A pond is a small lake. In a garden, a pond is a decorative water feature. These often have plants and flowers around them and other plants, like water lilies, growing on the water. Garden ponds usually also have goldfish and other creatures living in them - there might even be frogs and toads. A pool is a swimming pool. Safety gates are barriers which parents fit across doorways and staircases in their homes, to stop toddlers going where they might get hurt. They're made of wood, metal or tough plastic bars, and have a fastening at one side which an adult can open but a toddler can't. The children are unlikely to hurt themselves at the bottom of the stairs, but you need to fit one at the bottom to stop them climbing up the stairs and then falling down again! Don't you have these in your country?

Pond- small body of water, not for swimming. http://www.aquajoy.org.uk/data/storage/attachments/521fa05b0fe96d76b4e9695fc956e4ba.jpg Pool- body of water made specifically for swimming in. http://weknowyourdreams.com/image.php?pic=/images/pool/pool-05.jpg Both are dangerous to children- they can fall in and drown. A safety gate (also called a baby gate) is a fence on hinges that prevents a child or animal from going somewhere- often placed at stairs and entrances to rooms. see: http://www.safetots.co.uk/images/categories/home_page/gate.gif At the bottom of the stairs, the danger is that the child will climb up the stairs and then fall down, hurting themselves. Hope that helps!

I think in this context, "pools" refers to swimming pools (often shortened to pool in colloqiual English), so this would mean something purpose-built for leisure, while a pond is a more natural small body of water (i.e., it will contain weeds and frogs etc). In regard to the second question, I agree the phrasing is unclear. I think you would fit a safety gate at the bottom of the stairs so that children can't climb up the stairs and then fall down. So the safety gate stops them from climbing. A safety gate for children has a special latch on it that only adults can open. It stops children from accessing parts of the house or garden that may be dangerous.