U8.doc-人师教育协会.doc

Unit 8: Hiking in the Mountains A young woman named Helen and her friend George are hiking up the side of a mountain. Helen: Wow. It sure is beautiful here. George: Yes, and it is nice and cool up here, too. George hears something. George: Did you hear that? Helen: Hear what? George: It sounds like bird? They both look up at the tree, but they don’t see any birds there. Then the sound starts again. It’s a high-pitched1 buzzing2 noise. George: Do you hear it now? Helen: Yes, but it isn’t a bird. George: What do you think it is? Helen: It sounds like a cicada3 to me. George: Yeah. That’s probably it and that is why we didn’t see it. They usually stop chirping4 when something is near. They continue hiking up the winding5 path6 towards the top of the mountain. Then George sees something moving in the undergrowth.7 George: Don’t move! I think I saw a snake. Helen stops dead8in her tracks.9 Helen: Where did you see it? George: Over there, by that rotting10 log. As they watch the spot where George supposedly11 saw the snake, a tiny creature12 crawls13 on top of the log to bask in the sunlight. Helen laughs. Helen: That’s not a snake. It’s a grass lizard.14 George: Well I only saw the end of its tail and it looked like a snake to me. They decide to sit down on a big rock next to the path and watch the little lizard bathe15 in the sun. All of a sudden16they hear a shriek17 and the cute little lizard disappears. Helen: What in the heck18 was that? It happened so fast that I didn’t get a good look. George: That was a Common Kestrel.19 It is a small falcon20 that likes to feed on all kinds of little creatures. Helen: Really? George: They even eat venomous21 snakes, if you can believe it. Helen: They sound pretty neat. How about we go to the library and see if we can find more information on falcons? George: Sounds good to me. I’ll race you back to the bottom. Before George even finishes his sentence, Helen is off like a shot.22 George: Wait for me!!! Questions: What did He