Listen&Learn: The Polar Express

Learn about a classic Christmas story for children.

Pre-listening vocabulary

• illustrations: artworks that appear alongside a story
• symbolize: to represent an idea
• classic: a story that is loved by many people over a long period of time
• moral: a lesson that a story teaches
• faith: belief in something, even if it seems unlikely
• imagination: the ability to create interesting and even magical ideas
• animated: containing moving artwork instead of videos of real people

Listening activity

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:04 — 1,003.2KB)

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Gapfill exercise

The Polar Express is a 1985 book written by Chris Van Allsburg, who also created the illustrations. The book tells the story of a magical train that children to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus. The main character is an unnamed young boy who chooses to believe in Santa even as he grows . To symbolize the boy’s trust in Christmas magic, Santa gives him a sleigh bell that only he, and other believers, can hear the of. The Polar Express quickly became a Christmas classic because of its beautiful images and moral of faith and imagination. In 2004, the book was adapted into an animated .

Comprehension questions

See answers below

1. Chris Van Allsburg wrote the book known as The Polar Express and also
   a. helped write the movie script
   b. created the illustrations
   c. worked on the animation
   
2. The object that symbolizes the boy’s faith is
   a. a toy train
   b. a Christmas book
   c. a sleigh bell
   
3. In 2004, the book was adapted into
   a. a longer novel
   b. a TV show
   c. an animated movie

Discussion/essay questions

1. What is something you believed in as a child? Do you think it is possible to keep a childlike imagination as you grow older?

Transcript

The Polar Express is a 1985 children’s book written by Chris Van Allsburg, who also created the illustrations. The book tells the story of a magical train that transports children to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus. The main character is an unnamed young boy who chooses to believe in Santa even as he grows older. To symbolize the boy’s trust in Christmas magic, Santa gives him a sleigh bell that only he, and other believers, can hear the sound of. The Polar Express quickly became a Christmas classic because of its beautiful images and moral of faith and imagination. In 2004, the book was adapted into an animated movie.

Answers to comprehension questions

1b 2c 3c