The Search for a Camp

  旅游已是人们的时尚话题，它不仅可以减轻你紧张的工作和学习上带来的压力，也可以让你了解大千世界的精彩纷呈，旅游有远有近，方式也是各异。试试在春暖花开的时节，找一个有山有水的地方搭一个小帐篷，在蓝天白云下举杯与亲朋畅饮，谈天说地，可真是别有一番滋味在心头呀！

       In the United States in recent years, camping has become very popular. Every summer, thousands of families leave the city behind to spend weekends and vacations outdoors. Some families take along trailers1. Others load their cars with tents, small stoves, and air-filled sleeping mattresses2. Then they head for one of the country’s many campgrounds.

Some campgrounds offer campers little more than clean water and places to pitch3 their tents or park their trailers. People who go to these places like to “rough it”. Other campgrounds offer campers such comforts as electricity, outdoor fireplaces, and even showers.

In the United States, most campgrounds are publicly owned. The national parks and many national monuments and national forests have land set aside for campers. State governments  also run campgrounds in  state-owned parks and forests. Even countries and cities may have their own campgrounds.

A few years ago, campers could always find room to camp in  a public campground. But today, government owned campgrounds are often overcrowded. To meet the needs of the ever-growing number of campers, some business people are opening privately owned land to campers.

More private campgrounds are opening across the country. The campers usually pay a higher fee than they pay at government-owned grounds. But many private parks also offer more comforts. And as public parks and forests become GREatly overcrowded, private campgrounds will give more people the chance to enjoy camping.

1. Most campgrounds are ________.

       a. national monuments

b. privated owned

c. publicly owned

2. The story does not say so, but it makes you think that ________.

       a. there are fewer private than public campgrounds

b. fewer and fewer people like to camp in our country

c. many of our national parks have had to close

3. Most people go camping in the winter.

a. Yes             b. No            c. Does not say

4. Why do business people open privately owned land to campers?

a. They want to be sure their friends have a camping place.

b. They have too much land to use themselves.

c. Our public campgrounds are becoming overcrowded.

New words and expressions

1. trailer n. 拖车

2. mattress n. 床垫

3. pitch v. 搭（帐篷）

参考答案：

1.c    2.a    3.c    4.c