Halloween

Halloween, which falls on October 31, is one of the most unusual and fun holidays in the United States. It is also one of the scariest! It is associated with ghosts, skeletons, witches, and other scary things.

The reason that Halloween is filled with scary images goes back more than 2,000 years. In ancient Britain an Ireland, October 31 was the last day of the year. It was the end of the growing season and the beginning of the winter, a time of darkness and death. People believed that on this day ghost returned to the earth, it became a festival for the God of the Dead. In order to scare the ghosts away, people built huge fires and wore costumes made of animal skins.

Many of the original Halloween traditions have developed today into fun activities for children. The most popular one is “trick or treat.” On Halloween night, children dress up in costumes and go to visit their neighbors. When someone answers the door, the children cry out, “Trick or treat!” The people at each house then give candy or fruit or sometimes a few coins.

Another popular Halloween activity is to visit a “haunted house.” Usually you have to buy a ticket to get in. As you go from room to room, you meet one scary thing after another. Monsters and witches might jump out at you in the dark. You might hear screams and cries from behind, as if someone is being killed. Or you might suddenly feel a spider web in your face. It’s best not to go alone!

Many people also like to make jack-o’-lanterns on Halloween. A jack-0’-lantern is a pumpkin that is hollowed out and has a face carved on it. It is put in a window or outside a house, a candle is placed inside so that the face lights up. This tradition comes from an old Irish story about a man named jack who was very stingy. He was so stingy that he could not enter heaven when he died. But he also could not enter hell, because he had once played a trick on the devil. All he could do was walk the earth as a ghost, carrying a lantern.

(from Far East English Reader for Seniou High School Vol.1 Ch.4)


Summary:

1.Halloween is one of the most unusual and fun holiday in United states.

2.The origin of Halloween goes back more than 2,000 years.

3.Many of the original Halloween traditions have developed into fun activities for children, like “treat or trick”.

4.Visiting “haunted house” is another popular Halloween activity.
Jack-o’-lanterns is another Halloween tradition.

Idioms and Phrases:

1. dress up

2. play a trick on sb.

3. light up

4. stop…from…

5. be associated with


Grammar Focus:

1. …so that…:
A candle is place inside the pumpkin so that the face lights up.

2. …so adj/adv. that…:
She was so beautiful that every boy in the room kept looking at her.