The Origin of Trick-or-treat

On October 31, hordes of children armed with Jack-o’-lantern-shaped buckets and pillow cases will take to the streets in     1     of sugar. Trick-or-treating for candy is equivalent to Halloween, but the     2     had to go through a centuries-long evolution (发展) to arrive at the place it is today. So how did the holiday become a chance for kids to get free sweets? You can blame pagans (异教徒), Catholics, and candy companies.

Historians agree that a Celtic autumn festival called Samhain (萨温节) was the origin of modern Halloween. Samhain was a time to     3     the day symbolizing the last harvest of the year and the approach of the winter season. It was also a festival showing     4     to the dead. One way Celtics may have appeased (安抚) the spirits they believed still walked the Earth was by leaving treats on their doorsteps. When Catholics invaded Ireland in the 1st century CE, they rebranded (重塑) many pagan holidays to     5     their religion. November 1st became the “feasts of All Saints and All Souls,” and the day before it was dubbed “All-Hallows-Eve.” The new holidays looked a lot different from the original Celtic festival, but many traditions     6     around, including the practice of offering food to the dead. The food of choice for Christians became “soul cakes,” small pastries usually baked with expensive     7     and spices like currants and saffron.

Instead of leaving them outside for passing ghosts, soul cakes were given to beggars who went door-to-door promising to pray for souls of the deceased (已故的) in     8     for something to eat. Sometimes they wore costumes to honour the saints — something pagans originally did to avoid being disturbed by evil spirits. The ritual, known as “souling”, is believed to have planted the seeds for modern-day trick-or-treating.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that trick-or-treat gained popularity in the US. Following the Great Depression and World War Ⅱ, the suburbs were booming, and people were looking for more     9     to have fun and get to know their neighbours. The old practice of souling made a comeback and gave kids a chance to dress up in costumes and walk around their     10    . Common trick-or-treat offerings included nuts, coins, and homemade baked goods (“treats” that most kids would turn their noses up at today).

A Mother’s Day surprise

The twins were filled with excitement as they thought of the surprise they were planning for Mother’s Day. How pleased and proud Mother would be when they brought her breakfast in bed. They planned to make French toast and chicken porridge. They had watched their mother in the kitchen. There was nothing to it Jenna and Jeff knew exactly what to do.

The big day came at last. The alarm rang at 6 a.m. The pair went down the stairs quietly to the kitchen. They decided to boil the porridge first. They put some rice into a pot of water and left it to boil while they made the French toast. Jeff broke two eggs into a plate and added in some milk.Jenna found the bread and put two slices into the egg mixture. Next, Jeff turned on the second stove burner to heat up the frying pan. Everything was going smoothly until Jeff started frying the bread. The pan was too hot and the bread turned black within seconds. Jenna threw the burnt piece into the sink and put in the other slice of bread. This time, she turned down the fire so it cooked nicely.

Then Jeff noticed steam shooting out of the pot and the lid starting to shake. The next minute, the porridge boiled over and put out the fire. Jenna panicked. Thankfully, Jeff stayed calm and turned off the gas quickly. But the stove was a mess now. Jenna told Jeff to clean it up so they could continue to cook the rest of the porridge. But Jeff’s hand touched the hot burner and he gave a cry of pain. Jenna made him put his hand in cold water. Then she caught the smell of burning. Oh dear! The piece of bread in the pan had turned black as well.

Many of us like to eat out. We treat     1    to delicious food. We are used to choosing rich, fat-filled dishes and sugar-charged desserts, which are not easily cooked at home.

The recent rise of light meals, however, gives us a     2    choice. According to Economic Daily, low-calorie, low-fat and high-fiber (高纤维的) meals     3    popular in China’s restaurants and online food order apps.

The country saw the fast     4    of restaurants specializing in light meals, from just 600 in 2018 to more than 3,500 in 2019. According to a report by Meituan, a main online food order app, the number of light meals     5    online also rose 75 percent from the past year.

    6    a light meal, however, doesn’t mean eating only vegetables. Different from the meat-free lifestyle, a typical light dish avoids     7    , oily and spicy food. Instead, it includes things like boiled meat, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Healthy nutrients (营养成分) are the theme of the light meal.

These dishes are useful for keeping healthy and controlling your weight. That’s     8    why so many people, especially millennials (千禧一代), are into them. We see it as “a great way     9    becoming heavier,” wrote the Telegraph．

These changes in eating behavior     10     to deeper changes in how people think about food, says Walter Willett, chair of the Harvard T. Chan School of Public Health, US.“Diet quality, not quantity (数量), is important for both weight control and long term well-being, ” Willett told The New York Times.

So the next time you have a party with friends, try a light meal. It will satisfy not only your stomachs but maybe also your hearts.