首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
PASSAGE TWO (1) Early this winter, the hundreds of climbers making plans for spring-summit attempts on Mount Qomolangma sudden
PASSAGE TWO (1) Early this winter, the hundreds of climbers making plans for spring-summit attempts on Mount Qomolangma sudden
admin
2023-02-17
55
问题
PASSAGE TWO
(1) Early this winter, the hundreds of climbers making plans for spring-summit attempts on Mount Qomolangma suddenly faced a new set of rules. In December, the Nepalese government decreed that it would no longer issue permits to blind, solo, or double-amputee mountaineers for any of its high peaks. Furthermore, all expeditions would have to employ at least one Sherpa (夏尔巴人向导) and would be forbidden from using helicopters to reach high camps.
(2) The regulations fit a pattern established by Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism, which in the past few years has issued a series of proclamations—climbers must announce plans to set records, trekkers must carry location beacons—that suggest improved management of its high-altitude peaks. Each new declaration generates a rush of international news reports about authorities making strides toward addressing safety at the top of the world. The truth is a lot more complicated.
(3) Mountaineering is big business in Nepal. Industry experts estimate that it generates some $26. 5 million in tourism income each year, with around $ 11 million of that coming from Qomolangma climbers alone. The enduring obsession of the Western media with tragic deaths on these far-off snowy peaks has resulted in a lot of free marketing. Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism, perhaps concerned that all the morbid tales might drive climbers to Qomolangma’s less used Chinese side, has gained some control of that narrative by broadcasting more positive developments through the Nepalese press. But the rules announced to date would do nothing to mitigate the dangers of climbing Qomolangma even if Nepal had the resources and conviction to enforce them, which it doesn’t.
(4) Making a huge, hugely popular mountain safer is possible. On Alaska’s Denali, fulltime climbing rangers conduct safety checks of many teams and are mobilized for rescue operations. On Argentina’s Aconcagua, rangers patrol all high camps, and until recently, permit fees included the cost of helicopter rescues. Adopting similar policies in Nepal would be a good start. A longer list of true reforms would include ordering all climbers to have previously summited a 7,000-meter peak, requiring non-guides working above Base Camp to take a course at the Khumbu Climbing Center (hundreds have done so since it was founded in 2003) , and capping the total number of climbers on the mountain at 500 per season, including support staff. That last policy would both reduce dangerous crowding and help keep the mountain clean.
(5) Unfortunately, these kinds of rules are less likely than ever to be instituted on Qomolangma, owing to the rise of budget guiding companies. Beginning in the early 1990s, Western outfitters established commercial mountaineering on the Nepal side of the peak by attracting clients willing to pay as much as $ 65,000 to be guided to the summit. That business model dominated for more than two decades, bringing an estimated 9,000 paying climbers to Base Camp. Consequently, Qomolangma earned a reputation as a magnet for the rich, ambitious, and inexperienced.
(6) As in many markets, savvy entrepreneurs saw opportunities for disruption. Lower-cost guiding companies, some founded by Westerners and others by Nepalese, slowly gained attraction by offering Qomolangma climbs for as little as a third of the going rate among high-end outfitters. Then came 2014, when 16 Sherpas died after a serac (冰塔) collapsed onto the Khumbu lcefall, part of the main route from Base Camp to Camp I. In the wake of that tragedy, a small group of Sherpas demanded that the Nepalese government establish regulations that would improve working conditions, increase pay, boost life-insurance coverage, and provide a funeral stipend. Ultimately, Sherpas received a bit more insurance—the minimum payout was doubled from $5,500 to $11,000—but not much else.
(7) Partly in response to media attention of these events, Nepali-owned guiding companies have continued to gain influence and market share on Qomolangma. The shift away from foreign control of the mountain is welcomed by many in the climbing community. Another positive development: lower-cost operators are increasing diversity on Qomolangma, attracting climbers from China’s and India’s burgeoning middle classes with aggressive pricing. Based on numbers from the Himalayan Database, in 2010, four Indian and eight Chinese climbers attempted the mountain, just 6 percent of the total. Last year, Chinese and Indian clients accounted for 60 of the 199 Nepal-side summits.
(8) Unfortunately, in the absence of substantive government oversight, some of the budget companies are making Qomolangma more dangerous by flooding the already overcrowded route with novice climbers led by inexperienced guides. Any operators charging less for guided climbs are prone to bolster profits through scale, booking dozens of clients on expeditions. (The most respected outfitters set a maximum of ten. ) Putting aside 2014’s tragedy and 2015’ s earthquake-induced avalanche, which killed at least 17 people at Base Camp, 12 of the 17 climber deaths on the South Col route between 2011 and 2017 appear to have been clients of budget outfitters.
(9) During last year’s peak season, Kathmandu-based Seven Summit Treks, known for bringing large groups of climbers to Qomolangma, allegedly promoted a young support staffer named Sange to guide Qomolangma and assigned him to an older Pakistani client. The pair reached the summit late in the day and got into trouble on their descent. They had to be rescued by experienced Sherpas from another Nepalese outfitter. Sange later had all his fingers amputated due to severe frostbite.
