Ushering in a new year signaled a time of both death and rebirth, something that was doubly symbolic because it (18) ______ with the end of a bountiful harvest season and the beginning of a cold and dark winter season that would present plenty of challenges.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 16 to 20.

Dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating are popular Halloween activities, but few probably (16) ______ these lighthearted fall traditions with their origins in Samhain, a three-day ancient Celtic pagan festival.

For the Celts, who lived during the Iron Age in what is now Ireland, Scotland, the U.K. and (17) ______ parts of Northern Europe, Samhain (meaning literally, in modern Irish, “summer's end”) marked the end of summer and kicked off the Celtic new year. Ushering in a new year signaled a time of both death and rebirth, something that was doubly symbolic because it (18) ______ with the end of a bountiful harvest season and the beginning of a cold and dark winter season that would present plenty of challenges.

Eventually, Halloween became more popular in secular culture than All Saints' Day. The pagan-turned- Christian practices of dressing up in costumes, playing pranks and handing out offerings have evolved into popular traditions even for those (19) ______ may not believe in otherworldly spirits or saints. (20) ______, whether Halloween celebrants know it or not, they’re following the legacy of the ancient Celts who, with the festival of Samhain, celebrated the inevitability of death and rebirth.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions from 1 to 15.

 Lady Gaga is an American singer, songwriter and actress, ______?

On our trip to Spain, we crossed ______ Atlantic Ocean.