E.+Superstitions

 **SUPERSTITIONS **

Do you think that are a lucky person? Why or why not?

**//Vocabulary #1// Match the word/phrase with the correct meaning. ** //**a hole-in-one**// a positive person who believes that things will end well //**a lucky charm**// a scientist who studies behavior and the mind //**a superstition**// an item that people believe brings luck to the holder //**numerology**// the study of (and belief in) lucky numbers //**a psychologist**// a negative person who believes that things will end badly //**an optimist**// the belief that something is lucky or unlucky //**a pessimist**// a golf shot from the tee to the hole

For Robert Edge, a keen golfer, it started out as an 1…………….. weekend. On Saturday morning, Edge went, as usual, to his local golf course with some friends. He couldn't believe his luck when he hit a hole-in-one, and he celebrated the amazing experience with his friends after finishing the game. What made the weekend even more special was that, returning to the same golf course the following day, he hit another hole-in-one! He was undoubtedly a very lucky person. Events like this are not 2……………, but we all experience "lucky" and "unlucky" events throughout our lives. The question is whether we can do anything to influence our luck. Some people use lucky charms to help them avoid bad luck, and others believe very strongly in superstition and numerology. Many people associate certain objects with luck. Horseshoes, rabbits' feet and four-leaf clovers are all said to bring good fortune. The number thirteen is considered unlucky in many countries, with hotels jumping from the twelfth floor directly to the fourteenth. In parts of Asia, the number four is avoided, as the pronunciation is nearly 3…………… to that of the word for "death". Most scientists and psychologists don't believe in superstitions, or the idea that some people are luckier than others. They say that optimists 4…………… to remember good results, and therefore believe that they are lucky; pessimists typically remember bad results, and therefore believe that they are unlucky. So, if you want to feel like a lucky person, thinking positively can help. Think and act like an optimist, and ask yourself: do you feel lucky?

**Missing Words:** identical--ordinary--tend--common


 * Questions related to the text **
 * What do you think of Robert Edge's story? Was he skillful or lucky?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Have you ever hit a hole-in-one? Do you know anyone who has?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Have you ever been really lucky? What happened?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Are you superstitious? Do you believe in bad luck?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What do people do for good luck in your country?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What do people avoid doing that they think is unlucky?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Which numbers are lucky or unlucky in your country? Why?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Do you agree with the psychologists?



__**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">American Superstitions **__ • <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">If a black cat crosses your path, then you will have bad luck. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">• If you knock on wood, then it will keep away bad luck.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">• If you break a mirror, then you will have seven years of bad luck.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">• If you walk under a ladder, then something bad will happen.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">• If you pull the bigger half of a wishbone, then your dream will come true.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">• If you find a four-leaf clover, then you will have good luck.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">• If you open an umbrella inside a house, then you will have back luck.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">• If there is a full moon, then strange things will happen.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">• If you step on your shadow, then you will have bad luck

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">__**Read more on common superstitions**__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Learn more about superstition around the world: Turkey, Spain, Mexico, Thailand, Argentina

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__**Task:**__ //Have a go with the first conditional//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Superstition has forced a European airline to change its logo. New Belgian carrier Brussels Airlines had to change its 13-red-dot logo on the tail of all its planes because of a flood of complaints from passengers about the combination of thirteen red balls representing bad luck. This number is unlucky in Western culture and many would-be passengers thought it just wouldn’t do on an airplane. Airline officials were taken aback by the volume of disapproving mail they received. Particularly upset was the original logo’s designer Ronane Holt. She said the thirteen dots “looked just right” and had extra significance because the number of dots matched the destinations it flew to in Africa. The design, in the shape of a “b”, also resembled the pattern of lights on an airport runway as planes taxied before take off. All of the airline’s planes now have to go back to their hangars for a paint job. A fourteenth red dot will be added to the top of the “b”. However, this may not go down well in China, where the number fourteen is unlucky. One-four in Mandarin sounds like the phrase "to want to die". Passengers at Brussels airport were in two minds as to whether or not they thought the fourteen-dot logo would bring better luck. Frequent business flyer Rene Charles said: “In this day and age, superstitions are a little silly. There is no logic behind them.” However, she did admit that she shared the concerns of other passengers and was happier that the newer logo has an extra dot. Brussels Airlines is the result of a merger between SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express. It begins flying, with the fourteen dots, on March 25.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Further reading **
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 170%;">Superstition forces airline logo change [[image:imagesCAUUJ9UF.jpg align="right"]] **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Listen as you read: ** media type="file" key="070222-superstition.mp3" width="240" height="20"

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">

__**2. SYNONYM MATCH:**__ Match the following synonyms from the article:

a. //**flood**// meaning

b. //**would-be**// be liked c. //**taken aback**// union d. //**significance**// potential e. //**resembled**// confess f. **go down well** deluge g. //**in two minds**// looked like h. //**logic**// undecided i. //**admit**// shocked j. //**merger**// reason __**3. PHRASE MATCH:**__ Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible): a. a flood of the destinations it flew to b. would-be passengers thought pattern of lights on an airport runway c. officials were taken and age d. the number of dots matched it just wouldn’t do e. resembled the well in China f. go back to their hangars complaints from passengers g. this may not go down for a paint job h. Passengers at Brussels airport aback by the volume of disapproving mail i. In this day concerns of other passengers j. she shared the were in two minds


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">LET'S TALK ABOUT 'SUPERSTITION' **