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1. What should the main New Year tree of the country look like?
2. What is one of the legends of the Christmas tree?
3. What are the advantages of artificial Christmas trees?
4. What rules did people follow in the past when decorating the Christmas tree?
5. Who changed the date of New Year’s Day in his country?
6. How did the technological progress change Christmas decorations?
7. How did the tradition of decorating the tree with coloured glass balls start?
A. Why do people decorate Christmas trees at home? There are several stories about the start of the tradition. One of them is about Martin Luther, the founder of the protestant faith. While he was walking through a forest on a Christmas Eve, he looked up and was impressed by the beauty of the stars that were shining through the tree branches. He cut down a small tree and took it home. There, he decorated the tree with candles as a present for his family.
B. The tradition of decorating a Christmas tree comes from Germany. Until the 17th century, people decorated their Christmas tree in a certain order. Firstly, a star was fixed on the top. Then people hung apples on lower branches of the tree. Finally, they placed biscuits, gingerbread and sweets underneath. The Christmas tree in the fairy tale Nutcracker was decorated in exactly this way.
C. The Christmas tree tradition came to Russia with Peter the Great in the 18th century. He enjoyed the celebration tradition in Germany and issued a law according to which all families had to decorate their houses with pine tree branches. It also announced that people should have fun on that day. Peter the Great also decided to move New Year’s celebration from 1st September to 1st January.