“Up until about five years ago, students at this school could have worn anything they wanted on Halloween,” said Rosemarie Nielson, a sixth-grade teacher at St. Theresa School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx where there is a prohibition on toy weapons.

“When you consider all the horrific things that have happened in recent years, including 9/11, I can’t blame any school for wanting to stay away from anything that might promote violence,” Ms. Nielson said.

Mary Ellen Manniello, whose daughter, Courtney, 9, is a fourth grader at St. Gabriel School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, said she understood why officials had banned weapons with costumes. “They’re learning more about guns from issues in the street than educational issues.”

This year, the school has gone one step further and is prohibiting all costumes at its Halloween festivities. Ms. Manniello said it had become “a chaotic scene,” with parents helping their children change into their costumes at school.

Some parents said the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes went too far and denied children a chance to express themselves.

“Halloween has always been the one day when it was acceptable for our children to be dressed like somebody they are not, like a cowboy or a pirate or a person from outer space, and now we’re taking that away from them,” said Laura Santoro, a nurse from New Milford, Conn., whose 7-year-old son, Johnny, is a second grader at Northville Elementary School there.

Ms. Santoro said that her son would dress as Capt. Jack Sparrow, the character played by Johnny Depp in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, at the school’s Halloween party, but that he would not be allowed to take a sword — part of a policy that caught her by surprise last Halloween.

“I sent my son to school last year dressed as a special force Power Ranger, and he was told that he couldn’t take along his red laser blaster, which really surprised me, because the laser is red and made of plastic and lights up, and it could never, ever be mistaken for a real gun,” Ms. Santoro said. “I mean, come on, the whole thing is getting really sad.”

What do you think is the writer’s purpose of writing the passage?

   A. To introduce to the public the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes.

   B. To state parents’ attitudes towards the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes.

   C. To tell the public that children should bring any weapons for Halloween costumes.

   D. To analyse the fact that the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes goes too far.

According to the passage, some parents understand the no-weapon policy for Halloween costumes because ____________.

   A. schools should take a cautious approach to Halloween to prevent violence.

   B. children are buying real guns in the street and there is always violence now.

   C. those parents like to help their children change into their costumes at school.

   D. children are learning more about guns from educational issues.

Which of the following is probably right according to the passage?

   A. Children could bring any weapons into school five or six years ago.

   B. The parents surveyed are those whose children are in elementary schools.

   C. Guns are necessary on Halloween for children to express themselves.

   D. Jack Sparrow is an actor who at one time acted as a pirate in a movie.

What do the underlined words “laser blaster” in the last paragraph refer to?

   A. A kind of costume.                           B. A real gun.

C. A toy weapon.                               D. A kind of plastic.

I made up my mind to drive to South Carolina to meet my friends in my used car. Though I had only been there once  36  and did not know the  37  very well, I was on the  38  after I had made some inquiries (询问).

    At Ashvelle, there was a crossroad where I could go on along the main road or I could take a short cut. The short cut was to  39  several hills and was dangerous, I hesitated (犹豫)for a little while and then chose the main road, for I wanted to be  40 .

    Something strange happened after I drove a long  41  and found it was not the correct road that I wanted to  42 , but the hilly road I decided to avoid. I realized that it was at the  43  that I had made the  44  mistake. “What shall I do?” I asked myself. If I went back to take that road again, it would be very late by the time I got to Columbia. Thinking it  45 , I decided to go on. “If  46  people can go along this road, why can’t I?” I  47  myself

The short cut, to my surprise ,was not that  48 . In fact, it was only a very peaceful country road,  49  up and down two low  50 .There was  51  traffic. On both sides of the road, you could see trees, wild flowers, and  52  with cows and horses. My fear was  53  with the wind. Listening to the beautiful country music over my car stereo (立体声), I drove on and  54  the scenery which was so quiet and so natural. Even my used car forgot to give me  55 . It was just in this light heartedness that I arrived at my destination. My friends, after they heard what had happened to me, all said it sounded like an adventure.

