Lesson24 Halloween

Halloween is a strange holiday. It started several centuries ago in Europe.It began as “Hallow Evening” meaning “holy night”. At that time November 1st was called “All Saints' Day” and people honoured all the saints who did not have their own special day. People believed that October 31st was the time when all the evil spirits were supposed to be active. So people would play all sorts of pranks on each other.
Now Halloween has evolved to a children's holiday. Small children go "Trick-or-Treating”. They wear costumes, knock on doors, and yell, "Trick or Treat”.People almost always choose to give them candy as a treat, instead of opting to receive a trick from the children.
The trick might be something like,“I'll spill all the trash out of your trash can if you don't give me a treat,”
Halloween is great fun for children today.They dress up as ghosts,witches,or frightening Dracula.Adults sometimes "trick or treat” their friends too.Usually that means the “treat” will be a glass of wine or cosmetics.

saint ? 圣人
evil ? 罪惡的，邪惡的
suppose ? 假設
prank 惡作劇，開玩笑
evolve ? 發(fā)展
trick 惡作劇
treat ? 請客，款待
opt ? 選擇
spill 倒出
trash ? 垃圾
witch 巫婆
Dracula ? 吸血鬼
cosmetic ? 化妝品

萬圣節(jié)

萬圣節(jié)是一個奇異的節(jié)日，它起源于幾個世紀前的歐洲。剛開始的時候，它叫做“神圣夜”，意思是“神圣的夜晚”。那時，十一月一日被稱為“萬圣日”，在那天人們紀念所有沒有特定紀念日的圣人。人們相信十月三十一日所有邪惡的精靈都會出來活動，所以人們互相玩惡作劇。
現(xiàn)在萬圣節(jié)已經(jīng)演變成為一個兒童的節(jié)日。小孩子玩“不請客就搗亂”的游戲，他們穿著特殊的服裝，敲門，然后大喊，“不請客就搗亂。”人們總是選擇請他們吃糖果，而不是接受孩子們的惡作劇。
惡作劇有可能是這樣玩的，“如果你不請客，我就把你的垃圾都從垃圾筒里倒出來。”如今萬圣節(jié)給孩子們帶來很大的樂趣。他們裝扮成鬼、巫婆或者可怕的吸血鬼。成年人有時也和他們的朋友玩“不請客就搗亂”的游戲。這時請客的東西經(jīng)常是一杯酒或是化妝品。