英语博客：Divide and conquer candies.

　　Well, Halloween came and went as it does every year, leaving a house full of sweets! We had a lot of fun yesterday. I told my children that I wasn't going to buy them costumes this year. They had to find bits and pieces around the house and make do. It worked out really well, actually. One of my sons used a simple sheet to be a non-scary ghost. He ended up getting too hot under it, and not wearing it at all. My daughter dressed as a gypsy, and my other sons dressed as a Swat man, and an ugly clown. So, Tiong, to answer your question about whether my oldest is still into scary, dark stuff, I think the answer is no. So we set off around the neighborhood, knocking on doors, ringing bells, and hoping for treats. Most people in our neighborhood weren't in, so we drove to a busy area, where the houses are closer together, and the general atmosphere is one of a close community. You should have seen some of the houses! Talk about decorated! One lady opened her front door to hand out candies, and as I looked inside her large family room, I could see that she had decorated the entire ceiling with fake¹ spiders webs, and purple and black bats and bugs². Normally, those who make an effort to decorate, just do the outside of the house. But, as they say here, she had 'gone the whole nine yards' (which means that she had taken the idea of decorating very seriously, and almost overdone³ it). The streets were packed with people dressed up in all sorts of costumes. There was even a tall man (one of the dads) dressed up as a deer. One house that we went to had scary statues in several places, spooky music playing, and eery lights. As we approached the candy bucket, I touched one of the statues, "Hey, he feels almost real," I said to my kids. They squeezed his arm and poked⁴ him, and at that moment he turned his head towards me. Ahhh! He was real! "How can you stand so still?" I asked him. He just shrugged⁶. Thankfully there were some very pretty houses to stop at as well. Pumpkin⁷ carving⁸ is quite an art form, you know. And some of these neighbors were excellent at it. All in all, it was a fun and successful evening. Then came the mathematics. As soon as my children got home, they spread out their candies, grouped them, counted them, traded them, and even noticed mathematical patterns with them. Of course, as the evening went on, the groups got smaller and smaller.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: to make do, the whole nine yards, eery, to shrug⁵.
1. We only have potatoes and green beans to eat. We'll just have to make do.
2. My mother went the whole nine yards for Halloween. She decorated, dressed up, and held a party.
3. That abandoned house in the field looks quite eery, especially at night.
4. He never answers a question; he just shrugs⁹ his shoulders and says nothing.

1 fake   

vt.伪造，造假，假装；n.假货，赝品

参考例句：

• He can tell a fake from the original.他能分辨出赝品和真品。
• You can easily fake up an excuse to avoid going out with him.你可以很容易地编造一个借口而不与他一同外出。

2 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 overdone   

v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• The lust of men must not be overdone. 人们的欲望不该过分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The joke is overdone. 玩笑开得过火。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

6 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

8 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

9 shrugs   

n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany shrugs off this criticism. 匈牙利总理久尔恰尼对这个批评不以为然。 来自互联网
• She shrugs expressively and takes a sip of her latte. 她表达地耸肩而且拿她的拿铁的啜饮。 来自互联网