A. before            B. ago                          C. already                            D. still

A. town                     B. country                    C. friends                                D. way

A. train             B. car                           C. highway                          D. phone

A. have               B. go                           C. ride                                D. cross

A. safe                B. dangerous              C. fast                              D. slow

A. moment        B. way                         C. road                                D. day

A. come              B. leave                        C. take                                D. drive

A. crossroad        B. corner                   C. station                          D. beginning

A. direction         B. road                         C. disappointed                    D. interesting

A. about             B. over                         C. of                                   D. up

A. another           B. the other                  C. other                               D. others

A. asked             B. forced                   C. encouraged                   D. told

A. far                 B. safe                         C. dangerous                     D. dirty

A. going             B. coming                    C. driving                            D. walking

A. lands              B. cars                         C. farms                              D. hills

A. heavy             B. little                        C. few                                 D. light

A. farms             B. trucks                   C. houses                          D. villages

A. together          B. gone                        C. covered                           D. coming

A. looked            B. liked                     C. enjoyed                           D. found

A. happiness        B. scenery                    C. joys                                D. problems

I made up my mind to drive to South Carolina to meet my friends in my used car. Though I had only been there once  36  and did not know the  37  very well, I was on the  38  after I had made some inquiries (询问).
At Ashvelle, there was a crossroad where I could go on along the main road or I could take a short cut. The short cut was to  39  several hills and was dangerous, I hesitated (犹豫)for a little while and then chose the main road, for I wanted to be  40 .
Something strange happened after I drove a long  41  and found it was not the correct road that I wanted to  42 , but the hilly road I decided to avoid. I realized that it was at the  43  that I had made the  44  mistake. “What shall I do?” I asked myself. If I went back to take that road again, it would be very late by the time I got to Columbia. Thinking it  45 , I decided to go on. “If  46  people can go along this road, why can’t I?” I  47  myself
The short cut, to my surprise ,was not that  48 . In fact, it was only a very peaceful country road,  49  up and down two low  50 .There was  51  traffic. On both sides of the road, you could see trees, wild flowers, and  52  with cows and horses. My fear was  53  with the wind. Listening to the beautiful country music over my car stereo (立体声), I drove on and  54  the scenery which was so quiet and so natural. Even my used car forgot to give me  55 . It was just in this light heartedness that I arrived at my destination. My friends, after they heard what had happened to me, all said it sounded like an adventure.

Made In The USA: An Export Boom
In his State of the Union address two years ago, President Obama argued that in order to recover from the economic recession, one of the few things the U．S. needed to do was to export more goods around the world. That night, the president unveiled a new goal: to double U．S. exports over the next five years. It would be an increase that the president said would “support two million jobs in America.”
Most economists dismissed the promise at the time as something unrealistic, but two years later, the U．S. is on pace to meet that goal. American exports are up 34 percent since the president gave that speech, and the number continues to rise.
Competitive In A Global Market
Marlin Steel, a metal working business in Baltimore, makes parts that ship all across the world.“We export to 36 countries，” owner Drew Greenblatt tells All Things Considered Host Guy Raz.“We're working around the clock, and we're growing.”
It's not just advanced manufacturing exports on the rise, but pork, cattle and all kinds of agricultural exports are up as well. Even American craft beer has found an export market.
Flying Dog CEO Jim Caruso says that increasingly, people all over the world are trying the beer from the Maryland－based brewery. Caruso says，“Even in those top beer－producing countries, a competitive American product is finding a market.”
Services Are Exports, Too
Another place exports are coming from is New York City—in particular, the 30^th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper on 5^th Avenue and 52^nd Street. That's where the consulting firm Kurt Solomon lies. It doesn't actually produce a product for export; it provides management advice and strategy.
“Four out of every five Americans is now employed in the service industry，” the nation's top trade official, Ron Kirk says, “Services are a significant part of our exports, and make up about a quarter of our exported goods.” These services can include everything from legal consulting, finance, information technology and even engineering.
And There Are Other Factors
So why has there been an increase of more than 30 percent for exports in almost everything? Part of the increase, at least for the manufacturing side, is due to better technology, says Tyler Cowen, an economist.“A lot of it is being driven by smart machines，” he tells Raz，“The U．S. has high wage rates, which is a disadvantage, but if machines are doing a lot of the work, that doesn't matter.”
China factors a lot in America's export economy, too.“Wages in China have been going up as the country becomes more productive. Thus China is losing the cheap labor advantage it has held for some time.” Cowen says.
Will Jobs Grow, too?
“Companies have become more productive by dismissing workers and lowering costs.”Cowen says.“So I don't view exporting as a way of creating a very large number of jobs, but it will create more profits.”
So not every business or worker is necessarily benefiting from the export boom in the U．S., and Cowen says that could ultimately lead to a polarization(两极) of economic outcomes.
Made In the USA: An Export Boom