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Scare Tactics From crowded streets to open flame

游客2024-05-04  2
问题                             Scare Tactics
    From crowded streets to open flames, Halloween hazards abound. Here are essential tips for preventing trick-or-treating tragedies.

    On Halloween, kids break all the rules. They take candy from strangers and they go out after dark. All the usual safety risks that children face increase for trick-or-treaters, explains Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids in Danger, a Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to product safety. With mobs of excited kids and adults crossing the streets often wearing visibility-restricting costumes, it’s no surprise that Halloween has the highest number of pedestrian crash deaths of any night of the year, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Other dangers include burns, choking and falls. Here are some essential guidelines for preventing accidents — and a list of products that can help minimize many Halloween hazards.
Stay Visible
    "Children are four times more likely to die in a pedestrian motor-vehicle accident on Halloween than any other day of the year, " says Alan Korn, director of public policy for the nonprofit Safe Kids Worldwide, a network of organizations. Halloween trick-or-treating and rush hour fall at the exact same time, he explains, and then this year, because of daylight savings time falling before Halloween, "it’s going to get darker all the sooner. "
    "Predictability and visibility are the two most important things on Halloween, " Korn explains. Children cannot dart back and forth across the street like they did in this day. "Today you work the side of the street. You stay on the sidewalks. You carry a flashlight...Be careful enough at the corner you cross. Work the other side, all with adults and with costumes that can be seen at night," he says. For the best visibility, parents should substitute face paint for masks. Also remember to put reflective tape and stickers on children’s costumes and give them flashlights to carry. White is a better color than black for costumes. " When it comes to keeping kids safe on the streets at night, parental supervision is the key," adds Cowles. Parents should even keep an eye on older children up to age 13.
Avoid Flames and Wear Flame-Resistant Costumes
    There are always more candle fires on holidays, says Lorraine Carli, spokeswoman for the National Fire Protection Association. However, death resulting from burns on Halloween is rare. In 2005, one child and three adults suffered burns while wearing Halloween costumes, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. But these numbers may underestimate the actual risk of burns, Cowles says. The commission counts burn survivors who went to hospital emergency rooms or who officially filed a complaint. Not counted are children whose parents treated them at home or took them to the doctor the next day. Burns are still a concern over Halloween, Cowles says. "It really is the only time where we knowingly have open flames around children," she adds.
    For the DeYoungs, those warnings came too late. Two years ago Neal DeYoung took his three children out trick-or-treating in their hometown of Newtown, Conn. They stopped at a neighbor’s house for one final treat. The neighbors had placed a display involving lighted candles on a table next to the front door. De Young’s middle child, 7-year-old Cary, was wearing a store-bought Ringwraith costume — a character from The Lord of the Rings. As he approached the door, one of his long, billowing sleeves touched a candle. Cary’s costume caught on fire, flames spreading so rapidly there was no time to put them out. " It went up like a torch," his father recalls. The costume had a hood and mesh material covering the face, making Cary’s burns especially severe. He survived, but only after suffering second-, third- and even fourth-degree burns to his face, neck and left hand.
    Parents can reduce some of the risks of burns by looking for flame-resistant materials when choosing store-bought costumes and accessories, or making them from scratch. Polyesters and nylons are inherently more flame-resistant than natural fibers, such as 100 percent cotton, according to Nancy Nord, acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Look for labels that say " flame resistant". "While these synthetic fabrics can still catch fire, it’s a slower burn, " she says, "compared to natural fibers like cotton. " Experts agree that homemade costumes pose more of a fire risk than store-bought ones. Avoid using paper or cardboard in costumes.
    " Polyester or nylon will melt," says Julie Vallese, director of information and public affairs at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The fabric is easy to put out because it does not ignite into flames. " Where as if you have cotton it burns very easily and spreads very easily, " she says. Even if the costume is flame-resistant, Vallese urges parents to avoid having their child wear a cotton shirt underneath it. If the child comes in contact with fire, the polyester will melt, but the heat produced could still ignite a 100-percent cotton T-shirt underneath, she explains. Experts also recommend avoiding costumes that could obstruct vision, like those with hoods or masks, which can help prevent falls and pedestrian accidents as well as burns.
    The robelike costume that Cary DeYoung wore was made of 100 percent cotton and had a label that warned to " keep away from fire," but that can be tough to do when kids crowd onto stoops and into small entryways decorated with candles and jack-o’-lanterns. Most experts advise parents to avoid open flame on Halloween by substituting glow sticks, battery-operated candles or flashlights for candles in jack-o’-lanterns and in other decorations. If you do use candles, keep them far out of the path of children.
    To prevent flame-related tragedies like Cary’s, the municipal government of Newtown issued a flame-free Halloween proclamation last year. At the request of Neal De Young and the town authorities, the local pharmacy purchased battery-operated candles wholesale and sold them at cost to town residents. Last year, all but one of the houses on the town’s Main Street used a battery-operated candle, De Young says. The town plans to be flame-free for Halloween again this year.
Check the Candy
    Parents already know that they need to examine the treats their children bring home, paying close attention to toys or candies that have small parts which could present a choking hazard to young children. Hard, round candies are a risk for children under 8, Cowles says. Parents of children with food allergies should also be especially vigilant, she adds. On Halloween children may come in contact with foods that they don’t normally get.
Read the Instructions
    Many agencies devoted to product safety and injury prevention put out warnings to parents that too often go ignored. " We really recommend that while a lot may seem like common sense that the agency puts out, to really heed the warnings," says the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Vallese. [br] Experts suggest people not dress costumes with hoods or masks because they could
选项 A、block sight
B、easily fall
C、easily melt
D、trap people in fire
答案 A
解析 文中说专家建议不要穿那些阻挡视线的衣服，其中包括带风帽或面纱的衣服，故[A]项正确。
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