Practice English Listening B1 Exercises – Topic: Customs and Traditions

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1   People get together with family and friends to watch the moon, admire the lights and eat the traditional sweet of this festival.

2   Moon cakes. They are so named because the festival takes place during the full moon.

3   No, the recipe is quite complicated.

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2 a   3 g   4 c   5 f   6 h   7 d   8 b

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1   The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated by Chinese people across the world.

2   Chinese people don’t make moon cakes at home – the recipe is too complicated.

3   Moon cakes have sweet or savoury fillings.

4   The decorations on top of moon cakes can be Chinese letters or patterns, like flowers.

5   After the moon cakes are made, they are left for the pastry to soften.

Chinese moon cakes

Narrator:   The Mid-Autumn festival is celebrated by Chinese people across the world. It is traditionally a harvest festival, to celebrate the rice and wheat that has been grown that year, and it takes place on the full moon. People get together with family and friends to watch the moon, admire the lights and eat the traditional sweet of this festival – moon cakes. Moon cakes are rarely made at home because the recipe is quite complicated. Most people prefer to buy their moon cakes from a shop or a hotel.

Here at the famous Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, chef Yip Wing Wah shows how the cakes are made.

First, he makes the filling for the moon cakes.

Here he is mixing butter with sugar. To that he will add other ingredients to make a thick, sweet paste.

Now the chef is taking a yellow ball of filling and wrapping it in a thin layer of pastry. Moon cakes can have a number of different fillings. For example, in more traditional recipes, the filling is made from sweet red beans, and you will find half of a salty duck egg inside that.

Next, the chef takes a special wooden mould and shapes each moon cake, one at a time. Each moon cake has a decoration on top of it. Many different patterns are used on moon cakes, including flower patterns or Chinese letters. The decoration on top is brushed with egg yolk. When baked in the oven this will turn a lovely golden brown.

Then, the moon cakes must be left for a day or two. The butter from the filling will go into the pastry layer and make it soft and delicious.

And here we have it, a sweet treat perfect with a cup of refreshing tea, on the night of the full moon.

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1 an anthropologist and author

2 whether traditions are adapting to the modern world or dying out

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a (shaking hands)

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Effects of modern technology on traditions

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This Sunday on Book of the Week, we interview Dr Kevin Lee, the well-known anthropologist and author. In this podcast, he will tell us of his love for Cultural anthropology and we’ll discuss whether traditions are adapting to the modern world or dying out.

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Host:   Welcome to this week’s book review. In the studio with me is Dr Kevin Lee, professor of Anthropology and author of the best-selling book Changing Traditions in the Modern World. First of all, could you tell us what anthropologists study and what your own area of interest is?

Dr Lee:   That’s a good question! Anthropology, in a general sense, is the study of humanity. I know that’s not very exact. That’s why we have many types of Anthropology, like linguistic anthropology and Social anthropology. My speciality is Cultural anthropology. I study different cultures around the world and how social and political changes affect these cultures.

Host:   And when did you first become interested in Anthropology?

Dr Lee:   I grew up in a multicultural home. My mother is American and my father is Korean. They were both English teachers, so we travelled a lot. As a child, I lived in Japan, Thailand and Egypt. That’s why I decided to study Anthropology. Growing up in different cultures helps you realize that customs and traditions are often local. Things that are acceptable in one culture can be completely unacceptable in another. However, despite some differences between cultures, I have noticed that there are often more similarities than differences between people.

Host:   And do traditions change?

Dr Lee:   Absolutely! Customs and traditions change all the time. Some traditions die out because our way of life changes, but most tradition adapt.

Host:   As I understand it, that’s one of the main points of your latest book.

Dr Lee:   Yes. My book is about the effect of modern technology on traditions around the world. It’s well known that things such as electricity, the telephone and television have changed our lives significantly. The introduction of these inventions into our lives has changed many of our customs. For example, in the past, families spent time playing board games or listening to the radio in the evening. These activities would deepen family relationships. Now, due to developments in technology, people spend more time interacting with other people over the internet.

Host:   Is that a bad thing?

Dr Lee:   I don’t think so. There are people who complain about the changes that technology has brought to our lives. Personally, I think these changes are fine. We still spend time interacting with other people, but it’s not always face-to-face.

Host:   In your book you discuss how technology has changed the way we celebrate important holidays.

