[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-487050-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-487050-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","the-hungry-ghost-festival-reading-comprehension-questions-487050","The Hungry Ghost Festival - Reading Comprehension Questions","","A passage describes Singapore and Southeast Asian celebrations of the Hungry Ghost Festival, held during the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It explains the meaning behind empty front-row seats, rooted in the belief that unseen spirits visit the living. The text compares Buddhist and Taoist origins, describes the burning of joss paper and evolving offerings, and highlights live entertainment such as Chinese opera and getai. It concludes with practices of respect and cautious courtesy during the month.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-hungry-ghost-festival-reading-comprehension-questions-487050/487050/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-hungry-ghost-festival-reading-comprehension-questions-487050/487050.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"dawugda","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-09-30",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What do the empty front-row seats at the concert represent?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"They are reserved for honored visiting spirits, not for latecomers or performers.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How did the festival remain recognizable when spread to other countries?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It kept its core purpose of honoring the departed while blending with local customs.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why did joss paper offerings change into items like smartphones and cars?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Offerings evolved to match what people in their time believed the living found valuable.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},487050,1790833684,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":115,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},3985747870947,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Picture a warm summer night in Singapore where an entire front row of chairs sits empty at a loud, glittering concert, and no one dares to take a seat. Those seats are not for latecomers or VIPs; they are reserved for guests you cannot see. This is the Hungry Ghost Festival, held during the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which usually falls in August or September. For a whole month, families across China and much of Southeast Asia set out food, light candles, and put on shows for spirits that are believed to visit the living world.  \nThose empty front-row seats belong to a celebration that grew from not one religion, but two, braided together over centuries. In Buddhist tradition the seventh month is tied to a story about a monk named Mulian, who is said to have rescued his suffering mother through good deeds and offerings. In Taoist belief, the gates of the afterlife are thought to open during this month, letting spirits roam freely for about thirty days. People blended these ideas until the festival carried both meanings at once, honoring ancestors while showing kindness to wandering souls with no family to remember them. Few holidays can trace their roots so clearly to two separate faiths sharing the same date.  \nSharing a date meant sharing customs, and one of the oldest is the burning of joss paper. Joss paper, sometimes called \"ghost money,\" is decorative paper that families burn so their ancestors will have riches to spend in the afterlife. Long ago the offerings were simple sheets stamped with gold or silver squares, but the custom kept up with the times in a surprising way. Today you can find paper folded into shapes of smartphones, cars, and even tiny paper houses, all meant to go up in smoke as gifts. The idea stayed the same for hundreds of years, but the objects changed to match whatever the living find valuable.  \nIf burning gifts feeds the spirits' pockets, the live shows are meant to feed their need for entertainment. For generations, communities hired Chinese opera troupes to perform on outdoor stages, filling the night with painted faces, clashing cymbals, and singing that carried down the street. In recent decades a livelier cousin appeared in Singapore and Malaysia called getai, which means \"song stage. \" Getai performers belt out pop songs and crack jokes under flashing lights, drawing big crowds of the living even as the front row waits for the dead. That first row stays empty out of respect, because those seats are believed to be the best in the house for the honored guests.  \nRespect, in fact, is the thread that ties the whole month together, from the quietest offering to the noisiest stage. Families lay out favorite dishes, fresh fruit, and cups of tea, treating unseen visitors as guests rather than something to fear. Some people avoid swimming, moving into a new home, or traveling during this month, not out of terror but out of caution and courtesy. This is why calling it a \"Chinese Halloween\"misses the point entirely; it is its own holiday with its own history and its own reasons.  \nUnderstanding those reasons helps explain why the festival has traveled so far without losing its heart. Chinese communities carried it to Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and beyond, where it mixed with local  \ncustoms while keeping the same core of honoring the departed. In some cities, giant paper statues of a guardian spirit are built and later burned as the celebrations end. The most surprising part may be the simplest one: on stages blazing with neon and sound, the loudest party of the year begins by leaving the very best seats empty for those who cannot clap.  \nThe Hungry Ghost Festival  \nName:  \n\n| Solve each problem.\u003Cbr>Use the article to answer the question.\u003Cbr>1) What do the empty front-row seats at a festival concert represent?\u003Cbr>A. Seats held for late arrivals B. Seats kept for the performers\u003Cbr>C. Seats reserved for visiting spirits D. Seats saved for honored elders |  |  |  |  | Answers\u003Cbr>1.  \u003C","cbCaik8waJkFcYaS","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaik8waJkFcYaS","pdf",98157,"English","# Reading Comprehension\n## Questions and Multiple-Choice Answers","[{\"question\":\"What do the empty front-row seats at the concert represent?\",\"answer\":\"They are reserved for honored visiting spirits, not for latecomers or performers.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the festival remain recognizable when spread to other countries?\",\"answer\":\"It kept its core purpose of honoring the departed while blending with local customs.\"},{\"question\":\"Why did joss paper offerings change into items like smartphones and cars?\",\"answer\":\"Offerings evolved to match what people in their time believed the living found valuable.\"}]","The Hungry Ghost Festival - Reading Comprehension Questions | PDF",1790807718,23]