A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and preposition, a verb and adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and preposition. A phrasal verb often has a meaning which is different from the original verb. Phrasal verbs are usually used informally in everyday speech as opposed to the more formal Latinate verbs, such as “to get together” rather than “to congregate”, “to put off” rather than “to postpone”, or “to get out” rather than “to exit”. (find more information on wikipedia).
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a popular Christmas story about one of Santa Claus's reindeers who has an unusually red-colored nose that gives out its own light, powerful enough to illuminate the path through inclement weather. In the original story, Rudolph became famous when Santa landed his sleigh at Rudolph's home to deliver gifts. By the time Santa had finished delivering presents in the area, the fog had become dense, making it impossible for Santa to travel safely. With children all over the world expecting him to visit and leave presents, Santa had a dilemma – he couldn't see in the fog but if he did not deliver the presents he would disappoint children all over the world. At that moment Santa noticed Rudolph with his shiny red nose and asked him to lead his sleigh. Rudolph agreed and Santa was able to make his deliveries. And this is how Rudolph went down in history.
"Fairytale of New York" is a popular Christmas song by Irishfolk-rock group The Pogues, and featuring the English singer Kirsty MacColl. The song is an Irishfolk style ballad. "Fairytale of New York" was released as a single in 1987 and reached number 1 in the Irish charts and number 2 in the British charts, over Christmas (the time of peak sales). The song has become a festive classic in the UK and Ireland over the years, and was voted the best Christmas song of all time three years running in 2004, 2005 and 2006 in polls by music channel VH1.
The song takes the form of a drunken man's Christmas Eve reverie about holidays past while sleeping off a binge in a New York Citydrunk tank. After an inebriated old man also incarcerated in the jail cell sings a passage from the Irish drinking ballad The Rare Old Mountain Dew, the drunken man (MacGowan) begins to dream about a failed relationship. The remainder of the song (which may be an internal monologue) takes the form of a call and response between two Irish immigrants, lovers or ex-lovers, their youthful hopes crushed by alcoholism and drug addiction, reminiscing and bickering on Christmas Eve in New York City. MacColl's melodious singing contrasts with the harsh sound of MacGowan's voice and the lyrics are sometimes bittersweet, sometimes plain bitter. (source: wikipedia)
Elllo (English Language Listening Lab Online) is an excellent website with over 1,000 listening activities designed especially for students. In this link you can see an example (a listening about eating habits), and if you click on Text View on you can see the subtitles.
