13 Months A Year American English Student

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
GENERAL ENGLISH · SPECIAL REPORT · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
13 MONTHS
A YEAR
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1 Warm up
In pairs, discuss the following questions.
1. What are the important dates in the year for you? What do you do on those days?
2. What is your favorite time of year? Why?
3. How does the weather in your country change throughout the year?
2 Scanning for vocabulary
You are going to read an article about the history of the calendar (page two) First, scan it and try to
find vocabulary which means the same as the following definitions.
1. (n, para. A): a way of measuring something that is officially used
2. (phrase, para. A): the additional day in the year that we have every four years
3. (adj., para B): being correct and true
4. (v, para.B): change slightly to make it better
5. (adj. para.B): connected to the country or government rather than the religion
6. (n, para. C): an idea that is connected to something that cannot be seen
7. (n, para.C): a person who supports an idea and talks about it
8. (v, para C): say that something is not allowed or accepted
FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 1/6

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HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
13 MONTHS A YEAR
Lucky for Some?

The 13-month calendar
A. The calendar which most of the world uses as a C. However, in 1849, French Philosopher Auguste
standard has been through a lot of change. It Comte created a new type of calendar which used
started all the way back in 45 BCE when Roman 364 days which were split into 13 months of exactly
calculations decided that the year was 365.25 days 28 days each. It meant that each month would
long. Julius Caesar introduced a calendar that gave always start on a Sunday and end on a Saturday. It
us an extra day every four years called a ‘Leap Day’ became known as the International Fixed Calendar.
which allowed for an extra quarter of a day. This was The idea wasn’t popular at the time and was dropped.
called the ‘Julian Calendar’. Yet the concept was brought back in the 1920s.
It had strong support from people such as George
B. 1500 years later, Pope Gregory XIII brought in more
Eastman, the well-known businessman of the time
changes. The issue was that the Roman calculations
who started the Kodak company with a partner. Sir
weren’t accurate and over the years, the Christian
Sandford Fleming, the Scottish-Canadian engineer
celebration of Easter was affected. As it is connected
and inventor who was responsible for standard time
to the beginning of Spring on March 21st, using
and the world being split into time zones, was also
the Julian Calendar, Easter was arriving too late.
a strong advocate for the idea. It was presented
The Gregorian Calendar, as it came to be known,
to the League of Nations, an early version of the
shortened the year slightly to 365.2425 days. While
United Nations, to be introduced as a standard. The
it appears to be a small difference, over two centuries
International Fixed Calendar League, which wanted
it would be different by 13 days. When the Gregorian
to make the idea official, had offices in the US and
calendar was introduced officially in 1582, the dates
the UK. However, they stopped in 1937 when their
went from Thursday 4th October to Friday 15th
request was officially denied.
October to adjust for the difference. The world has
been using it as its standard civil calendar ever since. Sources: IFLScience, Wikipedia
3 Reading for gist
Match the following names to their actions.
a) Sir Sandford Fleming b) Julius Caesar c) George Eastman

d) Auguste Comte e) Pope Gregory XIII
1. Introduced a calendar with an additional day added each four years
2. Introduced a calendar based on a slightly shorter year than the previous one
3. Introduced the idea for a calendar based on 364 days
4. Introduced the system of different countries having different times based on

their location
5. Created a company famous for selling photography products
FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 2/6

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
13 MONTHS A YEAR
4 Reading comprehension
Part A: Complete the table with the basic information about the different calendars.
person who year it was name of the length of the year

introduced the introduced calendar
calendar
1 2 3
Julius Caesar
Calendar days
4 5 6
Pope Gregory XIII
Calendar days
7 8 9
Auguste Comte
Calendar days
Part B: Decide if the following sentences are True (T) or False (F).
1. Pope Gregory XIII’s calendar was the first one to add an extra day to the year every four years.
2. Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar for religious reasons.
3. Tuesday 9th October didn’t exist in 1582.
4. The idea of Auguste Comte’s calendar was that each month would begin on a Saturday.
5. The International Fixed Calendar was proposed to the United States Government.
6. The International Fixed Calendar League was not successful.

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
13 MONTHS A YEAR
5 Focus on vocabulary
Complete the following vocabulary with the missing vowels (a, e, i, o, u).
1. _ pp _ _ l (n) - a quality that makes people want to do something
2. r _ v _ s _ _ n (n) - a change or a series of changes to something
3. s _ l _ r (adj.) - connected to the sun
4. l _ n _ r (adj.) - connected to the moon
5. _ sl _ m _ c (adj.) - following or connected to the Muslim religion
6. B _ ddh _ st (adj.) - following or connected to the religion of Buddhism
7. _ r _ (n) - a period of time that is different from other periods of time in history in some way
8. _ bs _ rv _ nc _ (n) - the practice of following a particular religious tradition
6 Listening for gist
Tick all of the questions that you hear.
1. What other calendars are in use around the world?
2. How many different calendars are in use at the moment?
3. Can the year be different depending on which calendar you use?
4. What is your view on having 13 months in a year?
5. How difficult would it be to change the calendar now?

