Halloween
Halloween is a festival that takes place on October 31. In the United States children wear costumes and masks and go trick-or-treating. Many of them carve jack-o’-lantens out of pumpkins. Fortunetelling and storytelling about ghosts and witches are popular activities.
Halloween developed from new year festivals and festivals of the dead. Christian church established a festival on November 1 called All Saints’ Day so that people could continue to celebrate their festivals.
The Mass said on All Saints’ Day was called Allhallowmass. The day before All Saints’ Day was known all hallows’ Eve or All Hallow e’en.
The main Halloween activity for children is trick-or-treating. Children dress in costumes and masks and go from door to door saying «trick or treat». The neighbours give children such treats as candy, fruit and pennies so that children do not play tricks on them.
Jack-o’-lanterns are hallowed-out pumpkins with face carved into one side. Most jack-o’-lanterns contain a candle inside. An Irish legend says that jack-o’-lanterns are named after the man called Jack.
He could not enter heaven because he was a miser, and he could not enter hell because he had played jokes on devil. As a result, Jack has to walk on the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day.
Fortunetelling is an important part of Halloween. For example, a coin, a ring, and a thimble were baked into a cake. It was believed that the person who found the coin would become wealthy. The one who found the ring would marry soon. And the person who found the thimble would never get married. Today people practice cardreading or palmistry.
People once believed that there were many ghosts and witches on the Earth and that they met on October 31 to worship the devil. Today, people do not believe in ghosts and witches but they like to tell stories about them on Halloween.
The universe is enormous, so the chances of us being the only living creatures are small. Although we think we are intelligent and that we know a lot about Space, we have only explored a very small area. We might be the only creatures that can travel in Space, but it is unlikely.
In fact, some people say that we might have been visited by aliens. These people point to ‘wonders’ such as Stonehenge in Britain and the Nazca lines in Peru as proof that aliens have been here.
So, what are the chances that there is life out there?
Сделай мой ответ лучшим!
Dear Nikita,
I want to tell you about my family. It is not large. There are four people in our family - my dad, mum, my elder brother and me. They all love me and I love them, too. So we get on well with each other. Yesterday on Sunday we went shopping. Then we walked in the park and visited our granny. She lives not far from us. My mum Olga is 38 and she is a kindergarten teacher. She likes her work very much. Our granny Natasha is 61 and now she's a pensioner. When she was younger, she worked as a kindergarten teacher too. My dad Nick is 42 and he's a mechanic. He knows much about cars and he is a good driver too. When we go to the country he sometimes teaches my brother Svetoslav to drive the car. Svetoslav is 17 years old. This year he finishes school and will try to enter the Medical Academy. He studies hard to pass his exams. Sometimes he helps me with my homework. Our family is friendly. We try to help each other with everything. That's all for now.
Hope to get your email soon. Keep in touch.
Best wishes,
Olga
Дорогой Никита,
Я хочу рассказать тебе о своей семье. Она не большая. В нашей семье четыре человека - папа, мама, старший брат и я. Они все любят меня и я их тоже люблю. Так что мы хорошо ладим друг с другом. Вчера в воскресенье мы пошли по магазинам. Потом мы гуляли в парке и навещали бабушку. Она живет недалеко от нас. Моей маме Ольге 38 лет, она воспитательница детского сада. Ей очень нравится ее работа. Нашей бабушке Наташе 61 год, она пенсионерка. Когда она была моложе, она тоже работала воспитателем в детском саду. Моему отцу Николаю 42 года, он механик. Он много знает об автомобилях, и он очень хороший водитель. Когда мы едем на дачу, он иногда учит моего брата Святослава водить машину. Святославу 17 лет. В этом году он заканчивает школу и попытается поступить в медицинскую Академию. Он усердно учится, чтобы сдать экзамены. Иногда он мне с домашними заданиями. Наша семья очень дружная. Мы стараемся друг другу во всем. На данный момент у меня все.
Надеюсь скоро получить твой ответ по email. Поддерживай связь.
С наилучшими пожеланиями,
Ольга