Adapted from Down the Yellowstone by Lewis R. Freeman 1 This moming we went down to Inspiration Point to watch the sunrise. Never before did I realize how Inadequate the descriptions of the Grand Canyon are. The greatest of the world's word painters have only succeeded in stringing together a lot of colors like a paint company's sample sheet. They have thrown in comparisons to sunrises, sunsets, and fields of flowers and mixed it all together in an awful and overwhelming order.
2 Seeing the canyon in person, one can single out each crag and pinnacle; separate each bright streak of color from its neighbor and admire It alone. Only In person can one fully appreciate the grandeur and beauty of the canyon. It is more than a physical experience. One is gradually taken possession of by the spirit of the place. It is an influence that lasts long after you have ceased to look, a feeling far deeper than the temporary delight of gazing on a beautiful picture.
3 Yesterday's thaw must have raised the water in the lake. The river is much higher today. The snow bridges above the falls, as well as the heaped-in drifts below, are breaking away in huge masses. The snowcap on the brink, with the water gushing forth from under it, looks like a gigantic alabaster gargoyle. The river shoots down under the snow and leaps out over the chasm in a clean, compact stream of bottle-green.
4 As we edged our way out to a better position, the sun rose. A series of three rainbows appeared in the clouds as they floated up out of the shadowed depths. The lowest and clearest of these colorful semiarcles seemed to spring from a patch of bright orange sand, made visible by the melting snow. Now I know where the story of gold at the end of the rainbow came from.
5 My friend Cart and I tried to come through the canyon by moonlight last night and had rather a bad time of It. First a fog blocked the moon. Then we tried to take a shortcut by following the telephone line, got lost in the dark, and stayed lost till the moon set and made it darker still. In cutting across the hills to get back into Hayden Valley, Carr fell over a snow bank and landed right in the middle of the road, where it had been laid bare by the heat of hot springs. Starting again, we came to the top of a hill and coasted down at a brisk pace.
6 After a while we were lost again, this time in a level space bounded on four sides by a winding creek. I know it was on four sides of the place, for we carefully walked off toward each point of the compass in rotation, and each time landed in the creek. We finally escaped by wading.
1. In paragraph 1, the author uses the phrase "word painters" to describe-
A. photographers B. illustrators C. writers D. painters

2. In paragraph 4, the word "semicircle" means-
F. a half circle G. a full circle H. a single circle J. a crooked circle

3. Based on the information in the selection, the reader can conclude that the trip through the Grand Canyon-
A. took only a short time B. was physically demanding C. was a great disappointment D. was fairly easy​