Words with Silent Letters

Practice

Fill in the blank spaces with the missing lyrics of "White Christmas,"
each of which is a word which contains silent letters.

I'm dreaming of a ______________________ ___________________
Just like the ________________ I used to know
Where the treetops __________________ and children ____________________
To hear ______________________ bells in the snow.

I'm dreaming of a ________________ ___________________
With every ______________________ card I __________________
May your days be merry and ___________________
And may all your ______________________ be ___________________.

Irving Berlin, a Jewish immigrant, wrote one of America's favorite patriotic songs "God Bless America." He is equally famous for "White Christmas," which he wrote for a 1942 movie "Holiday Inn" starring Bing Crosby. Crosby introduced "White Christmas" to the public on his NBC radio show, on December 25, 1941.

"White Christmas," a song of yearning for "the ones we used to know," was released to a war-torn public during the darkest days of World War II. By the end of the War, the song had become the biggest-selling single of all time. The song remains the best-selling Christmas record of all-time.

Whenever Bing sang for the troops during the War, he was usually asked to sing "White Christmas," which would often bring tears to the eyes of many of the soldiers. Clearly the song had had an effect not anticipated by Berlin or Crosby as a result of the War.

Bing's "White Christmas" marked the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. As the war was ending, a plan was set into motion to evacuate the remaining Americans and some South Vietnamese to safety. The cue to evacuate was a radio announcement that the temperature in Saigon was "105 degrees and rising," followed by Bing's "White Christmas." When people heard Bing's voice, they scrambled to the U.S. embassy, where helicopters were waiting.