Dr Lee:   That’s right. A simple example is sending cards or messages. In the past, people sent each other cards to celebrate important events, like an anniversary or a new baby. But now, more people send messages through social networking sites or by text or email. Another example of changing customs is holiday food. A few generations ago, people spent a lot of time and effort preparing special meals for celebrations. It was usually the women who did this.

Some dishes could take up to a week to prepare. But now we don’t have to work so hard. This is because we have modern kitchens and supermarket food. We don’t have to spend endless hours making our own butter or bread any more. Everything is quicker and easier now.

Host:   Hmm … I remember my grandmother working for days to make food. She had a huge cookery book which she got from her grandmother. Everything had to be exactly as it was when she was a little girl.

Dr Lee:   That’s a good example of a tradition which has been replaced by technology. You can find any recipe you want to the internet. This means that many people don’t need cookery books any more. Another thing is that many families now go out instead of cooking at home. In India, for example, families hire catering companies to provide food for weddings or special occasions. In the United States, at Thanksgiving, which is one of the biggest celebrations, many families go to restaurants because they don’t want to spend their holiday working in the kitchen.

Host:   So people do continue their tradition of eating a special meal – they just do it in a different way.

Dr Lee:   Yes. Traditions don’t always die out – but customs and traditions do change and adapt to the modern world.

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Gabriela:   So, our assignment is to discuss customs which have been changing recently – you know, how modern lifestyles have changed people’s behaviour. Any ideas?

Yildiz:   Hmm … Let me think. Well, holidays are one kind of custom. Can you think of any holidays which have changed?

David:   Oh, don’t talk about holidays! It reminds me that Mother’s Day is in two days and I haven’t bought a gift for my mum yet.

Gabriela:   Yeah, I haven’t either. Who has time for shopping when we have so much work to do?

David:   I agree. I get tired of shopping for gifts. I actually don’t know why we have to get gifts for every little holiday. Wouldn’t our mothers be just as happy if we just spent time with them – you know, made it a special event, like taking them out to lunch at a nice restaurant? How did this whole gift giving for every holiday tradition get started, anyway? It seems silly to me.

Gabriela:   That’s it! There’s our topic! How holidays have become too commercial.

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Gabriela:   So, our assignment is to discuss customs which have been changing recently – you know, how modern lifestyles have changed people’s behaviour. Any ideas?

Yildiz:   Hmm … Let me think. Well, holidays are one kind of custom. Can you think of any holidays which have changed?

David:   Oh, don’t talk about holidays! It reminds me that Mother’s Day is in two days and I haven’t bought a gift for my mum yet.

Gabriela:   Yeah, I haven’t either. Who has time for shopping when we have so much work to do?

David:   I agree. I get tired of shopping for gifts. I actually don’t know why we have to get gifts for every little holiday. Wouldn’t our mothers be just as happy if we just spent time with them – you know, made it a special event, like taking them out to lunch at a nice restaurant? How did this whole gift giving for every holiday tradition get started, anyway? It seems silly to me.

Gabriela:   That’s it! There’s our topic! How holidays have become too commercial.

Yildiz:   Hold on, too commercial? I disagree. I like giving gifts. I think that it shows that you were thinking of someone.

David:   Because you went out and got someone some chocolate or jewellery or a scarf or something at the last minute? Everyone knows that people usually buy gifts because it’s an obligation, not because they really want to.

Yildiz:   Well, you have to spend time thinking about the gift and get something thoughtful, you know, personal. Like maybe the new book by their favourite author.

Gabriela:   I see you point. But I’m not convinced because then you have to spend money … money which could be spent on more important things. Also, all that time you spent shopping you could have instead spent with the person you’re shopping for.

David:   I couldn’t agree more. And it’s not just holidays which are a problem – personally, I think we give too many gifts for other special occasions, too. Like when my sister graduated from university last year, she got lots of gifts. And money, too. The focus was all on opening gifts. I’ve heard that when people receive more than a few gifts, they usually can’t even remember who gave them which gift. Instead, why not write letters of advice for the future? That would be more special.

Gabriela:   That’s a great idea!

Yildiz:   Sorry, I don’t agree. I doubt that graduates would be happy if we changed that custom! I think that graduation gifts are practical. Don’t young people need some gifts and money for starting their new life? And they can always look at the gift and think of the person who gave it to them. I think it’s a nice custom.

Gabriela:   I’m still really not convinced. I mean …