A Festival for the Dead is held once a year in Japan. This festival is a cheerful occasion, for on this day, the dead are said to return to their homes and they are welcomed by the living. As they are expected to be hungry after their long journey, food is laid out for them. Specially-made lanterns are hung outside each house to help the dead to find their way. All night long, people dance and sing. In the early morning, the food that had been laid out for the dead is thrown into a river or into the sea as it is considered unlucky for anyone living to eat it. In towns that are near the sea, the tiny lanterns which had been hung in the streets the night before, are placed into the water when the festival is over. Thousands of lanterns slowly drift out to sea guiding the dead on their return journey to the other world. This is a moving spectacle, for crowds of people stand on the shore watching the lanterns drifting away until they can be seen no more.

这篇新概念96课有几个问题请教老师：

1）the dead are said to return to their homes 如何改写成 It is said that the dead...后面时态怎么改写呢？意思是It is said that the dead return to their homes...吗？

2）to help the dead to find their way - 这里可以使用分配性复数ways吗？我觉得应该是ways更好呀！？

3）不懂为什么有2处使用了过去完成时， the food that had been laid out 和 which had been hung in the streets ? 因为过去完成时的使用必须有一个过去的时间作参照，本文中，没有过去时间，但为什么使用了过去完成时呢？

     按理也应该使用现在完成时呀？！

4）为什么into a rive 用了不定冠词a, 但是却用了定冠词the, into the sea呢？然后又是不用任何冠词drift out to sea了，为什么这里不是the sea呢？ are placed into the water  - 这里为什么又使用了定冠词the 呢？