For 364 days a year, children are told not to take sweets from strangers. However, on one special day every year, they are encouraged to ask for candy from people they’ve never met. The reason for this odd behavior is that it’s Halloween, a time when people go trick-or-treating. Trick-or-treating started in Europe about 2,000 years ago to celebrate and honor the dead, who were believed to walk the Earth on October 31.
在一年當中的三百六十四天，孩子們被告知不要接受陌生人的甜食。然而，在每年的一個特殊日子裡，他們被鼓勵向素未謀面的人要糖果。這種奇怪行為的原因是這一天是萬聖節，人們會在這個日子進行「不給糖就搗蛋」。「不給糖就搗蛋」源自於大約兩千年前的歐洲，旨在頌揚並紀念亡者，據信祂們會在十月三十一日來到世間遊走。
生活必備字詞：
stranger n. 陌生人
be encouraged to V 被鼓勵（做）……
encourage vt. 鼓勵
odd a. 奇怪的，怪異的
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本文節錄自《常春藤生活英語》雜誌，完整內容請見十月號。