

Chris08

Chris08

Poland

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

08:16 PM Dec 23 2011 |

saowaros

saowaros

Thailand

Christmas spirit!!!!! Smile

06:29 PM Dec 23 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

when do they lose the second one?, hehehe!! (joking)

05:58 PM Dec 23 2011 |

MARCIA LEITE

Brazil

I like very much the spirit of Christmas.  I only regret that spirit don’t remain all the year.


I love decoration, the lights, the food and parties, but I knew  some persons hate this date because the stores are full, busy with your jobs  or aren’t religious.

03:37 PM Dec 23 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

I’m too young alright, but I would think you are old enough to know not play with fire (just joking). I hope it’s not too bad and that you recover completely from it. Be grateful that there’s hope for your leg to heal up. Also, I hope that more people will sit around the Christmas table.  Yeah, I’ll play Matrix with my fellow penguins… ( Too much coffee for me, I’m proof reading my comment and it’s half-crazy, but I’m too lazy to press and hold the “backspace “button for so long) hehehe! (:

03:15 PM Dec 23 2011 |

1 person likes this

vishtasp

vishtasp

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Hello to you people ;) How is life treating you these days? I just wanted to tell you something about the Christmass But I gotta be a little bit abrupt 4 saying it,The thing is, In my humble opinion ;) Christmass and the other occasions which r related to these kinds of stuffs actually are getting monotonous , We Persians use an Idiom which says ( Everything is losing its color) . In spite of the fact that these stuffs help people to keep going in their lives but I beilieve nothing can help the people of the 21st century for getting along with their lives better than having fun without waiting for any other occasions or events like that, U can cherish ur day without having an excuse , There shouldn`t be any obligation for celebrating ur life day by day without any reason but having fun ;)

03:05 PM Dec 23 2011 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

Snoopyboy , I stand corrected, you are too young !!!  MY plan for Christmas  is  attending a family reunion. Glad that you are going to play limbo with penguins  and relish the ice. hehe. You are too far away  ,otherwise would be my pleasure to come by,  I have had  an accident with fire  and   burnt my leg, so unfortunate….. I am recovering now ,but it takes  time to heal up, must take it easy  for a while.    

03:01 PM Dec 23 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Grown up? I’m only 24…I’m still wet behind the ears. (:


in all seriousness I like your take on the whole idea. you make a lot of sense, I do too…sometimes (: .But anywho…let’s ditch the sob story for a minute.Let me ask you this though what’s your plans for christmas day? I’ll be playing limbo with penguins, care to join? ehehehe!


 

02:43 PM Dec 23 2011 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

Snoopyboy,  We are now grown up people  and we know for sure that  happiness and sorrow are  our companions  in our life ,like it or not. This is not a perfect world but we, with our love, not only  to our family  and also  reaching out to those less fortunate we can make  a difference  that will not only  be rewarding to us  but others as well.  

02:30 PM Dec 23 2011 |

1 person likes this

Sedat Efe

Sedat Efe

Turkey

Christmas is just a vision and Santa Claus and his deers are a big lie.

02:12 PM Dec 23 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

O! It’s the most wonderful time of the year; Santa is coming to town, walking in a winter wonderland. Finally it’s time to erect our Christmas trees, deck them with the most glittering ornaments. There, around the fireplace families are huddled cherishing the moment. Beneath the trees gifts are galore screaming to be unwrapped. It’s time for mothers and grandmothers to prepare the best meals, and fathers ,uncles and grandfathers better check their Christmas list twice to make sure everything is accounted for. Indeed, Christmas time is coming it’s a feast, a joyful celebration.


Then suddenly it’s all over, you are done stuffing your face with all the food your belly can handle. The gift that your uncle gave to you is way more expensive than what your dad offered, but you pretended you liked it anyways. The scarf your grandmother knitted is only going to be worn tonight. The Christmas tree, what once was the center of all attention, is now wrapped with a dusty cardboard; or maybe in the center of a dumpster by now. All good things indeed always must come to an end. But wait! Good things? Must be the Christmas festivities, the gifts, the family gatherings, the laughter shared, etc..


Well, for many people, more than you can imagine to them there weren’t any of these good things. To them the bad things never ended. Many had spent the holidays alone, no families, and no gifts. Homeless who were left shivering on the cold pavement of what we dub “winter wonderland”. The innocent folks in jail whose only wishes were to one day, maybe the next Christmas day, be set free. I can come up with a thousand of analogies. I don’t want to sound like a grumpy grouch; I just want you guys to take the time to think about the less fortunate of us. Share your joy, not just with family members and friends and all; share it with anyone you meet.  Christmas can indeed be the most wonderful time of the year, only if you reflect it to people around you.


I love the holidays, but above all… I love you all! May all your wishes come true. I hope I didn’t offend anybody with my witty comments here, and I apologize to anyone I offended in the chat rooms. Tongue out

02:04 PM Dec 23 2011 |

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