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　　阅读是英语中分值比较高的部分，如何提高阅读能力呢?只能多看、多做、多分析，所以小编为2020考研考生准备了2020考研英语阅读资料，供大家参考!

　　1. CARVING HALLOWEEN JACK-O'-LANTERNS

　　雕刻万圣节南瓜灯

　　Jack-O'-Lanterns, which originated in Ireland using turnips instead of pumpkins, are supposedlybased on a legend about a man named Stingy Jack who repeatedly trapped the Devil and onlylet him go on the condition that Jack would never go to Hell. When he died, however, Jacklearned that Heaven didn't really want his soul either, so he was condemned to wander theEarth as a ghost for all eternity. The Devil gave Jack a lump of burning coal in a carved-outturnip to light his way. Eventually, locals began carving frightening faces into their own gourdsto scare off evil spirits.

　　南瓜灯起源于爱尔兰，最开始是由萝卜雕的，不是南瓜。传说有个绰号叫“吝啬鬼杰克”的男人屡次捉住魔鬼，并且要魔鬼允诺永远不会让他下地狱才肯放掉魔鬼。然而，他去世时才知道，天堂也不愿意接受他的灵魂，所以他只能做孤魂野鬼，永远在人间游荡。魔鬼给了杰克一个装有燃煤的雕刻萝卜作为照明的灯笼。久而久之，当地人也开始在他们的南瓜上雕刻狰狞的面容，以驱赶恶灵。

　　2. SEEING GHOSTS

　　幽灵出没

　　Celtic people believed that during the festival Samhain, which marked the transition to thenew year at the end of the harvest and beginning of the winter, spirits walked the Earth. Later, the introduction of All Souls Day on November 2 by Christian missionaries perpetuated the ideaof a mingling between the living and the dead around the same time of year.

　　凯尔特人认为，在萨温节期间，幽灵便在人间徘徊。萨温节标志着新的一年的开始(在古凯尔特人的信仰里，新的一年于11月1日开始)和收获季到冬天的过渡。之后，基督教传教士在11月2号设立了万灵节，宣扬称生者和死者会在一年的这个时间相聚。

　　3. WEARING SCARY COSTUMES

　　穿吓人的衣服

　　With all these ghosts wandering around the Earth during Samhain, the Celts had to getcreative to avoid being terrorized by evil spirits. To fake out the ghosts, people would dondisguises so they would be mistaken for spirits themselves and left alone.

　　传说萨温节期间有许多可怕的幽灵游荡人间，凯尔特人必须巧妙设法避开它们。为了瞒过恶灵，人们会将自己打扮成幽灵的样子，这样幽灵便会误以为对方是同类而离开。

　　4. GOING TRICK-OR-TREATING, THE PAGAN WAY

　　非基督教版本的“不给糖就捣蛋”

　　There is a lot of debate around the origins of trick-or-treating. One theory proposes that duringSamhain, Celtic people would leave out food to placate the souls and ghosts and spiritstraveling the Earth that night. Eventually, people began dressing up as these otherworldlybeings in exchange for similar offerings of food and drink.

　　关于“不给糖就捣蛋”传统的来源有很多争议，其中一种说法是，凯尔特人在萨温节期间会摆出食物来安抚那天夜里在人间徘徊的亡灵和鬼神。后来，人们也开始打扮成亡灵的样子，来换取食物和饮料。

　　5. GOING TRICK-OR-TREATING, THE SCOTTISH WAY

　　苏格兰版本的“不给糖就捣蛋”

　　Other researchers speculate that the candy bonanza stems from the Scottish practice ofguising, itself a secular version of souling. In the Middle Ages, soulers, usually children andpoor adults, would go to local homes and collect food or money in return for prayers said forthe dead on All Souls' Day. Guisers ditched the prayers in favor of non-religious performanceslike jokes, songs, or other "tricks".

