A final feast before Lent

Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the day many Christians around the world begin a traditional fast before Easter, this year for 46 days. Custom also has it that the days and weeks before Lent be given up to revelry and indulgence -- the great Carnival on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the famous masked balls of Venice and costume parties and parades elsewhere.
In Britain the last day before Lent is celebrated by boisterous crowds dressed in costumes, who race down streets flipping pancakes. Selah Hennessy has more.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Watch and listen to the news clip and then complete these sentences with the missing words.

1. Lent is a time for ___________ things.

2. Shrove Tuesdays is the day for cleaning out the ____________.

3. Pancake races appeal to people’s ____________ nature!

4. Everyone’s got ‘a _______________ tooth’!

5. People in Britain have been celebrating Pancake Day for ______________ years.

6. The tradition started in _____________ when a woman ran to church holding a

______________!

7. Donald O’Kelly is planning to give up ______________ for Lent.

8. Pancake day is a time to __________________.