专业八级改错练习 第104期

Halloween’s origins date to the ancient Celtic festival __1__
of Samhain(pronounced sow-in). The Celts, which lived __2__
2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom,
and northern France, celebrated its new year on November 1.
This day marked the end of the summer and the harvest and __3__
the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was
often associated with human death. Celts believed that at the __4__
night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds
of the live and the dead became blurred. On the night of October __5__
31, they celebrated Samhain, when it believed that the ghosts __6__
of the dead returned to earth. In addiction to causing trouble and
damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the
other worldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic Priest,
make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent __7__
on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important
source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires,
Which the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices __8__
to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore
costumes, typically consisted of animal heads and skins, and __9__
attempted to assume each other’s fortunes. When the celebration __10__
was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished
earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them
during the coming winter.

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