(10) Veteran guides are reacting to all this in different ways. Adrian Ballinger, founder of the California outfitter Alpenglow, has abandoned the Nepal side of Qomolangma and is instead leading teams from China. As he explained it, the higher risk from natural dangers (avalanches, seracs, crevasses) , the low standards of other outfitters, and Nepal’s mismanagement add up to an unacceptable environment. Several other prominent guides have come to the same conclusion, including Austrian Lukas Furtenbach. Others are staying put. International Mountain Guides co-owner Eric Simonson, whose first expedition on Qomolangma was in 1982, insists that upgrades in route-making through the Khumbu lcefall, and the establishment of dual ropes in areas prone to bottlenecks, have made the Nepal side safer, even as the crowds have grown.
(11) Qomolangma remains the ultimate conquest for many climbers. And while most embrace the risk of high-altitude mountaineering, few understand that the biggest dangers are all too often the result of economics, not the forces of nature. Ultimately, the top priority of many tourism officials and outfitters isn’t safety. It’s the bottom line.
The function of "Others are staying put" in Para. 10 is to________.
选项
答案
B
解析
篇章结构题。根据题干提示定位至第十段。该段开头提到,资深向导的态度各不相同,随后举例说阿德里安.巴林杰认为珠峰尼泊尔一侧的环境令人无法接受,从而放弃了这里的登山事业,而设题句之后提到的西蒙森则认为该侧的登山环境已经变得更加安全,可知双方的观点是对立的,故答案为B。本段并未对核心观点进行要素分析,因此A说法不恰当;该段的核心句为第一句,之后具体介绍了资深向导的两种不同反应,并未提出新看法,故排除C;D具有一定的迷惑性,设题句后虽然进行了举例,但陈述的观点与之前相反,可见其作用并不是为前文提供例证。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/hucD777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Skepticsofhighereducationoftencomplainthatuniversitiesoffertoomanyboringdegreeswithlittlevalueintheworkplace.【
Skepticsofhighereducationoftencomplainthatuniversitiesoffertoomanyboringdegreeswithlittlevalueintheworkplace.【
[A]Youarenotalone[B]Don’tfearresponsibilityforyourlife[C]Paveyourownuniquepath[D]Mostofyourfea
Peoplehavespeculatedforcenturiesaboutafuturewithoutwork.Todayisnodifferent,withacademics,writers,andactivists
Peoplehavespeculatedforcenturiesaboutafuturewithoutwork.Todayisnodifferent,withacademics,writers,andactivists
服务改进需要进行生命周期管理,主要活动包括服务改进设计、________、服务改进验证。涉及________、技术、资源、________等方面。
阅读以下说明,回答问题,将解答填入答题纸对应的解答栏内。【说明】某企业数据中心拓扑如图2-1所示,均采用互联网双线接入,实现冗余和负载。两台核心交换机通过虚拟化配置实现关键链路冗余和负载均衡,各服务器通过SAN存储网络与存储系统连接。关键数据通过虚拟专
创建型模式支持对象的创建,该模式允许在系统中创建对象,而不需要在代码中标识特定类的类型,这样用户就不需要编写大量、复杂的代码来初始化对象。在不指定具体类的情况下,____①____模式为创建一系列相关或相互依赖的对象提供了一个接口。____②____模式
有A、B、c、D四个临省,同时向甲、乙、丙、丁四个城市运送援助物资,假设规定一个省对口援助一个城市。四省到各城市的运输时间如下表所示。请给出一个合理的方案,使得物资运输总时间最短,则最短物资运输时间为________小时。
PASSAGETHREEWhatdidthediscoveryoftheearringsinthetombsandthosefoundlaterindicate(Para.7)?
随机试题
辛弃疾《贺新郎.同父见和再用的答之》的艺术风格是()
全身消炎药治疗牙周病主要用于
时间序列是指同类现象指标值按时间顺序排列而形成的数列。由以下几部分组成,即()。
依据委托监理合同示范文本,监理合同的有效期是从监理合同双方签字之日起,到( )止。
2015年7月,在中国学术家协会学术教育委员会与中央美院联合主办的“为社会创新的美术教育”国际学术研讨会上达成了让美术教育成为滋养社会创新的重要源泉的“北京共识”,下列说法不正确的是()。
秦朝把司法机关判案的成例称为()。
划分历史唯物主义和历史唯心主义的惟一标准在于
A.aTVsetandacomputerB.thecombinationofbroadcastandiPodC.amusethemselvesD.voiceandmusicE.helpstudentsstud
Thebypassoperation(心脏搭桥手术)【C1】______open-heartsurgeryinwhichthephysiciantakesaveinfromthepatient’slegand【C2】___
AdamwasborninArgentina.
最新回复
(
0
)