Halloween Around the World

Sep 30, 2026

Passage traces how Halloween developed from ancient Ireland’s Samhain—bonfires, masks, and safer disguises—into today’s global holiday. It explains key cultural links, from All Hallows’ Eve and Irish/Scottish guising with glowing turnips, to jack-o’-lantern pumpkins after migration to North America. It then compares regional practices in the UK and Ireland, notes North American trick-or-treat popularity and spending, and highlights modern celebrations worldwide, including Japan, while distinguishing Mexico’s Day of the Dead. Includes reading comprehension questions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Reading Comprehension Questions

Passage-based Questions

Picture a village in Ireland more than 2,000 years ago, on the last night of October. People are lighting big bonfires that crackle and glow against the cold dark, and some are wearing masks made of animal skins. This night was called Samhain (say it "SOW-in"), and it marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter. People told a story that on this one night the door between summer and winter swung open, so they lit fires and wore disguises to feel safe. Those glowing bonfires slowly grew into the holiday we now call Halloween. The name comes from "All Hallows' Eve," the night before a Christian holy day, and over hundreds of years the old customs of Ireland and Scotland blended with it. Back then, children in Scotland went "guising,"dressing up and singing songs or telling jokes to earn a treat like nuts or fruit. Can you guess what they carried to light their way? Hollowed-out turnips with faces carved into them, glowing from a coal inside! Those carved turnips crossed the ocean when families from Ireland and Scotland moved to the United States and Canada in the 1800s. In their new home they found pumpkins, which are much bigger and softer to carve, so the jack-o'-lantern got a plump orange makeover. Trick-or-treating grew popular in North America in the 1900s, and today kids ring doorbells for candy in costumes of every kind. According to a National Retail Federation survey, Americans plan to spend billions of dollars on Halloween each year, much of it on candy and costumes. While North America was busy filling pillowcases with candy, the United Kingdom kept some of its own older traditions alive. In parts of England, people once went "souling," walking house to house to ask for small spiced cakes. In Ireland today, families still bake a fruity bread called barmbrack and hide small objects inside, and the object you find is said to hint at your year ahead. Games like bobbing for apples in a tub of water have been played on this night for a very long time. Halloween keeps traveling, and in the last few decades it has popped up in new places like Japan and Germany. In Tokyo, huge crowds of people in costumes gather in the streets just to show off their outfits and take photos. It is important to know that some nearby holidays are not Halloween at all: Mexico's Day of the Dead, with its marigolds and family altars, is its own celebration honoring loved ones. So the next time you carve a pumpkin, remember it started as a humble turnip glowing in an Irish autumn night! Halloween Around the World Name: | Solve each problem.
Use the article to answer the question.
1) What did people in Ireland call the night described at the beginning of the passage?
A. Souling B. Guising C. Barmbrack D. Samhain | | | | | Answers
1.
2. | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2) How does the author help readers understand how popular Halloween is in America today?
A. By listing every candy that is sold in October stores
B. By explaining the rules for the game of souling
C. By naming a National Retail Federation survey about spending billions of dollars
D. By describing a bonfire that people light in Ireland | | | | | 3.
4.
5. | | | | | | | 3) Why did the jack-o'-lantern change from a turnip to a pumpkin?
A. Farmers in Ireland stopped growing turnips and switched to pumpkins.
B. People decided turnips were too dangerous to hold a glowing coal inside.
C. Families arriving in North America found pumpkins, which are bigger and softer to carve.
D. Stores refused to sell turnips during the month of October. | | | | | 6.
7.
8.
9. | | | | | | | 4) When did families from Ireland and Scotland bring their customs to the United States and Canada?
A. In the last few decades B. In the 1800s
C. More than 2,000 years ago D. During the 1900s only | | | | | 10. | | | | | | | 5) What did chi

FAQs

What did people in Ireland call the night described at the beginning of the passage?

They called it Samhain.

Why did the jack-o'-lantern change from a turnip to a pumpkin?

Families in North America found pumpkins, which were bigger and softer to carve.

What overall structure does the author mostly use to organize the passage?

The passage mainly compares how Halloween spread and changed as it traveled to different places.

Sep 30, 2026

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