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  3. Mountain Climbing Mountain climbing, or ascending mountains, is popular worldwide, wherever hills rise high enough to provide a

Mountain Climbing Mountain climbing, or ascending mountains, is popular worldwide, wherever hills rise high enough to provide a

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问题                         Mountain Climbing
Mountain climbing, or ascending mountains, is popular worldwide, wherever hills rise high enough to provide a challenge. The activity’s rewards include the physical exercise it provides, the satisfaction of overcoming difficulties by working with others, the thrill of reaching a summit, and the unobstructed views from a mountaintop. Exploration and research are other reasons that people climb mountains. Since ancient times, people have viewed mountain peaks as towering objects of myth, spiritual inspiration, and romantic beauty. Early peoples made ascents only to hunt game, to rescue lost or strayed animals, or to gain a military advantage over an enemy. Eventually, the unknown and inaccessible peaks ceased to be feared and avoided, and the conquest of the major mountain peaks and ranges of the world began. Mountaineering as a sport was born on August 8, 1786. Since that ascent, mountain climbing has evolved into three related sports: alpine climbing, ice climbing, and rock climbing. These sports require the same fundamental techniques.
    The style of alpinism or alpine climbing encompasses much of the basic climbing techniques, equipment, and safety precautions that form the basis for ice climbing and rock climbing. Alpine climbing began in the European Alps in the late 18th century and is now practiced in all mountain ranges of the world. Alpine climbing involves the continuous ascent of a mountain peak over a period of one to several days by a team of at least two alpinists. Teams may consist of as many as four climbers. The climbers carry all the equipment they need—a camping stove and fuel, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, a tent or bivouac sack, first aid gear, a water bottle, and food. Each night the climbers spend the night on a mountain ledge before continuing upward.
    Ice climbing grew out of traditional mountaineering, and ice climbers use the basic equipment, techniques, and safety precautions that alpinists do, with certain specialized changes to account for the added difficulties of ascending vertical sheets of ice. For example, Eckenstein’s ten-point crampons enabled mountaineers to ascend more difficult and steeper climbs over icy routes.(A)Ice climbers later created more radically drooped ice axe picks and ergonomically designed ice axe shafts, allowing them to venture onto continuously vertical, and even overhanging, frozen waterfalls.
    In the early 20th century, French and German mountaineers sought out new challenges by training on cliffs and boulders near their homes.(B)The earliest documented rock climb done for sport was the 35-m high Nape’s Needle in the Lake District of England.(C)CIimbing areas may be relatively small crags of rock, large canyon sidewalls, or immense mountain faces.(D)Granite, limestone, sandstone, metamorphosed schist, and gneiss are the five most popular rock types for climbing.
    In recent years, well-publicized successes and tragedies in mountaineering activities and improvements in climbing equipment have given rise to an increased number of mountain climbers worldwide. The sport’s popularity has led some countries to require mountaineers to purchase climbing permits. Himalayan expeditions must also pay an environmental bond to guarantee that they will remove all of their waste at the conclusion of their trip.
    Environmental protection efforts are underway at many rock climbing areas to ease ecological strains on popular areas. Local climbers participate in an annual cleanup day to maintain approach trails, wash gymnastic chalk off the rock, and pick up litter. The Access Fund is the national organization that helps climbers gain access to climbing areas and also assists with environmental problems associated with cliffs in the United States.
    Beginning in the 1980s indoor rock-climbing gyms have played a key role in introducing large numbers of people to climbing by featuring short climbs in a controlled setting. However, making the transition to climbing outside is not always easy. New skills and judgment calls are required outdoors, because real cliffs are subject to bad weather and other hazards such as loose rock and falling stones.
    In the late 20th century, climbing competitions became popular with rock climbers and ice climbers of all ages and skill levels. Regular competition climbing is judged on how high the climber can ascend within a specified period of time. Speed climbing competitions pit climbers against a clock to see how fast they can scale a wall. Local climbing gyms and clubs sponsor competitions, as do national organizations such as the American Sport Climbing Federation.
The word underway in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to______.
选项 A、ongoing
B、changing
C、underdeveloped
D、unbalanced
答案A
解析 本题为词汇题，主要考查考生根据上下文对underway一词的理解。该词所在的句子是段首句，引出登山领域的环保活动的话题。上文提到了购买登山许可证、签署环保协议等活动，很明显环保活动是正在进行的。只有选项A的意思最接近underway，而选项B(正在变化)不准确；选项C(不发达)原文没有体现；选项D(不平衡)也不符合原文的意思。
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