TEXT 3 1º BACH A AUTUMN TERM 2009

 

TEXT 3 FOR 1º BACH A

 Please, give this text to your teacher on 9 November 2009.

 

 

KWANZAA AND HANUKKAH

 

 

Kwanzaa is a spiritual celebration of the oneness and goodness of life. On 26 December 1966, Dr Maulana Ron Karenga formulated and developed Kwanzaa. African Americans weren’t used to celebrating their past. He believed that the only way to achieve a revolutionary change for Black Americans was to promote awareness of African American heritage. Dr Karenga wished to go back to the “way of life” that the ancestors of Black Americans used to have. This “way of life” allowed them to endure slavery, racism and oppression after their arrival in Amaerica. Dr Karenga’s goal was to develop self-awareness and facilitate self-esteem among Black Americans by exposing them to Kwanzaa, a set of principles based on a common heritage.

 

Kwanzaa begins on 26 December and lasts until 1 January. A great feast called the Kamaru is held on the night of 31 December and houses are decorated in the traditional colours of black unity: red, black and green. The food includes the fruit and vegetables of the year’s harvest, like corn, and the gifts given are often home-made. Today, millions of people celebrate Kwanzaa throughout the world. Many people mistake it for an African American form of Christmas because it occurs the day after Christmas, but actually it has no ties with any region.

 

 

If Kwanzaa is a struggle for self-awareness, the story of Hanukkah is the struggle for religious freedom. More than a thousand years ago, the foreign rulers of the Israelites forced the Jews to forget Judaism and to bow to the image of their leader. But the Jews refused; in fact, Jewish law prohibited them from bowing to statues or idols. A small group of Jews – called the Maccabees – risked their lives to live freely. They won, but the Temple of Jerusalem had been destroyed. They cleaned and repaired the Temple, and when they finished they re-lit the menorah, a symbol of the eternal agreement (covenant) between God and the Jewish people. Although there was only enough oil to light the menorah for one night, the oil burned for eight days and nights until they were able to make more oil.

 

Today, the commemoration of those nights is called Hannukah. It begins on the 25^th day of Kislev (normally December, in the Gregorian calendar) and lasts for eight days. Relatives gather together, give gifts to children and, most important, light a candle of the nenorah each day. Hannukah is not a major Jewish celebration but, because of its proximity to Christmas, it is very important in countries such as the United States, where Christmas has a great deal of commercial and cultural importance.

 

1) Find the opposites of these words in the text.

 

a- death (paragraph 1)                      c- allowed (paragraph 3)

b- freedom (paragraph 1)                  d- a little bit of (paragraph 4)

 

2) Match the words from the text with their definitions,according to their meanings in the text.

 

1- to achieve (paragraph 1)                                             

2- awareness (paragraph 1)                                             

3- heritage (paragraph 1)                                                

4- to endure (paragraph 1)                                              

5- harvest (paragraph 2)                                                

6- tie (paragraph 2)                                                        

7- struggle (paragraph 3)                                                  

8- to bow (paragraph 3)                                                    

9- to risk ( paragraph 3)                                                   

10- to gather (together) (paragraph 4)                                 

                                                                                            

 a- to collect, assemble a group together

 b- consciousness

 c- to get, obtain

 d – to lower one’s head as a sign of respect

 e- to survive a difficult situation

 f- traditions, languages or buildings that belong to the culture of a

     particular culture

 g- link

 h- fight, great effort

 i- the time of year when crops are cut and collected from the fields

 j- to put something in a dangerous situation where you might lose it

3) Are these sentences True or False? Quote the text.

a- Dr Karenga wanted to recover African and African-American ways of life.

b- A lot of people celebrate Kwanzaa.

c- The Maccabees had enough oil to make the menorah burn for several days.

d- During Hannukah, people light only one candle.

 

4) Answer the following questions.

 a- When did Kwanzaa start?

b- Why do many people mistake Kwanzaa for an African American form of Christmas?

c- What do Jewish people do on each day during Hannukah?

d- Why did the Jews refuse to bow to statues or idols?

e- How long does Hannukah last?

 

5) Write a description of your favourite celebration in Galicia. (about 100 words)

You can use paragraph 4 of this text as a model.