Halloween, more than an American tradition - PAU inglés 2013

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos Andalucía

Halloween, a Celtic Irish tradition and one of the world's oldest holidays, is still celebrated today in many countries. All Souls' Day, a festivity two days after Halloween, is the most important part of the celebration for many people in Mexico, Latin America and Spain. In Ireland and Canada, where Halloween was once a frightening and superstitious time of year, the festivity is now celebrated as in the United States, with trick-or-treating, costume parties, and fun for all ages. Although most people believe it is an American holiday, the custom was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants escaping their country's potato famine.

The word “Halloween" comes from a contraction of “All Hallows Eve”. The expression referred to the eve of "All Hallows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), the Catholic festivity celebrated on November 1st. 

Different practices and symbols are associated to Halloween. The custom of trick-or-treat is believed to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European tradition called souling, in which early Christians walked from village to village asking for "soul cakes" or square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars received, the more prayers they promised to say for the dead relatives of the donors.
The carved pumpkin, also called Jack-o-lantern, is perhaps the most famous icon of the holiday. This custom probably comes from Irish folklore. The Irish used turnips originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more abundant than turnips, and so the Jack-o-lantern became an emptied pumpkin in America.

RESPUESTAS

I. READING COMPREHENSION

ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-3 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS.

• 1. How is Halloween celebrated nowadays in Ireland? Explain. PAR.1
• 2. Why is Halloween not an American tradition? PAR.1
• 3. Justify the reason why Halloween is a word with a Catholic origin. PAR.2

ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
4. It seems that the trick-or-treating tradition doesn’t come from the Celts.

• TRUE: The custom of trick-or-treat is believed to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European tradition called souling. (Lines 9-10). 

5. In the old days, Irish Jack-o-lanterns were emptied turnips.

• TRUE: The Irish used turnips originally (Line 14).

II. USE OF ENGLISH

6. FIND IN THE TEXT ONE SYNONYM FOR “entertainment” (noun).

• fun 

7. FIND IN THE TEXT ONE WORD / EXPRESSION MEANING “lack of food for an extended period of time”.

• famine 

8. WHICH WORD DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME MEANING?

• terrified / scared / worried / frightened.

9. COMPLETE THE SERIES WITH ANOTHER WORD FROM THE SAME SEMANTIC GROUP.

• apparition / spirit / phantom / ghost

10. FILL IN THE GAP WITH THE CORRECT OPTION: (good / better / best)

• “The more you drive the better driver you will become”.

11. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO THE ACTIVE VOICE.
“The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants.”

• Irish immigrants brought the custom of Haloween to America in 1840's. 

12. REWRITE THE SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED.
“You ought to spend more time with your children this year.”

• You had better spend more time with your children this year.

13. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS.
“The Jack-o-Lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore”.

•  Where does the Jack-o-Lantern custom come from?

III. PRODUCTION

14. WRITE A COMPOSITION OF APPROXIMATELY 120 WORDS ABOUT THE PROPOSED TOPIC AND FOCUS STRICTLY ON IT:

• What is your favourite celebration of the year? Why?

+EXÁMENES RESUELTOS