Chrismas Cracker

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 1-6

Christmas Quiz

In many countries, people eat turkey on Christmas Day. Do you know where turkeys come from?

1. Turkey. The birds are named after the country.
2. Hungary. A famous chef started the fashion for eating turkeys at Christmas when he was feeling Hungary in 1764.
3. North America. Sailor William Strickland brought turkeys to Europe in the 16th century.

After finishing the turkey, the British eat a special pudding. The pudding, which was originally created by the Celts to honour the god Dagda, traditionally has a special ingredient. What is it?

1. Money! Yes, eating Christmas pudding is dangerous. You can break a tooth or swallow a pound coin.
2. A prediction! Yes, it’s true. On a piece of paper you can read what will happen to you in the next 365 days.
3. A crown! The person who finds the wise man’s crown in their portion of pudding will be lucky

A lot of people think that Christmas has become
too commercial and that the religious aspects
of Christmas have been forgotten. Why do we
celebrate December the 25th?

1. It’s the day on which Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
2. Pope Julius I decided it was a good day to celebrate Jesus’ birth – people already celebrated pagan festivals around this time.
3. The shops are closed and there’s usually a good film on TV

At Christmas, lots of men dress up in red outfits
and white beards and say, ‘Ho ho ho.’ Where did
Father Christmas (also known as Santa Claus)
originally come from?

1. The Vikings used to dress a man as ‘Winter’. They invited the bearded man into their homes and were nice to him in order to please the gods.
2. Father Christmas is based on Nicholas, a bishop who became very popular after his death. Children were told that if they left food for his horse on the anniversary of his death then Nicholas would leave them sweets.
3. The Santa Claus that we all know today was created by Coca-Cola in 1931 for the company’s winter advertising campaign. The artist, Haddon Sundblom, decided to make Santa’s clothes the same colour as the famous Coca-Cola red.

Why does Santa Claus always come down the
chimney instead of using the front door?

1. Santa is from Lapland. People in Lapland used to live in houses under the snow, where a hole in the roof was used both as a chimney and a front door.
2. Because doors and windows are locked at night to stop burglars entering. So the chimney is the only way for him to get into the house.
3. Because he travels through the air, and lands on the roof. The chimney is nearer than the front door.

The average person in Britain sends 50 Christmas
cards each year. Christmas cards were invented by
Sir Henry Cole in 1843. Why did he invent them?

1. Because he realised that people would pay for cards with pictures of snowmen on them, so he could make money from his idea.
2. Because he worked at the post office, and it was his job to make people buy more stamps.
3. Because he had lots of friends and couldn’t be bothered writing letters to all of them. He thought sending a card would be much quicker.

What is a Christmas cracker?

1. It’s a triangular object that people place under the Christmas tree. On Christmas Eve they crack it open and eat the sweets inside.
2. It’s a square box-like object with a figure inside. When you open the box, the figure jumps out. The figure is called Cracker Jack.
3. It’s a cylindrical object that two people pull. It breaks open and the person with the biggest portion wins a paper hat

What was special about Christmas in 1644
in England?

1. 5,000 people died in the Great Christmas Pudding Plague.
2. It was fashionable to be a vegetarian, so no one ate turkey for Christmas dinner.
3. An act of parliament abolished the celebration of Christmas and people had to go to work as usual.

Christmas Eve is the night before Christmas Day. Who said on Christmas Eve: ‘If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with “Merry Christmas” on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart’?

1. The King of England in last year’s royal message.
2. Scrooge in the novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
3. Sting in the pop song ‘Fight Christmas’.

The circus is very popular at Christmas, and the
circus ring is where the performance takes place.
Which of the following, built in 329 BC, is said to
have been the first circus?

1. Piccadilly Circus
2. Circus Maximus
3. Moscow State Circus

Robins are often the subject of pictures on Christmas cards. What is a robin?

1. A figure of a man made of snow
2. A person who takes money from the rich to give to the poor.
3. A little bird with a red breast.

New Year’s Eve is a time for celebration, especially
in Scotland. However, New Year’s Eve isn’t called
New Year’s Eve in Scotland. What is it called?

1. Old Night
2. Hogmanay
3. Saint Sylvester’s Eve

Carols are songs celebrating the birth of Jesus. In Bavaria in 1818, Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr, a priest, wrote one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time, which was first performed on a guitar. Which song?

1. ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas?’
2. ‘Silent Night’
3. ‘White Christmas’

Carols are songs celebrating the birth of Jesus. In Bavaria in 1818, Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr, a priest, wrote one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time, which was first performed on a guitar. Which song?

1. ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas?’
2. ‘Silent Night’
3. ‘White Christmas’