The Redstone Valley lies in a wide river (11) between two rows of grey (12). Deep caves in the rock stay cool even in August, and children hide there at noon. For most of the year the air here is cool and (13), and the dark soil holds enough water for rice. Yet every ten years or so a long (14) comes. Streams shrink, the fields turn to dust, and farmers must carry water up from the town. Old people say the (15) has changed twice in their lifetime: once after a flood, once after a fire on the hills. Now they plant trees, hoping to keep the soil in place.
Questions 11–15
11
Abacon
Bcave
Cdam
Dbasin
✔ 正確答案：(D) basin
解析a wide river ____ 指河流沖積出的「盆地、流域 basin」。dam 是人造的水壩，不會被 wide river 修飾成一片地形；cave 是洞穴、bacon 是培根，皆不合。
12
Acliffs
Bpuppets
Cglobes
Dspices
✔ 正確答案：(A) cliffs
解析between two rows of grey ____ 描述山谷兩側的「峭壁 cliffs」，下一句的 deep caves in the rock 也是線索。globe 是地球儀、puppet 是木偶、spice 是香料，都不會排成兩列夾住山谷。
Green Island was born from a (16) that stopped erupting eight hundred years ago. Its black (17) is rich, and farmers there grow sweet potatoes, spinach and tea on narrow terraces. A salty (18) blows in from the sea every afternoon and keeps the fields cool. Visitors climb the (19) before sunrise; the path is steep, and in winter the rocks are white with (20). From the top you can see the whole coast of the mainland. A small museum near the harbor explains how the island was formed. Scientists watch the mountain closely, and they hope it will stay quiet for many more centuries.