require 'rexml/document'
doc = REXML::Document.new File.new("test.xml")
list = doc.elements.to_a("//item")
for l in list
  puts REXML::XPath.first( l, "//title" ).text
end


<root>
  <title>1</title>
  <item>
    <title>2</title>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>3</title>
  </item>
</root>