郭兰

Since the 800s， November 1st is a holiday known as All Saints Day. The evening before is known as All Halloween or Halloween. During the festival， poor people would beg for food and families would give them “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the familys dead relatives.

Halloween， however， has a special meaning for children today， who dress in funny or ghostly clothes and knock at neighborhood doors shouting “Trick or Treat！” Princesses， ghosts and witches all hold bags open to catch the candies or cakes that the neighbors drop in.

Today school dances and neighborhood parties called “block parties” are popular among young and old. They dress up as historical or political figures and go to costume parties. Teenagers enjoy costume dances at their schools. The more outrageous the costume is， the better it is！

Certain tricks such as soaping car windows and knocking at the neighbors windows are expected. But parties and tricks are not the only things that teenagers enjoy doing. Some collect money to buy food and medicine for poor children around the world.

Halloween began as a celebration concerned with bad spirits. Black is one of the traditional  Halloween  colors，  probably because  Halloween  festivals  and traditions take place at night. Pumpkins are also a symbol of Halloween. Carving pumpkins into Jack o lanterns is a Halloween custom originating in Ireland. When the Irish brought their customs to the United States， they carved faces on pumpkins instead of turnips because in the autumn pumpkins were more plentiful than turnips. Today Jack o lanterns in the windows of a house on Halloween night let costumed children know that there are candies waiting if they knock and say “Trick or Treat！”

Note： turnip n. 蔓菁

【難句解析】

1. Since the 800s， November 1st is a holiday known as All Saints Day.

释义：从公元800年开始，11月1号就是众所周知的传统节日——万圣节。

点拨：known as All Saints Day是过去分词作定语，修饰a holiday，因为a holiday与 known as之间是被动关系。过去分词与被修饰的名词在逻辑上为被动关系，过去分词的动作发生在谓语之前或没有时间性;现在分词与被修饰的名词在逻辑上是主动关系，现在分词表示动作正在发生或与谓语同时发生。例如：

What did you think of the play put on by Class Two？ 二班演的剧你觉得怎么样？

They lived in a room facing the north thirty years ago. 三十年前，他们住在一个朝北的房间里。

2. The more outrageous the costume is， the better it is！

释义：服装越骇人越受欢迎！

点拨：“the+比较级，the+比较级”句型表示“越……，越……”，表示一方的程度随着另一方的变化而变化。在通常情况下，前一个“the +比较级”相当于比较状语从句，后一个“the+比较级”为主句。例如：

The harder you study， the greater progress you will make. 你越努力学习，进步就越大。

The more I read the book， the more I liked it. 这本书我越看越喜欢。

3. But parties and tricks are not the only things that teenagers enjoy doing.

释义：青少年不仅仅喜欢开派对和搞恶作剧。

点拨：关系代词that引导定语从句修饰先行词things。当先行词被only， all， any， no， little， much， few， one of， every， very， some， exactly， same， 形容词最高级、序数词等修饰时，关系代词用that，不能用which。例如：

The first thing that you could do was to turn off the light. 你首先要做的就是熄滅灯。

There is little work that is fit for you. 几乎没有适合你的工作。

4. Today Jack o lanterns in the windows of a house on Halloween night let costumed children know that there are candies waiting if they knock and say “Trick or Treat！”

释义：现在，如果在万圣节的晚上人们在窗户上挂上南瓜灯就表明，那些穿着万圣节服装的人可以来敲门捣鬼要糖果。

点拨：that引导 there are candies waiting if they knock and say “Trick or Treat ！”这个句子作know的宾语从句。在宾语从句中有一个存在句，waiting作定语，修饰candies，if they knock and say “Trick or Treat”是条件状语从句。例如：

There is a car collecting the rubbish over there. 那儿有辆车在收垃圾。

【阅读链接】

I. Choose the right answer.

1. According to the passage， which of the following statements about Halloween is TRUE？

A. People celebrate Halloween to honor the ancestors.

B. Only children can enjoy themselves on Halloween.

C. People use beautiful flowers to decorate their houses during the holiday.

D. Over the years， there have been some changes in Halloween traditions.

2. The “Princesses， ghosts and witches” in Paragraph 2 refers to ____.

A. people exiting in the imagination of children

B. the grown-ups dressing up to please children

C. the children dressing up on this special holiday

D. the actors or actresses invited to celebrate the holiday

3. Children celebrate Halloween in the following ways EXCEPT ____.

A. playing some little tricks on their neighbors

B. dressing up and attending costume parties

C. doing destructive things which are usually not allowed

D. doing some good deeds to help those in trouble

4. According to the passage， why did Irish choose pumpkins instead of turnips？

A. Because pumpkins were much cheaper.

B. Because pumpkins were suitable to make lanterns.

C. Because there were more pumpkins in autumn.

D. Because Irish people wanted to make some change.

5. What is the probable meaning of the underlined word “outrageous” in the third paragraph？

A. Attractive.  B. Unusual.        C. Funny.      D. Expensive.

II. Fill in the blanks.

1. Margaret Thatcher， ____ ____ （被称为） the Iron Lady， was one of the toughest political women in the world.

2. I have finished reading all the books ____ I borrowed from the library.

3. She intended to ____ ____ ____ （打扮成） a ghost.

4. He asked me another question ____ ____ ____ （代替回答） me.

5. There are fewer than 2，000 pandas ____ （生活） in the remaining forests.

6. ____ ____ （越忙） he is， ____ ____ （越高兴） he feels.