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
13 MONTHS A YEAR
7 Listening comprehension
Listen to the interview and choose the best answer (A, B or C) for each question.
1. What is Professor Dominguez’s opinion of the 13-month calendar?
a. She feels it would be an improvement on the current system.
b. She argues people would benefit financially from it.
c. She doesn’t believe that it would be practical to change.
2. What does she say the Gregorian calendar is based on?
a. The time it takes the Earth to move around the sun.
b. The number of times a full moon is seen.
c. Christian beliefs about the relationship of the Sun to Earth.
3. What point does she make about Malay?
a. Malaysians use different calendars for religious and civil events.
b. There’s a connection between their word for moon and month.
c. Their calendar is connected to their seasons rather than the sun.
4. What does she say about the Islamic Calendar?
a. It has only started to be used quite recently.
b. It uses both the sun and the moon for dates.
c. It determines modern religious dates.
5. How is the calendar used in Thailand different from the Gregorian calendar?
a. It uses Buddhist dates which puts it ahead of the Gregorian calendar.
b. It uses both the sun and the moon to decide on important dates.
c. It was used for a long time before the Gregorian calendar.
6. What is the Hebrew Calendar based on?
a. a very old system using the sun’s position
b. religious writings about the creation of the world
c. a set of religious celebrations in Spring

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
13 MONTHS A YEAR
8 Talking point
In pairs, discuss the following questions.
1. Do you think it would be a good idea to change to a 13-month calendar? Why/Why not?
2. Are any calendars used in your country other than the Gregorian calendar? If so, what?
3. Why do you think the Gregorian calendar has become the one that is used in most places around
the world?
4. If we changed to a 13-month calendar, how would it affect your life?
9 Extended activity / homework
Imagine it’s the night before the whole world starts to use a 13-month calendar. Write an email to
a friend and tell them what you think about the situation. You should write at least 100 words and
check your grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Think about the following questions:
• How will having a 13-month calendar improve things for you?
• What difficulties do you think you will have?
• What problems do you think it might cause in society?
• How will it help people?


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HEAAADERLOGORIGHT

GENERAL ENGLISH · SPECIAL REPORT · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

2. What is your favorite time of year? Why?

2 Scanning for vocabulary

1. (n, para. A): a way of measuring something that is oﬃcially used

3. (adj., para B): being correct and true

4. (v, para.B): change slightly to make it better

7. (n, para.C): a person who supports an idea and talks about it

8. (v, para C): say that something is not allowed or accepted

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 1/6

Lucky for Some?

3 Reading for gist

Match the following names to their actions.

a) Sir Sandford Fleming b) Julius Caesar c) George Eastman

1. Introduced a calendar with an additional day added each four years

3. Introduced the idea for a calendar based on 364 days

4. Introduced the system of diﬀerent countries having diﬀerent times based on

FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 2/6

person who year it was name of the length of the year

2. Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar for religious reasons.

3. Tuesday 9th October didn’t exist in 1582.

6. The International Fixed Calendar League was not successful.

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 3/6

1. _ pp _ _ l (n) - a quality that makes people want to do something

2. r _ v _ s _ _ n (n) - a change or a series of changes to something

3. s _ l _ r (adj.) - connected to the sun

4. l _ n _ r (adj.) - connected to the moon

5. _ sl _ m _ c (adj.) - following or connected to the Muslim religion

6. B _ ddh _ st (adj.) - following or connected to the religion of Buddhism

8. _ bs _ rv _ nc _ (n) - the practice of following a particular religious tradition

6 Listening for gist

Tick all of the questions that you hear.

1. What other calendars are in use around the world?

2. How many diﬀerent calendars are in use at the moment?

3. Can the year be diﬀerent depending on which calendar you use?

4. What is your view on having 13 months in a year?

5. How diﬃcult would it be to change the calendar now?

FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 4/6

1. What is Professor Dominguez’s opinion of the 13-month calendar?

a. She feels it would be an improvement on the current system.

b. She argues people would beneﬁt ﬁnancially from it.

c. She doesn’t believe that it would be practical to change.

2. What does she say the Gregorian calendar is based on?

a. The time it takes the Earth to move around the sun.

b. The number of times a full moon is seen.

c. Christian beliefs about the relationship of the Sun to Earth.

3. What point does she make about Malay?

a. Malaysians use diﬀerent calendars for religious and civil events.

b. There’s a connection between their word for moon and month.

c. Their calendar is connected to their seasons rather than the sun.

4. What does she say about the Islamic Calendar?

a. It has only started to be used quite recently.

b. It uses both the sun and the moon for dates.

c. It determines modern religious dates.

a. It uses Buddhist dates which puts it ahead of the Gregorian calendar.

c. It was used for a long time before the Gregorian calendar.

6. What is the Hebrew Calendar based on?

a. a very old system using the sun’s position

b. religious writings about the creation of the world

c. a set of religious celebrations in Spring

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 5/6