郭蘭

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.

釋義：從公元800年開始，11月1號就是眾所周知的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日——萬圣節(jié)。

點撥：known as All Saints Day是過去分詞作定語，修飾a holiday，因為a holiday與 known as之間是被動關(guān)系。過去分詞與被修飾的名詞在邏輯上為被動關(guān)系，過去分詞的動作發(fā)生在謂語之前或沒有時間性;現(xiàn)在分詞與被修飾的名詞在邏輯上是主動關(guān)系，現(xiàn)在分詞表示動作正在發(fā)生或與謂語同時發(fā)生。例如：

What did you think of the play put on by Class Two？ 二班演的劇你覺得怎么樣？

They lived in a room facing the north thirty years ago. 三十年前，他們住在一個朝北的房間里。

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

釋義：服裝越駭人越受歡迎！

點撥：“the+比較級，the+比較級”句型表示“越……，越……”，表示一方的程度隨著另一方的變化而變化。在通常情況下，前一個“the +比較級”相當(dāng)于比較狀語從句，后一個“the+比較級”為主句。例如：

The harder you study， the greater progress you will make. 你越努力學(xué)習(xí)，進步就越大。

The more I read the book， the more I liked it. 這本書我越看越喜歡。

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

釋義：青少年不僅僅喜歡開派對和搞惡作劇。

點撥：關(guān)系代詞that引導(dǎo)定語從句修飾先行詞things。當(dāng)先行詞被only， all， any， no， little， much， few， one of， every， very， some， exactly， same， 形容詞最高級、序數(shù)詞等修飾時，關(guān)系代詞用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燈。

There is little work that is fit for you. 幾乎沒有適合你的工作。

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！”

釋義：現(xiàn)在，如果在萬圣節(jié)的晚上人們在窗戶上掛上南瓜燈就表明，那些穿著萬圣節(jié)服裝的人可以來敲門搗鬼要糖果。

點撥：that引導(dǎo) there are candies waiting if they knock and say “Trick or Treat ！”這個句子作know的賓語從句。在賓語從句中有一個存在句，waiting作定語，修飾candies，if they knock and say “Trick or Treat”是條件狀語從句。例如：

There is a car collecting the rubbish over there. 那兒有輛車在收垃圾。

【閱讀鏈接】

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， ____ ____ （被稱為） 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， ____ ____ （越高興） he feels.