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Seeing a volcano erupt is a wonderful experience, and you can really feel the heat by climbing to the summit of Pacaya for a close­up view. There are guided tours every day up this highly active volcano from Antigua, giving travellers a chance to see Mother Nature at her most powerful.

Pacaya is an easy drive from Antigua, a beautiful city with many colourful houses along its old streets that are turned into artworks during its Holy Week festival. But climbing Pacaya is no easy job: it is 2,552 metres high and reaching the summit takes two to three hours of seemingly one­step­forward and two­step­back movements. As you climb, you hear the sounds of eruptions high above. Smoke and hot remains of recent eruptions begin to appear on the path as you near the active summit: the McKenney Cone(»ðɽ׶)£®Just as though you are going to walk over to the edge of the cone, the road turns to the left and up to the safety of the old, inactive summit.

Many tours are timed so that you arrive at the cone of the volcano in plenty of time for the sunset and the full scene of the erupting red lava in the darkening sky. On a good day the view from the summit is really exciting. The active mouth boils, sending red lava over its sides, and once in a while shoots hot streams up to 100 metres into the air.There is a strong bad smell in the air even if you are upwind of the cone. As evening turns deeper into the night, the burning lava quietly falls down the sides of the volcano. For you, too, it is time to get down, but I am sure the powerful forces of nature will attract you and you would like to come to see it again.

1£®What does the underlined word “summit” in the first paragraph mean?

A£®Remained, cooled rocks along the path.

B£®Loud sounds and terrible smell in the air.

C£®The most exciting happening in a place.

D£®The top point of a mountain or hill.

2£®Many tours are timed for people to ______

A£®get down the mountain in time when night falls

B£®avoid the smell from the upwind direction of the cone

C£®enjoy the fantastic eruption against the darkening sky

D£®appreciate the beauty of the 2552­metre­high mountain

3£®What is the main purpose of this passage?

A£®To have more tourists come to Pacaya.

B£®To describe the beauty of Pacaya.

C£®To introduce guided tours to Pacaya.

D£®To explain the power of nature at Pacaya.