General Listening Quiz

Christmas is a time when children hope to receive presents from their parents, other family, and friends. Imagine that you are one of the children in this conversation (a three-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl). What Christmas gifts would you like to receive?

1. 1. Children should always get gifts on Christmas.
   2. It’s better to give presents than to receive them.
   3. Santa Claus is an important part of Christmas for kids.
   4. Families should do the same Christmas traditions every year.
   5. Children should help choose or wrap gifts for others.
   6. Christmas is not fun without snow.
   7. Watching holiday movies is the best Christmas activity for kids.
   8. It’s okay to open presents before Christmas Day.
   9. Some children get too many gifts at Christmas.
   10. Christmas is more about being with family than getting things.

“nose around” = look for something private or hidden
“The kids sometimes nose around the house for Christmas gifts.”

“umpteen (also, umpteenth)” = a great number of
“I have umpteen presents to buy before Christmas Eve.“

Listen to the recording and answer the questions. (See transcript)

Here are some words that appear in the recording:

• walkie-talkies (noun): small portable radio receiver-transmitters used for communicating with others
  – We always take walkie-talkies when we go hiking in case of emergencies.
• Barbie (noun): a popular doll manufactured by Mattel
  – My daughter wants a Barbie doll house for Christmas.
• fragile (adjective): easily broken or damaged, delicate
  – Handle this vase with care. It’s very fragile.
• chimney (noun): the place in a house where smoke from a fire goes up and out of the roof
  – You should clean out the chimney before we use it this winter.
• Rudolph (pronoun): the name of Santa’s reindeer with the shiny red nose
  – According to the story, Santa needed Rudolph to guide his sleigh on one stormy, Christmas Eve.

Do the vocabulary activities using the words from the conversation for more practice:

• Mixed-Up Sentence
• Multiple-Choice Questions
• Sentence and Vocabulary Matching
• Gap-fill Exercise

Is Christmas celebrated in your country? If so, in what ways? What other religious and secular traditions and holidays are held during this same season? Interview other international students or friends and research how the year-end holidays are celebrated around the world, including popular gifts that people exchange at this time of year.

Use the internet and find at least two websites where they can find these gifts. Compare the prices of the same or similar item for each site. What are the shipping fees for sending the items to your location? What about the time for delivery?

• a silk necktie
• a popular board game
• a smartphone of our choosing
• a laptop computer
• some holiday flowers