http://www.history.

com/topics/halloween

Halloween, celebrated each year on October 31, is a

mix of ancient Celtic practices, Catholic and Roman
religious rituals and European folk traditions that
blended together over time to create the holiday we
know today. Straddling the line between fall and
winter, plenty and paucity and life and death,
Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition.
Halloween has long been thought of as a day when the
dead can return to the earth, and ancient Celts would
light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off these
roaming ghosts. The Celtic holiday of Samhain, the
Catholic Hallowmas period of All Saints' Day and All
Souls' Day and the Roman festival of Feralia all
influenced the modern holiday of Halloween. In the
19th century, Halloween began to lose its religious
connotation, becoming a more secular communitybased children's holiday. Although the superstitions
and beliefs surrounding Halloween may have evolved
over the years, as the days grow shorter and the nights
get colder, people can still look forward to parades,
costumes and sweet treats to usher in the winter
season.

Answer the questions:

1. When is Halloween celebrated?
_______________________________________
2. What religions and traditions were
blended together to create Halloween?
_______________________________________
3. What has Halloween long been
thought?
_______________________________________
4. Why did ancient Celts light bonfires
and wear costumes in Halloween?
_______________________________________
5. What festivals and holidays influenced
modern Halloween?
_______________________________________
6. When did Halloween begin to lose its
religious connotation?
_______________________________________
7. How do people celebrate Halloween in
your country?
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

Match the words and definitions:

( ) a full or completely adequate
amount or supply
( ) a large fire built outdoors, as for
signaling or in celebration of an event.
( ) a principle, proposition, idea, etc.,
accepted as true
( ) a small tasty bit of food
( ) an idea or meaning suggested by or
associated with a word or thing:
( ) despite the fact that; even though
( ) irrational belief usually founded on
ignorance or fear
( ) mixture
( ) smallness of number; fewness
( ) that moves about without purpose
or plan
( ) to be on both sides of; extend over
or across
( ) to combine
( ) to develop or achieve gradually
( ) to exist around
( ) to precede and introduce;
inaugurate
( ) to turn aside or repel
( ) who lived in times long past.

1. although (conj.)
2. ancient (adj.)
3. belief (n.)
4. blend (v.)
5. bonfire (n.)
6. connotation (n.)
7. evolve (v.)
8, mix (n.)
9. paucity (n.)
10. plenty (n.)
11. roaming (adj.)
12. straddling (v.)
13. superstition (n.)
14. surround (v.)
15. treat (n.)
16. usher (v.)
17. ward off (p.v.)

We can create an adjective

from a verb. The verb to
roam means to move
without a purpose or plan.
A roaming ghost is a ghost
that moves without a
purpose or a plan.
Rewrite the sentences as in the model:
Model:
The news surprised us.
The news was surprising.
1. Teds behavior shocks me.
_______________________________________________________
2. Your question confuses us.
_______________________________________________________
3. Her beauty amazes him.
_______________________________________________________
4. The situation embarrasses her.
_______________________________________________________
5. The teachers answer discourages the students.
_______________________________________________________
6. The storm scares the kids.
_______________________________________________________
7. All this noise bothers me.
_______________________________________________________
8. Mr. Johnsons long speech tires us.
_______________________________________________________
9. Your long story bores me.
_______________________________________________________