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Interactions 1 Reading, 4e

Elaine Kirn, West Los Angeles College
Pamela Hartmann, Los Angeles Unified School District

Customs, Celebrations, and Holidays

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Choose the best main-idea statement for each paragraph.

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

You have probably heard of Halloween, Christmas, Ramadan, Chinese New Year, and Kwanzaa. These are holidays celebrated around the world, and they are very well known. But there are some other holidays celebrated only in certain places that are very unusual; not many people know about them.


1	The Cheung Chau Bun Festival About 12 kilometers off the coast of Hong Kong lies the tiny island of Cheung Chau. This fishing community, whose culture is a mix of the modern and the traditional, is home to the world's only bun festival. It celebrates, among other things, the bun: a sweet bread treat. During the festival, also known as "the Festival of the Bun Hills," the children dress in colorful costumes. It also includes parades and opera performances. But what makes the festival distinct are the bun towers: tall bamboo structures piled with sweet buns. These towers sit in front of the Pak Tai temple. Pak Tai is the Taoist god of the sea. He is important to the inhabitants of Cheung Chau because, according to legend, he drove away pirates who wanted to attack the island. Some believe that the festival began in order to commemorate islanders who were killed by the pirates and whose spirits still wander freely. Locals offer food and burnt paper to these island spirits. And the buns? Do they get eaten? Yes, the buns, which are blessed, are passed out on the last day of the festival for people to enjoy.
		A)	Every year the tiny island of Cheung Chau celebrates how giant hills of sweet buns drove away pirates from the island.
		B)	Every year the tiny island of Cheung Chau celebrates the bun festival. It includes not only mountains of sweet buns, but also parades, costumes, and offerings to the god Pak Tai, who the islanders believe drove away pirates from the island.
		C)	Every year the tiny island of Cheung Chau celebrates the Festival of the Bun Hills during which the islanders go into the hills to celebrate their escape from the pirates who attacked them.


2	La Tomatina Every year on the fourth Wednesday in August in the small village of Buñol, Spain, over 20,000 people gather the main square to...to throw tomatoes at each other! La Tomatina is the world's biggest food fight and it has become a tradition in this town, which lies just miles away from the Mediterranean city of Valencia. During La Tomatina, trucks carry 90,000 pounds of tomatoes to revelers who, when they hear the opening shot fired, throw the fruit at each other until the streets run red with tomato juice, seeds, and skins. The festival happens during with the town's "fiestas" celebrating the patron saint, and there is plenty of food, drink, and merriment. The exact origins of La Tomatina are still unclear. The most popular and probably most historically accurate version says that it started in 1945 during a parade. Some teenagers who wanted to take part in the procession pushed a participant onto the ground. When he got up they started fighting. One thing led to another until the teenagers went to the local farm stand for ammunition and everyone started throwing tomatoes at each other. The authorities soon broke up the fight and made the participants pay damages. But a tradition had been started. Every year at the same time people reenacted the tomato fight. Now, if you want to take part in La Tomatina, there are some rules you should follow: do not bring any bottles or any sharp objects to the festival; do not rip or pull other people's clothing; squish the tomatoes (squeeze them with your hands) before throwing them in order to avoid injury, and, when the second gun shot goes off, the tomato throwing stops.
		A)	Every August, the inhabitants of Buñol celebrate the tomato harvest by eating almost 90,000 pounds of tomatoes.
		B)	Every August, the inhabitants of Buñol take part in a festival that involves throwing tomatoes at each other.
		C)	Every August, the inhabitants of Buñol travel to Valencia with 90,000 pounds of tomatoes in order to have a tomato war with the rival city.


3	The East Texas Yamboree The residents of Gilmer, Texas, are thankful for their yams. They didn't realize this, however, until the 1930s, when the government quarantined all yams (sweet potatoes) due to an infestation of weevils, a kind of beetle that destroys crops. When the quarantine was lifted in 1935, the people of Gilmer were so happy to have their yams back that they decided to celebrate. The East Texas Yamboree (a play on the word "Jamboree," meaning "a busy event or celebration") is one of the oldest festivals in Texas and it attracts over 100,000 visitors every year. Highlights include a carnival, a parade, a barn dance, and the coronation of Queen Yam. One lucky student is awarded the Yamboree scholarship and some people take part in a road race (the "tater trot"), a bike race (the "tour de yam"), fiddling contests, livestock shows, and a variety of other events. And of course, as its name implies, there is plenty of yam pie for everyone.
		A)	The Yamboree includes a variety of events celebrating the importance of yams and the yam crop to the town of Gilmer, Texas.
		B)	The Yamboree is a Texas festival in which participants throw over l00,000 yams at each other.
		C)	The Yamboree is a festival that commemorates Gilmer's last yam crop in 1935, when the crop was destroyed by weevils.

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Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

The Cheung Chau Bun Festival

La Tomatina

The East Texas Yamboree