WASHINGTON -- President Obama and his wife, Michelle, handed out Halloween treats to area children and military families at the White House Sunday evening. Local students between 6 and 14 years old, along with children from military families, were invited to celebrate Halloween on the North Lawn. The president and first lady, along with Mrs.Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, spent about 30 minutes passing out goodie bags.Obama wished each child a happy Halloween as he distributed the treats, pausing occasionally for hugs or to comment on costumes. Later, the military families continued the celebration inside the White House. The first couple joked to assembled reporters about children walking the long driveway in order to work off the snacks."This is the Let's Move method of trick-or-treating ," Obama said, referring to Mrs.Obama's campaign to combat childhood obesity . The goodie bags contained a box of White House M&Ms, a cookie made by pastry chef Bill Yosses, and dried fruit. As they made their way across the lawn, the children meet a vast range of costumed characters ranging from a spooky Frankenstein (,<<>> ) to the Scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz." Music from a jazz band dressed in pirate gear rang out across the White House grounds. Multicolored pumpkins and gourds lined the driveway -- individually, in gravity-defying stacks and as part of a large mound over 5 feet tall.Pumpkin-headed scarecrows made of cornstalks loomed over the path with menacingly raised arms.Under the White House portico, a mobile resembling bats flying through clouds fluttered around a lantern. Some of the local trick-or-treaters were students at Bancroft Elementary, which helps tend the first lady's White House garden, and Tubman Elementary, which has a relationship with the White House chefs. After trick-or-treating ended, the Obamas stood near the front door, welcoming the military families inside, helping children climb the short flight of steps and thanking parents for their service. When celebrating Halloween at the White House, the Obamas did the following EXCEPT _ . A) Wishing each child a happy Halloween B) Thanking reporters for their covering the event C) Helping children climb the short flight of steps D) Hugging children and commenting on their costumes
B
Down on the beach of Dover,56-year-old Channel swimmer Jackie Cobell bravely set off for Calais.The time was 6:40 am.28 hours and 44 minutes later the exhausted,successful mother from Kent crawled to the shore and walked proudly into the record books.After five years in training,Mrs.Cobell became the slowest person to cross the Channel under her own steam.The previous record for the slowest crossing,set by Henry Sullivan at 26 hours and 50 minutes,has stood for 87 years before Mrs.Cobell started at Dover Saturday morning. She had struggled through changing tides that swept her first one way,then the other.It turned the 21-mile crossing into a 65-mile one.She declared,"Time and tide wait for no man--and they certainly didn't wait for me.I was fully expecting it to get dark before I got to Calais but I never imagined I'd also see the dawn again.But I wasn't going to give up." Her feat raised more than $2,000 in charity sponsorship for research into Huntingdon's disease,a sum that was continuing to grow as news of her achievement spread.That was why she did it."I don't really know myself," she said."I just kept thinking of all the people I'd be letting down if I stopped." Mrs.Cobell took to the water so well at school.But after bringing up two daughters,she started to gain weight.Five years ago she took up swimming again and decided to prepare for the Channel challenge to lose weight.She became much fitter.Then came the big swim."I practiced on Windermere Lake," she said."it's about half the distance of the Channel so I just doubled it,added some extra time,and worked out I could probably get to Calais in about 16 hours." Her husband David,trainer,official observer and friend sailed alongside her on a boat.She said,"I sang to keep myself going.When they told me I was a record breaker I thought they were just having a joke--until I realized it was the record for the slowest crossing.But maybe next time I might be a bit quicker." How did Mrs.Cobell feel about the record she set? A) Dissatisfied B) Excited C) Annoyed D) Proud
A
(Question)
I once experienced an unforgettable trip to Gloucester to see some of the world's most beautiful and exciting animals in their own habitat , the North Atlantic Ocean. After a long trip by bus, we got on the ship. After a while, we stopped and everyone on the ship started to shout because we saw a humpback whale . It was wonderful. Sometimes, whales came so close to the ship that you thought you could easily touch them. While we were watching the whales, a guide was giving us some information about them. She told us that we saw only two kinds of whales -- 50-foot humpback whales (singing whales) and 70-foot fin back whales (the second largest whales on earth). She also said we could easily recognize a whale by its tail because every whale has a different kind of tail just like people have different fingerprints. They all have names, and on this trip, we saw "Salt" and "Pepper", two whales named by a biologist and a fisherman. They were swimming together all the time. I took twenty-seven photos, but it was very hard to take them because the whales were quick and stayed on the surface of the ocean just for a short time. It was really something. It was one of the chances that a person hardly ever experiences in life, but I had that chance. How can we recognize a whale? A) By its tail . B) By its head. C) By its neck. D) By its eyes.
(Answer)
A