Learn by Listening Level 2

[00:00.57]Halloween (2)|[00:02.31] The holiday called Halloween is celebrated|[00:05.30] on October 31st of each year.|[00:08.16] Halloween is not an official holiday.|[00:11.58] Everyone goes to work or to school on Halloween,|[00:15.56] just as on any other day.|[00:17.80] But Halloween is still one of the holidays|[00:20.97] that children like the most.|[00:23.46] Why do children like Halloween so much?|[00:26.70] There are two reasons: costumes and candy.|[00:30.68] On the evening of October 31st,|[00:33.72] children dress up in strange and unusual costumes.|[00:37.58] They wear costumes that may look like a witch,|[00:40.88] a monster, or many other weird things.|[00:44.61] Putting on these scary costumes is a lot of fun for children.|[00:48.72] After the children put on their costumes,|[00:51.76] they walk from house to house during the evening.|[00:55.31] The children carry large bags with them.|[00:58.30] At each house, they stop and knock at the door.|[01:02.34] When an adult opens the door,|[01:04.70] the children shout "trick or treat."|[01:07.63] The adult who opens the door pretends to be frightened,|[01:11.67] and then puts pieces of candy into each child's open bag.|[01:15.90] At the end of the evening, the children have visited|[01:19.63] many houses and have collected much candy.|[01:22.56] During the next several days,|[01:24.48] they can feast upon the sweet candies|[01:26.79] that they have received.|[01:28.53] Another Halloween tradition is very unusual.|[01:32.20] In each house, a family gets|[01:34.44] a very large, round orange vegetable called a pumpkin.|[01:38.73] They cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin,|[01:41.47] and empty out the flesh and seeds of the vegetable.|[01:44.95] Then, they cut holes in the side of the pumpkin,|[01:48.75] so that it appears to have eyes, a nose, and a mouth.|[01:53.10] When the carving is finished,|[01:54.72] the pumpkin looks almost like a person's face!|[01:58.01] When the pumpkin has been carved to look like a face,|[02:01.75] people place a light inside the pumpkin,|[02:04.42] so that the vegetable seems to glow in the dark.|[02:08.09] This strange-looking face is called a "jack-o-lantern."|[02:12.39] On Halloween evening, one can see|[02:15.06] many of these jack-o-lanterns,|[02:17.30] some of which are very beautifully carved.|[02:20.16] Halloween is truly a fun and interesting holiday,|[02:24.08] especially for children!