Halloween, which falls on October 31, is a festive time for children to dress up and go trick-or-treating. Many adults also get into the spirit by donning costumes and attending parties. For many retailers, it’s one of the most __1__ times of the year. They profit greatly from the sales of Halloween decorations, candy, and costumes. But how did this fun and spooky tradition originate? It turns out that the beginnings of Halloween can be __2__ 2,000 years.
Two millennia ago, a collection of tribes called the Celts occupied a region that now __3__ Ireland, the United Kingdom, and parts of France. They celebrated the New Year on November 1, at the end of the harvest and the beginning of darker and colder weather. The Celts considered the night before their New Year to be a very mysterious time. They believed ghosts returned to Earth at that time, so they held a special festival to mark the __4__, which they called Samhain. Later, after the Romans conquered the Celtic people, Samhain was joined with two Roman festivals. One of the festivals honored the dead, and __5__ paid tribute to the goddess of fruit and trees.
With the spread of Christianity into Celtic lands, traditions began to change even more. The Christians created a day at the start of November to honor saints and martyrs. They called it All Saints Day, which was also known as All Hallows. The night before it, which was the day that Samhain had been originally celebrated, became known as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween.
1. (A) hostile (B) intensive (C) prosperous (D) economical
2. (A) broken into (B) covered with (C) laid down (D) traced back
3. (A) transforms (B) comprises (C) distributes (D) maintains
4. (A) occasion (B) interaction (C) departure (D) monument
5. (A) other (B) another (C) the other (D) still other
