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1）A Festival for the Dead is held once a year in Japan.2）This festival is a cheerful occasion,3）for on this day, the dead are said to return to their homes and they are welcomed by the living.

第一句引出主题，不仅交代了亡灵节的纪念对象，还表明所在国度以及举办频率。紧接着第二句就传达出这是个cheerful occasion,the dead 和cheerful会有什么关联呢？引发读者的好奇心，第三句就解释为什么cheerful.

occasion，除了时机、时刻，也有盛会之意--an important social event or ceremony。The dead 和the living 相呼应。据说除了可以用：it is said that •••也可以说sb is said to •••

1)As they are expected to be hungry after their long journey, food is laid out for them.2)Specially-made lanterns are hung outside each house to help the dead to find their way.3)All night long, people dance and sing.

第二部分介绍了亡灵节的庆祝方式。摆设食物接待亡灵，挂好特制灯笼为他们引路，除此之外人们整夜载歌载舞。be expected to ,expect做被动形式不常见，值得注意。expect的动词定义是：to think that something will happen because it seems likely or has been planned。lay  out,摆放,specially-made，特制。

1）In the early morning the food that had been laid out for the dead is thrown into a river or into the sea.2）as it is considered unlucky for anyone living to eat it.3）In towns that are near the sea, the tiny lanterns which had been hung in the streets the night before4）are placed into the water when the festival is over.5）Thousands of lanterns slowly drift out to sea guiding the dead on their return journey to the other world.6）This is a moving spectacle,7）for crowds of people stand on the shore watching the lanterns drifting away until they can be seen no more.

最后一部分讲述了节后人们怎么处置食物和特质灯笼。it is considered据知；be placed into the water 被放置到,place有小心翼翼安放的意思to put something somewhere, especially with care.

drift out to /drift away 飘走冲出/渐渐离去

moving spectacle ：a very impressive show or scenes  词性变化：spectacular/spectacularly /spectacularity