Pupils are ordered not to wade into ankle-deep water unless teachers first carry out a full risk assessment and put “proper measures in place”.

       Staff are expected to check rivers, ponds and the sea for currents and rocks before allowing children to dip their feet.

       Guidance issued to schools warns that any “impromptu (事先无准备的) water-based activities” could pose dangers to children.

       The recommendations were outlined in a document-available to all 21,000 schools in England — to help teachers organize more school trips. Advice from the Department for Children, Schools and Families is intended to cut red tape (官样文章) and give staff practical tips.

       But the guidance caused argument after teachers were presented with a series of orders surrounding swimming and the use of minibuses.

       It said: “Swimming and padding or otherwise entering the waters of river, canal, sea or lake should never be allowed as an impromptu activity. The pleas of young people to bathe — because it is hot weather, for example, should be resisted where bathing has not been prepared for.”

       “In-water activities should take place only when a proper risk assessment has been completed and proper measures put in place to control the risks.”

       Teachers are urged to check the weather, currents, weeds, rip tides, river or sea beds and breakwaters before allowing children into the water. No child should be able to swim deeper than waist height, the guidance added.

       Margaret Morrissey, from campaign group Parents Outloud, said: “Wading out into the ocean is one thing but there’s nothing wrong with padding where the waves break.”

       “Part of children’s learning is to walk along the water’s edge and get your feet wet. There are dangerous currents further out and you stay at the edge.”

       She added: “I want to see schools and youth groups taking advantage of opportunities that learning outside the classroom can provide.”

       But the Department for Children, Schools and Families said teachers had to plan activities carefully.

       “We are not banning padding,” said a spokeswoman. “We have seen cases in the past where things have not been planned and assessed for the risk. Unplanned activities around water can be dangerous.”

Guidance issued to schools in England gives the information that _________.

       A. school trips to oceans are forbidden in the country

B. school swimming pools should be surrounded with fence

C. school staff must plan water-based activities carefully

D. school children shouldn’t have a walk along river banks

Advice from the Department for Children, Schools and Families shows us that _________.

       A. they are strongly against the guidance

B. they are fond of the outline of the guidance

C. they don’t understand the aim of the guidance

D. they want the guidance to become more useful

To the guidance, Margaret Morrissey holds the opinion that _________.

       A. oceans are dangerous place for children to visit

B. young people should be encouraged to learn outside

C. children should learn padding in rough ocean alone

D. schools should stop students from walking along beaches

Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

       A. No padding on school trips, children told.            

B. No walking along the rivers, teachers told.

C. No swimming after school, parents told.

D. No learning out of school, students told.

Finally, a cell phone
That’s… a phone
With rates as low as $3．75 per week ！
“Well, I finally did it． I finally decided to enter the digital age and get a cell phone． My kids have been annoying me and the last straw was when my car broke down, and I was stuck by the highway for an hour before someone stopped to help． But when I went to the cell phone store, I almost changed my mind． The phones all have cameras, computers and a “global-positioning” something or other that’s supposed to spot me from space． Goodness, all I want to do is to be able to talk to my grandkids! The people at the store weren’t much help． They couldn’t understand why someone wouldn’t want a phone the size of a postage stamp． And the rate plans! They were confusing, and expensive… and the contract （合同）lasted for two years! I’d almost given up until a friend told me about her new Jitterbug phone． Now, I have the convenience and safety of being about to stay in touch with a phone I can actually use． ”
Affordable plans that I can understand---and no contract to sign （签订）！ Unlike other cell phones，Jitterbug has plans that make sense． Why should I pay for minutes I’m never going to use? And if I do talk more than I plan，I won’t find myself with no minutes like my friend who has a prepaid phone． Best of all, there is no contract to sign, so I’m not locked in for years at a time． The US-based customer service is second to none． And the phone gets service anywhere in the country．               

C
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Thursday that his country hopes to deepen ties with China, which have been strained over French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama.
"We need China, the world needs China to get out of the recession(衰退) " Fillon told parliament.Relations between the two countries hit a low after Sarkozy refused to call off a meeting with the Dalai Lama in December.
Beijing then pulled out of a summit（峰会） with the European Union (EU) that was supposed to have taken place on Dec 1 in France, which held the rotating EU presidency at the time.
Fillon stressed that Tibet is part of China, but insisted that the French president had every right to meet the Dalai Lama.
"For us, this incident does nothing to distract（转移） from our desire to reinforce our strategic partnership with China."
Former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is scheduled to visit China next week following earlier attempts to improve relations.
China, which has said it is up to France to repair ties with Beijing, agreed with the EU last week to hold a summit soon, after the London G20 summit on April 2.
France was excluded from Premier Wen Jiabao's recent European visit.
"We all know why," Wen said when asked why he had omitted France from his journey, China News Service reported.
"I looked at a map of Europe on the plane. My trip goes around France," Wen said.
"The reason (for not visiting) doesn't lie with China", he told a group of reporters. He urged Paris to "mend and improve ties" with China.
44.Premier WenJiabao didn’t visit France because_______.
A.he promised to visit France later
B.former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is scheduled to visit China soon
C.France didn’t attend the summit of the EU
D.Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama
45.According to France, ____________.
A.the president has the right to meet the Dalai Lama
B.the meeting will strengthen the strategic partnership with China
C.they don’t know why Premier WenJiabao didn’t visit France
D.China don’t care much for the ties with France
46.From paragraphs 2,3 and 4, the important conclusion is that _______.
A. Tibet is part of China
B. France and the world need China
C. Sarkozy refused to call off a meeting with the Dalai Lama in December.
D. Beijing pulled out of a summit with the Dalai Lama in December.
47.The main idea of the news is that_______.
A. It’s France’s fault to affect the relation between the two countries
B. France seeks to repair relations with China
C. Premier Wen urged Paris to “mend and improve ties” with China
D. Relations between China and France are going smoothly.

