Fifth year - Listening: What is the fourth of July?

Watch the video below and answer the questions:

 1. Complete the sentence: Independence Day is an American national holiday that celebrates the....

 2. Complete: The document ............ that the ........ colonies were no longer part of the British Empire.

3. Who was Richard Lee of Virginia?

 4. Who composed the manuscript?

5. The narrator says that in the declaration of Independence there is the most famous sentence in the English language which outlines the belief system of this new country and became a cornerstone of American society. Complete the sentence:

"We hold these ........... to be self-evident that all men are ........... equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable ............ that among these are .............. , ................ and the ........ of ............."

 6. How long have the 4th July celebrations taken place?

7. What elements are mentioned as part of the old celebrations in Philadelphia?

8. What happened in 1938?

  9. What example is given as a celebration at military bases?


 10. What is the result of the holiday's popularity?


Click here to check your answers.

Fifth year - Listening: Fourth of July and Fireworks

911 dispatchers prepare for fireworks complaints

Click on the link above, watch the video, and complete the sentences below:

- The fourth of July is the busiest time of the year, mostly due to .......................... about fireworks.

- Randy Bargdill says, 'I'd give the citizens of Sedgwick County an A+ for the way that they've .................. themselves in regards to calling in on fireworks complaints'

- Last year the phones were so tied up with fireworks complaints citizens had trouble trying to report a ...............    ..............  accident , just down the street from Johanson's neighborhood. (two words)

- To keep that from happening again, Sedgwick county has ..............   ............  a special fireworks hotline just for the evening of the Fourth. (two words)

- So if no one needs medical attention and nothing is burning, except perhaps your ..............    ................... , then call 290-1011 not 9-1-1. (Two words)

Vocabulary:

- dispatcher:a person who controls the movements of vehicles, people... 

- call in: to ask for the services of sb.

- Tied-up.... To tie sb up: To keep sb busy so that they have no time for other things. Ex: I'm tied up in a meeting until 3.

- Free sb (up): To make sb/sth available for a particular purpose. 

To check your answers, roll down the window to see the script below the video.