閱讀理解.

閱讀理解。

     During my free time one day, I wandered down a lonely path into the woods and sat against a tree.
Then I saw one of the camp counselors approaching me. "Oh great," I thought, since counselors were
always trying to cheer you up or make you laugh.
     "Hey," he said, "mind if I have a seat?" I shrugged(聳肩). I wasn't going to encourage him, but I couldn't exactly stop him, either. He sat down alongside me and extended a hand. "I'm Gary," he said, "and
you're Erica, right?" I nodded. "You don't exactly look like you're having a good time," he began.
     I crossed my arms and gritted my teeth. "Look," I said, "I didn't want to come to camp, I don't like it, I'm not having fun, and it basically stinks." I glared at Gary.
     "So there's nothing here at all for you, huh?" he asked.
     "Nothing," I answered.
     "Let me show you something," said Gary. He got up, and I followed him along the path until I heard a
sound like a roaring freight train.
     "What's that?" I asked.
     "Wait and see," he replied, with a small smile.
     When we rounded the corner, I couldn't believe what I saw. There was the biggest waterfall I could
ever imagine, right in front of me. "Cool!" I said, and I could feel my eyes getting bigger and a smile tugging at my mouth.
     "Still think there's nothing here for you?" asked Gary. "Because there's a whole lot more of this kind of 'nothing' around here."
     I had to admit, the waterfall was impressive.
     "Look," said Gary, "camp is what you make it. You can be sullen(陰郁的) and closed-minded and
have a rotten four weeks, or you can take a look around you and see some of the incredible sights and
appreciate the opportunity. It would be useless for me to try to make you have fun. You can only do that
for yourself. But if you loosen up a little, you might actually have a good time." With that, he turned and
walked away, leaving me on the path.
     That night, by the campfire, I found myself singing along with everyone else. By the time the four weeks were up, I didn't want to leave. I'd seen some amazing things and made some great friends.
     Beauty is where you find it. Life is what you make it. I think it's going to be a good year this year. I
mean, I'm going to work to make it one. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to go back to camp next year!

閱讀理解。

     In 1997, a group of twenty British women made history. Working in five teams with four women in
each team, they walked to the North Pole. Apart from one experienced female guide, the other women
were all ordinary people who had never done anything like this in their lives before. They managed to
survive in an environment which had defeated several very experienced men during the same time period.
     The women set off as soon as they were ready. Once on the ice, each woman had to ski along while
dragging a sledge (雪橇) weighing over 50 kilos. This would not have been too bad on a smooth surface, but for long distances, the Arctic ice is pushed up into huge piles two or three metres high, and the sledges had to be pulled up one side and carefully let down the other so that they didn’t become damaged. The
temperature was always below the freezing point and sometimes strong winds made walking while pulling
so much weight almost impossible. It was also very difficult for them to put up their tents when they
stopped each night.
     In such conditions, the women were making good progress if they covered fourteen or fifteen
kilometres a day. But there was another problem. Part of the journey was across a frozen sea with moving water underneath the ice and at some points the team would drift (漂流) back more than five kilometres
during the night. That meant that after walking in these very severe conditions for ten hours on one day,
they had to spend part of the next day covering the same ground again. Furthermore, each day it took
three hours from waking up to setting off and another three hours every evening to set up the camp and
prepare the evening meal.
     So, how did they manage to succeed? They realized that they were part of a team. If any one of them
didn't pull her sledge or get her job done, she would endanger the success of the whole expedition (探險(xiǎn)). Any form of selfishness could result in the efforts of everyone else being completely wasted, so personal
feelings had to be put to one side. At the end of their journey, the women agreed that it was mental effort
far more than physical fitness that got them to the North Pole.