A Funny Christmas Tradition (Topic: Christmas)

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Every year in December, something strange happens. People meet to celebrate the festive season dressed in ugly Christmas sweaters. Christmas sweaters are usually red or green and have large Christmas images on them. For example, a giant elf or snowman, tinsel, Christmas presents with big bows, reindeer with big bright red noses or gingerbread men. They have one thing in common - they are always ugly. Where did this tradition come from?

The answer is the 80s television! Comedy shows helped make ugly Christmas sweaters popular. A few shows had an uncool dad character who made bad jokes, wore ugly sweaters and always tried to get the family into the Christmas spirit. Before long, everyone was wearing Christmas sweaters - from primary school teachers to pop stars and your favourite aunty. In the 1980s, Christmas sweaters were not ugly, they were cool! But by the 1990s, fashion had changed and people stopped dressing in ugly homemade sweaters.

These days, people think fashion from the 1980s is funny. They wear Christmas sweaters as a joke, not because they want to be fashionable. It’s fun to meet up and laugh about who is wearing the ugliest sweater. People even host ugly Christmas sweater parties. The trend has spread around the world. Although, it is not as popular in the southern hemisphere. It’s too hot to wear a woollen sweater at Christmas time in places like South Africa or Australia.

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Reading Comprehension Questions A2

Read the text and answer the questions.

  1. People wear ugly sweaters in December.in the text: Every year in December, something strange happens. People meet to celebrate the festive season dressed in ugly Christmas sweaters.
  2. Uncool dads made Christmas sweaters fashionable.in the text: A few shows had an uncool dad character who made bad jokes, wore ugly sweaters and always tried get the family into the Christmas spirit
  3. People wear Christmas sweaters today because they want to be fashionable.in the text: These days people think fashion from the 1980s is funny. They wear Christmas sweaters as a joke, not because they want to be fashionable.
  4. Christmas sweaters are more popular in the northern hemisphere.in the text: Although, it is not that popular in the southern hemisphere. It’s too hot to wear a woollen sweater at Christmas time in places like South Africa or Australia.

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