Direction: Read the text below and answer questions 01 to 12 according to it.

TEXT I

How climate change has altered Christmas

By Isabelle Gerretsen, 2021

While Hollywood's representation of a white Christmas

might be the northern hemisphere ideal, for many around the

world the holiday is celebrated in very different weather. But,

climate change is threatening both winter wonderlands and

5 warmer Christmas traditions.

In the Netherlands, where I grew up, a popular tradition

around Christmas is to put on your skates and take to the

frozen rivers. Young and old head onto the ice.

Active skaters used to enter the Elfstedentocht, an

10 iconic ice-skating race covering 200km that passes through

11 cities in the northern province Friesland. It's been 24

years since the last race happened. Climate change is

endangering this beloved winter tradition.

And it is not just cold-weather holiday traditions that are

15 slowly disappearing. Around the world extreme weather

caused by climate change and rising temperatures are

altering beloved Christmas traditions. BBC Future speaks to

three young people who share their Christmas stories.

Mitzi Jonelle Tan, 22, the Philippines

20 The Philippines has the earliest and longest Christmas

season in the world. "We celebrate from 1 September until 6

January," says the 22-year-old climate activist from Manila,

the capital of the Philippines. It is a colourful and creative

time. People make their own Christmas decorations,

25 including a star-shaped lantern, called a parol that they hang

in windows and streets for the entire festive season.

"On Christmas morning we always take photos in front

of churches near where my mum grew up," she says. "My

mum and grandpa also used to take pictures there." But in

30 50 years' time, this special place for the Jonelle Tan family

could no longer exist due to rising sea levels.

The Philippines is the world's most vulnerable country

to disasters caused by climate change. It is hit on average by

more than 20 typhoons each year, which cause severe

35 flooding and large-scale destruction. Flooding already

means that families can't put up their Christmas lights.

In November last year, super typhoon Goni, the year's

most powerful storm, hit the Philippines at 225km/h. "A few

days before Christmas, we were still helping clean up the

40 mud that had flooded the houses”, says Tan. People brought

food and gifts to the evacuation centres. "Christmas is a

celebration of what we've suffered that year, together as a

community".

Salvador Gómez-Colón, 19, Puerto Rico

45 Puerto Ricans love Christmas, says 19-year-old

Salvador Gómez-Colón. “It is a spectacle. It's the biggest

holiday in Puerto Rico”. During the festive period, families

head into the mountains around the capital San Juan to

gather at food trucks, called chinchorros. There they eat

50 suckling pig and cod fritters. "It's very communal, you meet

your neighbours and talk to strangers", Gómez-Colón says.

One of his favourite Christmas traditions is the

parranda: carolling in the streets and outside people's

houses. "We sing folklore songs with cymbals and drums".

55 This tradition continued even during Puerto Rico's darkest

days, after the country was hit by category 5 Hurricane Maria

in 2017. It dropped more rain on Puerto Rico than any storm

to hit the country since 1956. A storm of such power is five

times more probable to hit now than in the 1950s due to

60 climate change, a 2019 study found.

"I've never felt as vulnerable in my entire life. I was

[protecting myself] in a basement room with 10 others and

lost communication with my dad and friends," he says.

During the Christmas period, much of Puerto Rico was still in

65 complete darkness. Despite the terrible situation, Puerto

Ricans managed to celebrate Christmas that year.

Daniel Holanda, 19, Brazil

Christmas starts on 24 November when Brazilians

decorate the tree. Several years ago, Holanda’s family

70 house flooded while they were celebrating this tradition.

He celebrates Christmas in the city of Anápolis in

Brazil's central state, Goiás. "Every year we get together

on 24 December at my grandma's house. I have seven

uncles and they each bring a dish for dinner," he says.

75 “Christmas dinner is often candlelit as the flooding

causes frequent power cuts at this time of year. We used

to decorate the house with lights and play a lot of different

games outside. Now we can't do it anymore”, he says.

Goiás is home to the Cerrado, a vast wooded

80 avannah that contains thousands of rare species.

Scientists have warned that this biodiversity place may

collapse in less than 30 years if temperatures continue to

rise and large agricultural businesses rapidly change

forests into soy plantations. Besides flooding, the region

85 has suffered from extreme drought in recent years.

Wildfires are also a major problem there.

Despite the challenges, people find a way to gather

and return at Christmas time, he says. "On Christmas Eve,

we give food to people in need, especially old people."

Adapted from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211206-howclimate-change-has-altered-christmas. Accessed on March 05th, 2022

Glossary:

1. To threaten: to announce or warn of something bad, disastrous or dangerous

2. To rise: to move upwards, to increase

3. To flood: to become covered with water

4. To gather: to come together in a group

5. Mud: wet earth that is soft and sticky

6. Basement: a room in a house below the level of the ground

7. Despite: not prevented/influenced by; although

8. Drought: a long period when there is little or no rain

9. Dutch: people from the Netherlands