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The passage explains the end-of-harvest meaning, beliefs about the boundary between the living and spirit worlds, and the role of bonfires, offerings, and disguises. It then traces the church calendar changes leading to All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day and clarifies the word “hallow.” Questions assess main idea, paragraph structure, word meaning, and specific details about Samhain and related festivals worldwide.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":20,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-origins-of-halloween-problem-set-reading-comprehension/486472/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-origins-of-halloween-problem-set-reading-comprehension/486472.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"ahduag","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-02","2026-09-30",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What did the festival of Samhain mark, according to the passage?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"Samhain marked the end of the harvest and the start of the dark, cold half of the year.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"Why did some Celts wear disguises made of animal skins during Samhain?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"They believed disguises would prevent unfriendly spirits from recognizing them.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"How does the passage explain where the word “Halloween” comes from?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"It comes from older church terms related to “hallow,” meaning holy, tied to All Hallows’ Eve and related observances.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},486472,1790866000,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":46,"preview_page_count":4},3985747870414,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","You probably think Halloween has always been about candy, costumes, and doorbells ringing after dark—but the holiday is actually older than nearly every country on the map. Roll the clock back about 2,000 years, and you would find no plastic pumpkins at all. Instead, you would find the Celtic peoples of what is now Ireland, Britain, and northern France gathering for a festival called Samhain (say it \"SOW-in\") . It marked the end of the harvest and the start of the dark, cold half of the year. Imagine crops safely stored, the last leaves falling, and everyone bracing for winter—that was the mood of the very first \"Halloween. \"  \nThat end-of-harvest feeling was tied to something the Celts believed about the calendar itself. They thought that on the night of Samhain, the boundary between the living world and the world of spirits grew thin, almost like a curtain you could see through. People told stories that on this one night, spirits and the souls of the dead could wander back among the living. To some it felt spooky, but it was also a chance to honor those who had died. Whether or not the boundary was really thin, the idea shaped how the whole festival was celebrated.  \nThe most powerful part of that celebration was fire. On Samhain, communities built huge bonfires on hilltops, and the flames could be seen for miles across the dark countryside. Priests known as Druids led the gatherings, and people threw crops and offerings into the blaze for good luck in the coming year. Sometimes folks wore disguises made of animal skins, hoping that if any unfriendly spirits were about, they simply would not recognize them. Can you see the connection to costumes today? The idea of dressing up so you cannot be spotted is thousands of years old.  \nThose flickering bonfires eventually met a very different tradition coming from the Christian church. By the 800s, the church set aside November 1 as All Saints' Day, a day to honor saints and holy people, also called All Hallows. The night before it became All Hallows' Eve—and if you shorten and squeeze those words together, you get \"Halloween. \"November 2 was later marked as All Souls' Day, a separate day for remembering all who had died. So the name you shout every October actually comes from an old word, \"hallow,\"that simply means holy.  \nIt is worth remembering that Halloween is only one of many ways people around the  \nworld honor the changing seasons and those who came before them. Mexico's Day of the Dead and Japan's Obon festival are their own celebrations, with their own meanings—not versions of Halloween. Today Americans spend billions of dollars each year on costumes, candy, and decorations, according to a National Retail Federation survey. Yet underneath the store-bought fangs and glow sticks sits a festival that began with farmers, firelight, and the turning of the year. The next time you carve a pumpkin, remember you are taking part in something that started before the Roman Empire had even fallen.  \nThe Origins of Halloween  \nName:  \n\n| Solve each problem.\u003Cbr>Use the article to answer the question.\u003Cbr>1) According to the passage, what did the festival of Samhain mark?\u003Cbr>A. The middle of the growing season\u003Cbr>B. The longest day of the summer year\u003Cbr>C. The first day of the new spring planting\u003Cbr>D. The end of the harvest and the start of winter |  |  |  |  | Answers\u003Cbr>1.  \u003Cbr>2.  \u003Cbr>3.   |  |  |  |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| 2) What point does the author make about Day of the Dead and Obon?\u003Cbr>A. They are older festivals that Halloween was directly copied from\u003Cbr>B. They are the same festival celebrated under different names\u003Cbr>C. They are newer holidays created after Halloween became popular\u003Cbr>D. They are their own celebrations with their own meanings, not versions of Halloween |  |  |  |  | 4.  \u003Cbr>5.  \u003Cbr>6.  \u003Cbr>7.   |  |  |  |  |  |\n| 3) Why did some Celts wear disguises made of animal skins during Samhain?\u003Cbr>A. So that they wo","cbCaigQ3Vo0A9BZY","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigQ3Vo0A9BZY","pdf",98071,"English","# The Origins of Halloween\n## Reading Questions\n## Answer Choices","[{\"question\":\"What did the festival of Samhain mark, according to the passage?\",\"answer\":\"Samhain marked the end of the harvest and the start of the dark, cold half of the year.\"},{\"question\":\"Why did some Celts wear disguises made of animal skins during Samhain?\",\"answer\":\"They believed disguises would prevent unfriendly spirits from recognizing them.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the passage explain where the word “Halloween” comes from?\",\"answer\":\"It comes from older church terms related to “hallow,” meaning holy, tied to All Hallows’ Eve and related observances.\"}]","The Origins of Halloween - Problem Set - Reading Comprehension | PDF",1790806464]