In many countries, unusual names for children are becoming more popular, especially when more and more stars give their children special names. In Britain, you can call a child almost anything you like except dirty words.
Some parents choose names which come from popular culture. Because of the film the Lord of the Rings(指环王), six boys were named Gandalf. Names about sport are very common, too. Since 1984, 36 children have been called Arsenal after the football team.
Other parents like to make up names, or combine(合并) two names to make a special one. A mother in Britain invented the name Tiaamii for her daughter. She combined the names Thea and Amy (the two grandmothers).
In China, there are some rules about names ―- you can't use foreign letters or symbols(符号) in a Chinese name. For example, parents are not allowed to name their baby @. In New Zealand, a name beginning with a number is not allowed. Other countries have stricter rules about calling children. For example, Japan, Denmark, Spain, Germany and Argentina have a list of names. Parents must choose the names in the lists for their children.
In Britain, some old-fashioned(过时的) names have become popular again, such as Maisie or Ella for a girl, and Alfie or Noah for a boy. But the most popular names are not the strange ones. The top names are very traditional--Jack and Thomas for boys, or Grace and Jessica f6r girls.

Tickets

Children at or under 120 cm tall don't need to buy tickets to take the train, but they cannot take the train by themselves. Children above 124 cm must buy a full-price ticket.
If you buy a round ticket, you can get on the train at Longyang Road Station or Pudong Airport Station, and get off at the other station. The return part of the ticket must be used on the same day.

    For many young people, Halloween is the best day of the year.

    Halloween comes on October 31^st. When it comes, all the family members always get together to make a pumpkin lantern. They usually cut scary(恐怖的) or funny faces into pumpkins. Then they put candles inside to make the pumpkins into lanterns.

    Children dress up in costumes. They walk around their neighborhoods to collect candies. They knock on their neighbors' doors. When a person opens the door, the children shout, "Trick or treat!" If the person gives them candies, they go away. If they can't get the candy, they always play tricks on the person.

    Many people have Halloween parties. They like to watch scary movies and tell ghost stories.

    American school students usually go to school on foot, or on the school bus. Some students ride their bikes to school.

    In the middle school, students usually take classes for six hours a day. They study English, math, history, science, PE, music and art.

    School begins at half past eight in the morning. At noon, students have lunch at school. After lunch, they go to their classes. School is over at about 4 o'clock. Most students often watch TV and do homework after supper.

    On weekends, American school students go to the church, do shopping, visit grandparents or go to the park with parents.

    American school children don't have too much homework. But they watch TV too much. Some even watch TV three to five hours a day. It's bad for health. So their parents worry about it. They play games, do sports or do reading with kids to take their kids away from TV.