Vocabulary Story
Father Christmas does not need a ''Mother Christmas'' partner under
(1) sex equality rules,
the European Commission has (2) ruled.
It (3) rejected as a (4) "marketing prank" a (5) claim by British
(6) retailer Woolworths that it had to sell Mother Christmas suits alongside
Father Christmas outfits (7) to satisfy Santa sex equality
(8) clauses in EU (9) legislation.
“EU rules aim (10) to prevent (11) discrimination against female employees at work,”
(12) a spokesman said. So, the EU's (13) executive arm,
often (14) berated for (15) meddling
too much in (16) citizens' lives, would not be (17) breaking down
sexual (18) stereotypes
by giving Santa a female partner.
He noted that (19) reindeer portrayed as
pulling Santa's (20) sleighs were all female - male reindeer lose their (21) antlers
before the winter while females keep them until the spring.
|
New Words
(1) rules that help women if men are unfair to them at work
(2) decided
(3) said "no" or "not right"
(4) a kind of joke
(5) something they said is true
(6) a store that sells to ordinary customers (selling directly to the stores is called "wholesale")
(7) to keep the law
(8) one part of a law
(9) a law or a set of laws
(10) to stop
(11) unfair treatment against women
(12) a person who speaks for the whole group
(13) the top leaders, such as the President
(14) said bad things, saying they are no good
(15) getting in the way, trying to do too much
(16) the people who live in Europe
(17) to limit or to make smaller
(18) simple beliefs about a group of people (for example, "all women are weak")
(19) animals that live in the north - the story says that they pull Santa Claus all around the world on Christmas Eve
(20) the "car" that Santa Claus sits in (that the reindeer pull)
(21) the horns on the head of reindeer and some other animals
|