　　还有些学者猜测这一传统来源于苏格兰的化装习俗——将自己装扮成世俗的幽灵。在中世纪时期，儿童和贫穷的成人通常会装扮成幽灵，到本地人的家里乞求食物或钱，并以在万灵节为死者祈祷作为回报。随着时间流逝，化装者不再用祈祷，而是用笑话、歌曲或其他“把戏”等非宗教表演作为回报。

　　6. GOING TRICK-OR-TREATING, THE AMERICAN WAY

　　美国版本的“不给糖就捣蛋”

　　Some sources argue that our modern trick-or-treating stems from belsnickling, a tradition inGerman-American communities where children would dress in costume and then call on theirneighbors to see if the adults could guess the identities of the disguised guests. In one versionof the practice, the children were rewarded with food or other treats if no one could identifythem.

　　一些来源指出，现代的“不给糖就捣蛋”来源于德裔美国人社区的一个名叫“贝斯尼克”的传统。孩子们化装好，然后去拜访邻居，看他们能否猜出装扮后的客人是谁。在其中一个版本的习俗中，如果没被认出来，这个孩子就可以得到食物或者其他奖励。

　　7. GETTING SPOOKED BY BLACK CATS

　　不祥的黑猫

　　The association of black cats and spookiness actually dates all the way back to the MiddleAges, when these dark kitties were considered a symbol of the Devil. It didn't help the felines'reputations when, centuries later, accused witches were often found to have cats, especiallyblack ones, as companions. People started believing that the cats were a witch's "familiar"—animals that gave them an assist with their dark magic—and the two have been linked eversince.

　　黑猫和幽灵的联系可以追溯到中世纪，当时黑色的小猫被视为魔鬼的象征。即使在几个世纪以后，黑猫的名声也没有好转，因为被指控为巫婆的人通常都有猫作伴，特别是黑猫。人们开始相信猫是巫婆“亲密”的伙伴，并能助长她们的黑魔法。自此之后两者便常常被联系在一起。

　　8. BOBBING FOR APPLES

　　咬苹果游戏

　　This game traces its origins to a courting ritual that was part of a Roman festival honoringPomona, the goddess of agriculture and abundance. Multiple variations existed, but the gistwas that young men and women would be able to foretell their future relationships based onthe game. When the Romans conquered the British Isles, the Pomona festival was blended withthe similarly timed Samhain, a precursor to Halloween.

　　咬苹果游戏的起源可以追溯到一个求爱仪式。它是罗马节日的一部分，用来纪念农业和丰饶女神波莫娜。这个游戏有多种变化，但主旨在于年轻男女能够根据游戏来预测他们未来的关系。罗马人征服不列颠群岛时，波莫纳节与几乎同时期的萨温节(万圣节的前身)融合在一起。

　　9. DECORATING WITH BLACK AND ORANGE

　　用黑色和橙色作为装饰主色调

　　The classic Halloween colors can also trace their origins back to the Celtic festival Samhain. Black represented the "death" of summer while orange is emblematic of the autumn harvestseason.

　　这两个经典的万圣节颜色也可以追溯到凯尔特人的萨温节。黑色象征着夏天的“死亡”，而橙色则象征着秋收季节。

　　10. PLAYING PRANKS

　　玩恶作剧

　　As a phenomenon that often varies by region, the pre-Halloween tradition, also known as"Devil's Night", is credited with a different origin depending on whom you ask. Some sourcessay that pranks were originally part of May Day celebrations. But Samhain, and eventually AllSouls Day, seem to have included good-natured mischief. When Scottish and Irish immigrantscame to America, they brought along the tradition of celebrating Mischief Night as part ofHalloween, which was great for candy-fueled pranksters.

　　万圣节前的恶作剧传统也被称为“魔鬼之夜”，经常因地而异。不同的人对它的起源有着不同的回答。有一些来源称，恶作剧原本是五一劳动节庆祝活动的一部分。但是萨温节，以及后来的万灵节，似乎就已经包含了善意的恶作剧。苏格兰和爱尔兰移民来到美国，他们也带来了在万圣节前夕庆祝“恶作剧之夜”的传统，这对于酷爱糖果的恶作剧者来说太棒了。

　　11. LIGHTING CANDLES AND BONFIRES

　　点燃蜡烛和篝火

　　These days, candles are more likely than towering traditional bonfires, but for much of theearly history of Halloween, open flames were integral in lighting the way for souls seeking theafterlife.

