GHOSTS AND WITCHES

Halloween means “holy evening”, and takes place on October 31st. Although it is a much more important festival in the United States than Britain, it is celebrated by many people in the UK. It is particularly connected with witches and ghosts.

At parties people dress up in strange costumes and pretend they are witches. They cut horrible faces in pumpkins and other vegetables and put a candle inside, which shines through the eyes. People may play difficult games such as trying to eat an apple from a bucket of water without using their hands.

In recent years children dressed in white sheets knock on doors at Halloween and ask if you would like a “trick” or “treat”. If you give them something nice, a “treat”, they go away. However, if you don’t, they play a “trick” on you, such as making a lot of noise or spilling flour on your front doorstep!

From: SHEERIN, S.; SEATH, J.; WHITE, G. Spotlight on Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 12. (Adapted)

Select the proposition(s) in which both sentences (a) and (b) can meaningfully complete the text.

Although Halloween, on October 31st, is not an official holiday, it is a very special day.

(a)__________________________________________. The windows of many houses have Halloween decorations and lanterns made of pumpkins. In the evening, the children go from house to house, knocking on doors and saying “trick or treat”.

(b)___________________________________________. If they don’t, the children might play a small trick on them!

01. a) If people have no time for it, they put gifts in boxes and deliver them to their homes.

b) A friend is always there to help them to buy what they want.

02. a) On Halloween, children dress in costumes as all kinds of things – as witches, ghosts, monsters and pirates.

b) The people in the houses give the children candy or some other treat.

04. a) Good books on this subject are sold everywhere during this festival.

b) Before leaving home, they tell their parents about their failures.

08. a) It’s common to meet people dressed up as strange characters on this day.

b) Almost all the people give them something.