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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 thrill in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to______.
选项 A、opportunity
B、pleasure
C、danger
D、difficulty
答案B
解析 本题为词汇题，主要考查考生能否根据上下文理解thrill一词。原文“The activity’srewards include the physical exercise it provides，the satisfaction of overcoming difficulties byworking with others，the thrill of reaching a summit，and the unobstructed views from amountaintop”的意思是“这项活动的回报包括它提供的体育锻炼、与他人合作共同克服困难的满足感、达到顶峰时的激动以及在山顶上欣赏一览无余的景观”。根据语境，这句话解释登山所包括的回报(rewards)，这为理解thrill一词的意思提供了必要的线索；而且，这句话中的satisfaction(满意，快乐)一词也为解题提供了暗示。根据上下文，考生可以猜测出thrill的意思应为“兴奋，激动”，因此选B项。选项人(机会)、选项C(危险)、选项D(困难)都不符合原文的意思。
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