Tham khảo tài liệu 'chapter sumary 1', ngoại ngữ, anh ngữ phổ thông phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | CBEST PRACTICE EXAM 1 wilds of the Ozark mountains I learned that these qualities are as changable as mercury. During a cross-country drive my friend Nina and I decided to stop at a campsite in Missouri and spend the afternoon on a float trip down Big Piney River 14 miles through the wilderness. We rented a canoe and paddled happily off. Things went fine for the first seven or eight miles. We gazed at the overhanging bluffs commented on the wonderful variety of trees it was spring and the dogwood was in bloom and marveled at the clarity of the water. Then in approaching a bend in the river which we later learned was called Devil s Elbow the current suddenly swept us in toward the bank underneath the low-hanging branches of a weeping willow. The canoe tipped over and I was pulled under my foot caught for just a few seconds on the submerged roots of the willow. Just as I surfaced taking my first frantic gulp of air I saw the canoe sweeping out upright again but empty and Nina frantically swimming after it. I knew I should help but I was petrified and hung my head in shame as I let my friend brave the treacherous rapids and haul the canoe back onto the gravel bar while I stood by cravenly. Then came the scream. Startled I glanced up to see Nina both hands over her eyes dash off the gravel bar and back into the water. I gazed down into the canoe to see coiled in the bottom of it the unmis-takeable black-and-brown checkerboard-pattered form of a copperhead snake. It had evidently been sunning itself peacefully on the weeping willow branch when we passed by underneath. I don t know exactly why but the supposedly inborn terror of snakes is something that has passed me by completely. I actually find them rather charming in a scaly sort of way. Nina was still screaming Kill it But I was calm in a way that must have seemed smug. We re in its home it s not in ours I informed her. And gently I prodded it with the oar until it reared up slithered over the side of the canoe and
