Passage Three

More than 6,000 children were expelled (开除) from US school last year for bringing guns and bombs to school, the US Department of Education said on May 8. The department gave a report to the expulsions (开除) as saying handguns accounted for 58% of the 6,093 expulsions in 1996—1997, against 7% for rifles (步枪) or shotguns and 35% for other types of firearms. "The report is a clear sign that our nation’s public schools are cracking down (严惩) on students who bring guns to school," Education Secretary Richard Riley said in a statement. In March 1997, an 11-year old boy and a 13-year old boy using handguns and rifles shot dead four children and a teacher at a school in Arkansas. In October, two were killed and seven wounded in a shooting at a Mississippi school. Two months later, a 14-year old boy killed three high school students and wounded five in Kentucky. Most of the expulsions, 56%, were from high school, 34% were from junior high schools and 9% were from elementary schools, the report said.

The report from the US Department of Education shows that（）.