中級閱讀模擬測驗　第二十回

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.

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.