At 5:05 pm on March 19, a loud alarm sounded around the playground of Tanghu Middle School, Sichuan. Students hurried to the playground with something covering their mouths. Don't worry. There wasn't a fire. Students were having a fire drill（演习）. School is a good place for students to study. Yet sometimes, it is easy to have accidents there.

A survey suggests that right safety training could prevent 80 percent of these accidents. In China, fire drills at school are common to teach students to deal with emergencies（紧急情况）. At the same time, many other countries have their own ways to keep children safe around school.

In Japan, public primary schools hold earthquake drills once a month. They teach students safety tips during an earthquake drill. The training teaches students to escape from earthquake-stricken areas without pushing and stampeding（踩踏）.

Most US school buildings have fire escapes on each floor. A fire escape has platforms with stairs and ladders. They are usually made of iron. Students can get to the fire escape through a fire exit door or a window.

In many middle schools in the UK, students can choose to take a bicycle course. There, they learn how to ride to school safely. Also, on roads without traffic lights near schools, there are crossing guards. They wear bright color clothes and stop cars to guide children across the road safely.

Keep in Touch

    You can keep in touch with your friends in many ways. You can call them. You can send letters or e-mails to them. You can even use a website like Facebook to keep in touch with them.

Touch Luck

    "Touch Lusk" is used when you feel sympathy (同情) about something bad that has happened to someone. But it is also used when you don't have any sympathy for someone's problems.

Touch Screen

    You can find touch screens everywhere now. They are fun and easy to use! You touch the screen to choose what you want. Many mobile phones and music players have touch screens. Many ATMs have them, too. You can also use them to buy tickets.

Touchdown

    When you watch an American football game, you will hear the word "touchdown". A touchdown happens when a player carries the ball across the other team's goal (球门) line. When a player makes a touchdown, he scores (得分) six points for his team!

The Midas Touch

    Midas was a king in an old Greek story. He loved money very much! He wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. His wish came true. Everything he touched-His furniture, his food, and even his daughter-turned to gold.

    Goldfish are good pets. They are funny to watch. But they need the right home. They are not happy if they are living in a bowl. A tank is bigger. It can hold more water and it has more room for goldfish to swim. So a tank is a good place for goldfish. Here are some ways for keeping goldfish in a tank.

    Put a tank at home. Do not put it near the window. It could get too warm from the sun.

    Put some water in the tank. Wait a few days, check the water and make sure the water is clean. Then put some rocks and plants on the tank bottom for fish to hide behind them.

    Get your fish. Bring it home in a bag. The bag must be full of water. Let the bag float (漂动) in the tank. Wait half an hour. Then open the bag. Let the fish swim out.

    Look after goldfish. First put a cover on the tank. It can keep fish safe. With a cover nothing can fall into the tank and fish cannot jump out. Do not feed your fish too much! A fish should eat most of its food right away. Clean the tank each week. To keep the water clean, you must take out old water and add new water.

    Your fish will be happy to live in a tank.

Information Card

    As teenagers, you have many dreams. These dreams can be very big, such as winning the Nobel Prize, or they can be small, you may just want to become the best student in your class. Once you find a dream, what do you do with it? Do you ever try to make your dream real?

    Andrew Matthews, an Australian writer tells us that making our dreams real is life's biggest challenge. You may think you're not very good at some school subjects or it is impossible for you to become a writer. These kinds of thoughts stop you from getting your dream. In fact, everyone can make his dream come true. ①首要的事情是记住你的梦想是什么。 Don't let it leave your heart. Keep telling yourself what you want. Do this step by step and your ________ will come true faster because a big dream is made up of many small dreams.

    You must also never give up y our dream. There will be difficulties on the road to your dreams. But the biggest difficulty comes from yourself. ②You need to decide what is the most important.

    Without dreams, you won't make up your mind to learn more skills and new interests.

House fires cause many deaths each year and a large number of these fires are unfortunately set by children.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Kids must understand that they'd better not play with fire. You should keep matches and lighters out of their reach.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} The main job of such an alarm is to protect you while you're asleep. You should have a smoke alarm outside each bedroom and on each floor of your home. You ought to have two plans for getting out of your house if there is a fire and practise these plans in the dark with your family.

A smoke alarm warns you of the danger. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Take action immediately. When you come to a closed door, check it with the back of your hand. If it feels hot, there may be smoke or fire behind the door, so take care. Once you are out of your house, call the fire department from a neighbor's house. If a family member or a pet is caught inside, you shouldn't go back in. Firemen know how to perform rescues safely.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Change the batteries at least once a year. You should use the test button each month to see if the alarm and batteries are still working. A smoke alarm lasts about ten years. You ought to change it even if it seems to be working.