As a nature photographer, I have to brave the wind and the rain, but I still enjoy working outside in the wild. I enjoy observing animals in their 【小题1】 (nature) environment.

Last spring, I followed a path that took me through 【小题2】 dark forest. When I finally stepped out of the trees, the view was breathtaking. An eagle flew over the snow-capped mountains, which 【小题3】 (reflect) in the still lake below. While I was concentrated on photographing this 【小题4】 (amaze) thing, I suddenly had a feeling that I was being watched. 【小题5】 (slow) and with the camera still held to my eye, I turned …and froze. Only meters away from me was a bear. With water falling off its thick, brown hair, the bear stared back at 【小题6】 (I). Time stood still as the bear and I both waited to see 【小题7】 would move first. My legs started shaking. Somehow I forced my finger 【小题8】 (press) the button. A second later, the bear turned and ran back into the forest. When I recovered 【小题9】 the shock, I looked at my camera. My most frightening but magical experience was now captured forever in a single image.

From time to time I look at the photo as a 【小题10】 (remind) to show respect to all animals. It is after all we who are the visitors to their world.

A

Passenger pigeons (旅鸽) once【小题1】(fly) over much of the United States in unbelievable numbers. When its population reached its highest point, there were more than 3 billion passenger pigeons. Even as late as 1870 when their numbers 【小题2】(become) smaller already, a flock (群) believed to be 1 mile wide and 320 miles (about 515 kilometers) long【小题3】(see) near Cincinnati.

Sadly, where the birds were most abundant, people believed there was an ever-lasting supply and killed them by the thousands. Commercial hunters attracted them to small clearings with grain, waited until pigeons【小题4】(settle) to feed, then threw large nets over them,【小题5】(take) hundreds at a time. The birds【小题6】(ship) to large cities and sold in restaurants.

By the closing decades of the 19th century, the hardwood forests where passenger pigeons nested【小题7】(damage) by Americans, need for wood, which scattered (驱散) the flocks and forced the birds【小题8】(go) farther north, where cold temperatures and spring storms【小题9】(contribute) to their decline. Soon the great flocks were gone, never to be seen again.

In 1897, the state of Michigan passed a law prohibiting the killing of passenger pigeons, but by then, no sizable flocks【小题10】(see) in the state for 10 years.

On average, Americans spend about 10 hours a day in front of a computer or other electronic device and less 【小题1】 30 minutes a day outdoors. David Strayer, a professor of psychology at the University of Utah says that all this time 【小题2】 (spend) with technology is making our brains 【小题3】(tire). So, it is important 【小题4】 (give) the brain a rest. And a camping trip can help.

David Strayer 【小题5】 (study) both short-term and long-term exposure to nature. He found that spending short amounts of time in nature without technology does calm the brain and helps it to remember much 【小题6】 (well). However, he found, it is the long-term contact with nature that does the most good.

Camping teaches you to know your surroundings and to think about one thing at 【小题7】 time. It can show you how to take care of yourself in difficult situations, 【小题8】 can help to increase your confidence in your abilities.

So, it is wonderful to spend time 【小题9】 (take) a long walk in the woods or by the ocean or in a city park. But camping requires that you spend more time in nature. People should expose themselves more 【小题10】 (deep) in nature, and the health benefits can be deeper as well.