Daisy lives in the mountains. There are no roads to her house except a track (小径) through the forest. It would take two hours for Daisy to walk to school, which is on the other side of a river. To go to school, she must cross the river.

Daisy’s village is so small that there are not enough people to pay for a bridge. So, the people put cables (缆绳) over the rivet. They hook (勾) themselves onto the cable. Then they slide (滑) across the river. This is the way that Daisy goes to school.

Daisy has her own pulley (滑轮). She has a rope and a stick, too. She hooks the pulley onto the cable. She makes a seat with the rope. Then she sits on the rope and pushes off the ground. Far, far below her she can see the river. It is a very fast trip for Daisy. It only takes her one minute to go to the other side. As Daisy gets close to the other side, she must use her stick. Daisy presses the stick onto the cable. When she does this, sparks (火星) fly off the cable. When she finds it’s the time, she jumps into an old tyre (轮胎). The tyre helps her to stop.

Daisy is old enough to ride the cable by herself. Some children are too young to ride alone. They have to go in a cloth bag. All of the family come to watch a child’s first ride. The children must be shown what to do. They must know how to use the stick.

The cable is the only way to cross the river quickly. It is the only way Daisy can get to school on time.

English teenagers will receive cooking lessons in schools. The idea is to encourage healthy eating to solve the problem that many people are overweight. Also, it worries people that basic cooking and food preparation skills are being lost because parents use too much pre-prepared fast food.

Cooking was once regarded as an important part of education in England—even if it was mainly for girls. In recent years cooking has become less important in schools. But the rising level of obesity(肥胖的) has led to rethink about the food that children are given and the skills they should be taught.

“What we want is to teach young people how to do basic, simple meals, which they can use now at home and then in their life,” said Ed Balls, an education expert.

The new lessons will start in September, but some schools without kitchens will be given a longer time to prepare. Also, there may be a shortage of teachers with the right skills, since schools have been teaching food technology rather than practical cooking. Besides, the lessons for hand-on cooking will only be one hour a week for one term. But the well-known cookery writer, Pru Leith, believes it will be worth it.

“If we’d done this thirty years ago we might not have to face the problem about obesity and lack of knowledge about food and so on. Every child should know how to cook, not just so that they’ll be healthy, but because it’s a life skill which is a real pleasure.”

The renewed interest in cooking is an effort to reduce the obesity rate, which is almost the highest in Europe, and according to the government, half of all British people will be obese in 25 years if present trends(趋势) are not halted.