A nine-year-old kid was sitting at his desk when suddenly there was a puddle （/JC^C）between his feet and the front of his trousers was wet．He thought his heart was going to stop because he couldn't possibly imagine how this had happened．It had never happened before, and he knew that when the boys found out he would never hear the end of jt. When the girls found out, they would never speak to him again as long as he lived．

He prayed this prayer, "Dear God, I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat!" He looked up from his prayer and here came the teacher with a look in her eyes that said he had been discovered．As the teacher was walking toward him, a classmate named Susie was carrying a goldfish bowl full of water．Susie tripped （绊倒） in front of the teacher and dumped （倒） the bowl of water in the boy's lap．The boy pretended to be angry, but all the while was saying to himself, "Thank you．Lord!"

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy was the object of sympathy．The teacher rushed him downstairs and gave him gym shorts to put on while his trousers dried out．All the other children were on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk．The sympathy was wonderful．But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his had been transferred （转移） to someone else—Susie．She tried to help, but they told her to get out．

When school was over, the boy walked over to Susie and whispered, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispered back, "I wet my trousers once, too!"

1.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 means ____        .

A．the boys would never play with him

B．the boys would treat him as usual

C. he would hardly hear any praise from the boys

D．he would be laughed at by the boys endlessly

2.After Susie dumped water in his lap, the boy was in a state of ___     

    A．excitement       B．relief          C．anxiety      D．anger

3.What did the other kids do after the incident?

A．They offered him dry clothes．       

B．They laughed at the boy rudely,

C．They helped the boy do the cleaning．   

D．They urged the boy to get out angrily,

4.Why did Susie dump water in the boy's lap?

A．The boy asked her to do so．        

B．She just did it by accident．

C．The teacher tripped her on purpose．        

D．She knew the boy's embarrassment．

In the United States you will find yourself being urged from every page of every newspaper and every television station to buy all kinds of goods.

Not only is there a wide range of prices for goods in America, there is also a wide range in the quality of goods offered for sale. Unlike some countries, Americans generally pay the price of a product without question, instead of trying to get a lower price by bargaining. However, there are many “sales” in the United States, during which time stores will lower their normal prices. This may all be very confusing to visitors. How are you going to know how to “get your money’s worth” when you shop? Perhaps the best advice is: Don’t hurry. Visit various stores and determine the quality of goods. Read the advertisements so that you can compare prices.

There is a great variety of shops in the United States, ranging from very large stores called “department stores” to very small shops. There are “discount houses” offering goods at low prices, and “dime stores” specializing in a wide range of inexpensive items.

Most department stores in large cities carry better quality products at higher prices. However, they offer the shoppers great convenience since they contain such a wide variety of products.

If convenience isn’t as important to you as price, you may want to shop in discount houses. These stores have nearly as great a variety of goods as department stores, but offer lower prices. They can do so for several reasons. They don’t offer the same services to buyers that department stores do; there may be fewer sales people; and the store probably doesn’t deliver purchases.

Another popular shop is the “dime store”. No longer selling many things for five or ten cents, these stores got their name in the last century when it was decided that a small profit on a great quantity of goods would be better than a large profit on fewer sales. Dime stores specialize in a wide variety of inexpensive items and today, prices range from a quarter or 50 cents up to several dollars.

1.Where can we most probably read this passage?

A. In a research paper.       B. In a science report.

C. In a geography book.      D. In a travel magazine.

2.Why can discount houses offer goods at lower prices compared with department stores?

a. They have fewer employees.

b. They have larger quantities of goods.

c. They offer fewer services.

d. They don’t provide delivery service.

A. a b c    B. a b d   C. a c d    D. b c d

3.What’s special about dime stores?

A. They sell lots of goods at a small profit.

B. They make big profits by selling some goods.

C. They provide goods with a price lower than 50 cents.

D. They provide goods ranging from bargains to expensive ones.

.