李蓓供稿

Are you ready to have some fun？ Halloween（万圣节） is coming soon. It is an interesting and scary（恐怖的） festival in the West（西方）. People make scary things and wear special（特别的） clothes on Halloween. Lots of kids like it very much. What do they do on that day？

Dressing up in costumes

化装舞会

Come and join the costume party（化装舞会） on Halloween！

About one week before the day， kids begin to prepare（准备） their own costumes（服装）. Some girls will dress like witches（女巫）. Boys may choose zombies（僵尸） or superheroes.

They will also play some games. Apple bobbing（咬苹果） is a popular（流行的） one. There are lots of apples in water. Kids have to grab（抓住） them. But they can only use their mouth. Do you want to try？

Jack-o' -lantern

奇妙南瓜灯

On Halloween， people use pumpkins to make Jack-o’-lanterns. In the past， they used the lanterns to scare away（吓跑） evil spirits（恶魔）. Now， it is more for fun.

How do they make it？ Pick a pumpkin. Cut a big hole（洞） in it. Make the pumpkin hollow（空的）. Then draw a face on one side and carve（雕刻） it out. Finally， put a candle in it. This is your own（自己的） Jack-o’-lantern！

Trick or treat

不给糖就捣蛋

What’s the best part of Halloween？ Trick or treat！ On that night， kids will knock on their neighbors’ doors. They say， “Trick or treat！” If they get candies， they will go away. If not， they will play a trick on them.

But many kids do not do it just for fun. Since the 1950s， there is a “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF（联合国儿童基金会）” program（项目）. Kids in the US and many other countries now take part in the program. They play “Trick or treat” and ask their neighbors for small change（零錢）， not candy. Then they give the money to help other kids in developing countries（发展中国家）.

Do you know？

你知道吗？

Jack-o’-lanterns come from Ireland（爱尔兰）. People there used turnips（萝卜） to make lanterns. But later（后来） people in the US liked to use pumpkins. It is bigger and softer（更柔软的） to carve.

（李 蓓   供 稿）