Do you have pumpkins in your native country? We love them here!
Pumpkins are everywhere in New York City in the fall. We play with them, decorate them, drink them, and eat them. Big pumpkins and very small ones. We have pumpkin carving contests, pumpkin festivals, pumpkin coffee lattes, pumpkin beer, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie!
Now, at Let’s Go Speak English, we’re English teachers – not botanists – but big orange pumpkins are squash or gourds. And they are actually not a vegetable – they are a fruit!
Want to learn more about pumpkins and practice your English?
First, read the online article at this link:
https://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/food/fruit/pumpkin-fact-file.html
Second, do the exercises below to check your understanding. (Answers are at the end.)
And check back next week for Robin’s favorite pumpkin bread recipe!
Exercise 1. Match the vocabulary words with their definitions.
__E__1. crops
_____2. cultivated
_____3. popular
_____4. native
_____5. nutrients
_____6. edible
_____7. varieties
_____8. to carve
_____9. settlers
_____10. medicinal
_____11. ailment
_____12. to banish
A. you can eat it
B. a lot of people like it
C. people who go to live in a new place where there are only a few or no people
D. to cut something in a special way, such as into a picture
E. plants that are grown for food
F. types, kinds
G. produced or existing naturally in a particular area
H. a sickness or illness
I. things that plants, animals, and people need to live and grow
J. to make something go away
K. raised, grown
L. used to prevent or cure sickness, like a medicine
Exercise 2. Fill in these missing words.
Thanksgiving Jack O’Lantern crops settlers popular
tribes edible varieties encourage carve
Many parts of the pumpkin are (a)_____________________; in other words, you can eat them. Some (b)____________________ of pumpkin are better to eat and some are better to (c)__________________. If you carve a face into a pumpkin and put a candle inside, it is now called a (d)__________________________________.
Native American (e)____________________ lived in North America before European (f)_____________________ came here. The Native Americans grew different (g)________________ to eat, including pumpkins.
Pumpkin recipes are (h)____________________ in the United States through December and the New Year. We enjoy them during the Halloween, (i)________________________ and Christmas holidays. Robin’s favorite pumpkin recipe is below. It is sweet, moist and delicious! We (j)_____________________________ you to try it and let us know if you like it!
Answers:
Exercise 1: 1. E 2. K 3. B 4. G 5. I 6. A 7. F 8. D 9. C 10. L 11. H 12. J
Exercise 2: a) edible b) varieties c) carve d) Jack O’Lantern e) tribes f) settlers g) crops h) popular i) Thanksgiving j) encourage
How did you do? We hope you can find a pretty pumpkin for yourself and some delicious pumpkin foods. Remember, check back here next week for Robin’s favorite pumpkin bread recipe!
Carve a pumpkin and add a candle - now it’s a Jack O’Lantern!
Pumpkins in NYC - ready to carve, cook, eat!