Reading Part 6

You are going to read an article about the history of Halloween. Six sentences have been
removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A – G the one which fits each gap (37
– 42). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

The history of Halloween

As I start to plan my hotdog costume for Halloween on Saturday, I begin to consider what the
history of the festival is and how on earth hotdogs are related to it. Well, in short, they’re not;
but then how has Halloween developed over the years to allow me to go to a party this
weekend dressed as fast food!? Today, the celebrations have clearly become westernised as
well as commercialised, (37) ….. As well as dressing up, these days we’re used to haunted
houses, pumpkins, scary face paint and trick-or-treating (when children knock on neighbours’
doors either to demand a treat – usually chocolate and sweets – or else threatening to play a
trick or a prank on them).

However, the Halloween we know today actually originates from as long as 2,000 years ago
from a festival called Samhain. This was celebrated on 1st November by the Celts who lived in
Britain and northern France. The evening before, (38) ….. and as a result people would wear
disguises as ghosts to trick the real ghosts into thinking they were not alive. In the 8th century
this festival became known as All Saints’ Day, or All Hallows’ Day, and the night before called
All Hallows’ Eve, (39) …..

Trick-or-treating originates from several traditions in medieval Britain on the festival All
Souls’ Day that were taken to America by British immigrants in the 19th century. These
traditions included poor people begging for food known as soul cakes, in return for agreeing to
pray for the dead; (40) ….. Other rituals included superstitious games that related to women
finding themselves husbands, these games often involving food.

So nowadays, (41) ….. (of course via my costume), our celebrations have clearly come a long
way from the traditions of 2,000 years ago. Nevertheless, (42) ….. and of course the history
helps to remind us what Halloween is really about.

1. although my Halloween experience will also involve food

2. Halloween costumes have nothing to do with the medieval traditions.
3. it was believed that the dead would return,
4. or young people dressing up and offering entertainment such as singing in order to
receive gifts of money, food or drink.
5. particularly in the USA where it is now the holiday that makes the most money after
Christmas.
6. we can recognise many similarities that explain some of the stranger aspects of
Halloween
7. which is where the current name Halloween comes from.

Adapted from British Council Learn English

Reading Part 7
You are going to read an article about the origins of Halloween and traditional activities.
For questions 43 – 52, choose from the sections (A – D). The sections may be chosen more
than once.

Which section describes a traditional activity

43. in which people wanted to avoid being recognized.

44. which accounts for 25% of the income in its sector.
45. which aimed to frighten ghosts.
46. which changed because people chose an easier option.
47. which changed from being religious to secular.
48. which does not involve food.
49. which is mixing with halloween.
50. which replaced another.
51. which was initially not celebrated by the local people.
52. whose roots are based on a legend.

Adapted from British Council Learn English

The origins of Halloween
If you think of Halloween, you probably think of scary carved pumpkins, all kinds of fancy
dress and children asking for sweets. And if you think of a country that celebrates Halloween,
you probably think of the United States first. Americans and Canadians have adopted
Halloween in a big way, but Halloween traditions actually come from 16th-century Ireland,
Scotland and England.

A) Pumpkins
The Celts carved faces into vegetables like turnips, potatoes and squash (a pumpkin is a kind of
squash) to scare the ghosts and other spirits and make them go away. It was sometimes called
a jack-o’-lantern because of an Irish story about a man, Jack. He played a trick on the devil and
then had to walk the earth for all time as a punishment. Irish people who came to live in the
United States in the 1800s found pumpkins much easier to carve, and the tradition became the
one we see today.

B) Fancy dress
The Celts were afraid of the ghosts that came on Samhain. If they went outside after dark, they
covered their faces with masks. They hoped any ghosts they met would think they were ghosts
too and would leave them alone. In early America, the Native Americans and the first
Europeans celebrated the end of the harvest, but not Halloween. When Irish people arrived,
the harvest festival started to look more like Halloween and it became popular across the
country. In the late 19th century, people tried to make Halloween less about ghosts and
religion and more about celebrating the season with a party for neighbours and family. That’s
why Americans today wear all kinds of Halloween costumes and not just scary things like
witches and ghosts like in other countries.

C) Trick or treat
This is another tradition that began in Europe, this time in England. When the church
introduced All Souls Day, rich people gave poor people ‘soul cakes’, a small cake made with
spices and raisins. It replaced the Celtic tradition of leaving food outside houses for the ghosts.
‘Going a-souling’ was popular in England for hundreds of years until about the 1930s. The
Americans kept the tradition, but today children knock on people’s doors and ask for sweets.
Going trick or treating is so popular that a quarter of the sweets for the year in the United
States are sold for this one day.

D) The rest of the world

Halloween has become the United States’ second-biggest commercial festival after Christmas.
Halloween is also celebrated in other countries, but it’s not as big as in the United States, even
in the countries where the traditions began. Mexico celebrates the Day of the Dead from 31
October to 2 November and some of its traditions, like giving gifts of sugar skulls, are starting
to mix with Halloween. In this way, the celebration of Halloween continues to change as new
traditions join the oldest of the Celtic ones.

Adapted from British Council Learn English

Reading and Use of English – Answer Key

Part 6
37. E 38. C 39. G 40. D 41. A 42. F

Part 7
43. B 45. A 47. B 49. D 51. B
44. C 46. A 48. B 50. C 52. A

Adapted from British Council Learn English