　　如今，在万圣节庆祝活动中，人们更有可能点燃蜡烛而不是高耸的传统篝火。但在万圣节的早期历史中，明火在为寻求来世的灵魂照亮道路方面是不可或缺的。

　　12. EATING CANDY APPLES

　　吃糖苹果

　　People have been coating fruit in sugar syrups as a means of preservation for centuries. Sincethe development of the Roman festival of Pomona, the goddess often represented by andassociated with apples, the fruit has had a place in harvest celebrations. But the first mention ofcandy apples being given out at Halloween didn't occur until the 1950s.

　　几个世纪以来，人们一直将水果裹在糖浆中保存。随着罗马波莫纳节的发展，苹果经常作为女神波莫纳的代表，与之联系在一起，因此苹果在丰收庆典中也占有一席之地。但直到20世纪50年代，才首次提到在万圣节时赠送糖苹果。

　　13. SPOTTING BATS

　　蝙蝠

　　It's likely that bats were present at the earliest celebrations of proto-Halloween, not justsymbolically but literally. As part of Samhain, the Celts lit large bonfires, which attractedinsects. The insects, in turn, attracted bats, which soon became associated with the festival. Medieval folklore expanded upon the spooky connotation of bats with a number of superstitionsbuilt around the idea that bats were the harbingers of death.

　　蝙蝠很可能出现在最早的万圣节庆祝活动中，这种说法不仅是象征性的，而且有事实佐证。作为萨温节的一部分，凯尔特人点燃篝火来吸引昆虫。这些昆虫反过来又吸引了蝙蝠，因此蝙蝠与萨温节很快联系在一起。中世纪的民间传说扩展了蝙蝠令人毛骨悚然的内涵，围绕着蝙蝠是死亡来临的前兆存在着许多迷信说法。

　　14. GORGING ON CANDY

　　吃糖果

　　The act of going door-to-door for handouts has long been a part of Halloween celebrations. Butuntil the middle of the 20th century, the "treats" kids received were not necessarily candy. Toys, coins, fruit, and nuts were just as likely to be given out. The rise in the popularity oftrick-or-treating in the 1950s inspired candy companies to make a marketing push with small, individually wrapped confections. People obliged out of convenience, but candy didn'tdominate at the exclusion of all other treats until parents started fearing anything unwrappedin the 1970s.

　　挨家挨户地“讨糖果”一直是万圣节庆祝活动的一部分。但在20世纪中叶前，孩子们得到的“款待”不一定是糖果，也有可能得到玩具、硬币、水果和坚果。20世纪50年代，“不给糖就捣蛋”活动的兴起，促使糖果公司纷纷推出独立包装的小糖果。人们出于便利才考虑购买这种小糖果。但直到20世纪70年代，家长们开始担心任何未经包装的东西有卫生隐患，糖果才开始在这些款待物中占据主导地位。

　　15. MUNCHING ON CANDY CORN

　　玉米糖

　　According to some stories, a candymaker at the Wunderlee Candy Company in Philadelphiainvented the revolutionary tri-color candy in the 1880s. The treats didn't become awidespread phenomenon until another company brought the candy to the masses in 1898. At the time, candy corn was called Chicken Feed and sold in boxes with the slogan"Something worth crowing for." Originally just autumnal candy because of corn's associationwith harvest time, candy corn became Halloween-specific when trick-or-treating rose toprominence in the US in the 1950s.

　　根据一些故事的说法，费城文德利糖果公司的一位糖果制造商在19世纪80年代发明了革命性的三色糖果。但直到1898年另一家公司将这种糖果推向大众，它才风靡起来。当时，玉米糖被称为“鸡饲料”，装在盒子里出售，广告语是“值得为之欢呼的东西”。最初玉米糖只是秋天的糖果，因为玉米与收获季节有关。在20世纪50年代，随着“不给糖就捣蛋”活动在美国的兴起，玉米糖成为了万圣节专属糖果。

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