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NIVEL – intermedio
YOSEMITE
NATIONAL PARK
USA
Yosemite National Park extends across the Sierra Nevada mountain range between California and Nevada, USA. It is one of the most fascinating wilderness areas in North America, and it
(1) …………..…….. its visitors a great variety of outdoors things to see and do.
On my first visit to Yosemite I approached it from San Francisco. This trip involves driving up to an (2) ………….………. of 9,000 feet. Even in a modern car this sort of altitude affects the driver and passengers; there is a sense of dizziness which, in the driver’s case, can be a problem.
We stayed at Lee Vining, a (3) ………………….. very near the Tioga Pass entrance in the north. We had not realized that an October visit was late in the year but we soon learned that the Tioga Pass gate had been closed the (4) …..……………….day.
YOSEMITE CLOSED IN WINTER
Yosemite is enclosed at that boundary by beautiful forests and we could see part of the scenery. But that was all; there is no question of
(5) ……………………. to ‘take a chance’ and enter the park. With a car it’s impossible and in any case it’s a serious (6) ……………………. that carries a fine of around $5,000.
This rule is taken seriously because it really could be a matter of life and death for anyone who got into Yosemite in the closed season.
In the following year we did it all (7) ………………….: we took our vacation in early September when the weather was much better, and we entered Yosemite by the south entrance, near Mariposa Grove, (8) ……………………. in a log cabin.
GIANT SEQUOIA TREES
 The cabin was about 50 kilometers from Mariposa Grove and the Grove, with its great Sequoia trees, was my main interest. I went (9) …………………. an afternoon there, admiring these centuries - old creatures. They are the oldest
(10) ………………… things on earth.
Everywhere we went, I was impressed by the thought and planning that have gone into (11) ………………… that Yosemite remains a natural wilderness; everything is strictly controlled by the park rangers, acting under very wide powers.
And credit must be given to the hikers and climbers who go far out into the ‘back country’ in any national park: this is ‘extreme sport’ territory, I think, but they all looked fit and (12) ………………… with all sorts of things to preserve and sustain them on their departure from civilization. And the Yosemite park rangers keep track of every one of them, without intruding.
CUTE BEARS ARE A NUISANCE
Although we did not see any bears, they are a major nuisance and a (13) ………………… throughout Yosemite. There is what we might call, ‘a cycle of tragedy’ because the human visitors to the park like to see the bears and feed them.
This causes the bears to get lazy about hunting for their food in the natural way and they start to intrude on human (14) ………………….. At first this is cute – everyone loves cute bears – but then the bears get aggressive and start (15) ………..…….. food from the humans.
 
It is official Yosemite National Park policy to move the offending bears far away up to the back country so they can lose their bad habits and learn to be bears (16) …………………. However, the bears can find their way back to a visitor center, and more human food, (17) ……………….. a week.
By this time they are not at all cute, but tourists still want to feed the bears. And this is where the cycle of tragedy ends. If a bear has previously been transported out to the back country then comes back and stays in the human camp sites and car parks, behaving (18) …………………, they shoot him (or her). Dead.
So the message is – to feed the bear is to kill the bear. There are no exceptions. It should be noted that there is no (19) ………….……… case of a visitor being killed by a bear in Yosemite; bears try to avoid humans if they can but they are easily corrupted by the sweet and tasty food the humans offer them.
From the South Entrance to Yosemite near Mariposa Grove to the Tioga Pass entrance at Lee Vining the road through this national park is about 220 kilometers long and there are many (20) ………………… to be seen along the way.
On some days, at high altitude it is often possible to get out of the car, stand in deep clean snow with a hot sun beating down, and yet be higher than some of the clouds passing by. Yosemite National Park is a place of endless variety and interest, a natural antidote to city life.
CHOICES:
1. a) offend, b) offers, c) open, d) tells
2. a) height, b) tall, c) altitude, d) aptitude
3. a) ocean, b) village, c) leaf, d) live
4. a) interior, b) previous, c) next, d) last
5. a) deciding, b) depending, c) defending, d) decoding
6. a) fence, b) defense, c) offense, d) bend
7. a) the most, b) the same, c) differently, d) dimly
8. a) to stay, b) to smile, c) to ski, d) to swim
9. a) to waste, b) to spend, c) to change, d) to post
10. a) loving, b) charming, c) smelling, d) living
11. a) pure, b) ensuring, c) amazing, d) insulting
12. a) equipped, b) opened, c) unhappy, d) folded
13. a) massive, b) Yosemite, c) menace, d) moist
14. a) toes, b) feet, c) territory, d) hair
15. a) to give, b) to cook, c) to steal, d) to hug
16. a) industry, b) again, c) other, d) holiday
17. a) without, b) within, c) with, d) at
18. a) badly, b) courteously, c) shake, d) bad
19. a) religious, b) renovated, c) revised, d) recorded
20. a) wanders, b) wonders, c) icebergs, d) lumps
Respuestas:
1b, 2c, 3b, 4b, 5a, 6c, 7c, 8a, 9b, 10d, 11b, 12 a, 13c, 14c,
15c, 16b, 17b, 18a, 19d, 20b.
Cloze 1 Taj Mahal
Cloze 3 Carnival
Cloze 4 Las Vegas
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