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. [■]Climbing 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.
单选题
The word thrill in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to______. A. opportunity B. pleasure C. danger D. difficulty
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[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'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”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A(机会)、选项C(危险)、选项D(困难)都不符合原文的意思。
单选题
According to Paragraph 1, what rewards can people get from mountain climbing? A. They can make a living from climbing mountains. B. They can get satisfaction, excitement, exercise and interaction. C. They can challenge themselves by climbing mountains. D. They can conquer the nature during mountain climbing.
单选题
The author suggests that the relationship between alpine climbing, ice climbing and rock climbing is______. A. they have nothing in common in techniques and equipment B. they are the same only in the sense of using similar equipment C. they are exactly the same in most aspects of climbing D. they call for generally the same basic techniques
单选题
The word encompasses in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to______. A. includes B. excludes C. reflects D. requires
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为词汇题，主要考查考生根据上下文对单词encompass的理解。该词义为“包含，涵盖”，原文出现encompass的句子说“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(阿尔卑斯登山模式包含的基本登山技术、设备以及安全准备，成为登冰或攀岩的基础)”。而且，第一段的最后一句提到，三种登山模式有相同的基本技术。因此，应该选A项。选项B(排除)意思正好相反；选项C(反映，表现)、选项D(需要)都不符合原文的意思。
单选题
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true of alpine climing? A. Alpine climbing originated in a European mountain. B. Alpine climbing usually takes one or more days. C. Alpine climbing is not practiced around the world now. D. Alpine climbing cannot be practiced by one single climber.
单选题
According to Paragraph 3, why did ice climbers make changes to equipment alpine climbers used? A. Because ice climbing is more dangerous than Alpine climbing. B. Because there are some new difficulties in ice climbing. C. Because ice climbers wanted to find more excitements. D. Because ice climbers wanted to ensure more safe climbing.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为事实信息题，主要考查考生抓住文章中所阐明的重要信息的能力。题目问：根据第三段，登冰者为什么要改造阿尔卑斯登山者使用的设备?根据原文第三段的句子“with certain specialized changes to account for the added difficulties of ascending vertical sheets of ice (考虑到攀登垂直冰面新增的困难，对设备做了某些专业性的改造)”。因此，登冰者改造原有登山工具的最根本原因，是由于登冰活动所出现的一些新困难，故选B项。另外，选项B中的new(新的)和原文的added(新添的)意义也类似，这也是解题的一个重要线索。
单选题
Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information. A. More people take up mountain climbing due to publicity and better equipment. B. There are increasing cases of both success and tragedy in mountain climbing. C. The activity of mountain climbing has becoming less and less popular. D. Improvements in climbing equipment are the key reason for increased popularity of mountain climbing.
单选题
All of the following are mentioned in Paragraph 7 as contributing to the difficulty in transitioning between indoor climbing and outdoor climbing EXCEPT______. A. bad weather B. added expense C. loose rock D. falling stones
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为事实信息题，主要考查考生是否能抓住文章中所提供的重要事实和细节。题目问：下列哪一项不是造成从室内攀岩转向室外攀岩这一困难的因素?根据文章第七段最后一句“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(室外攀岩需要有新的技能和评判要求，因为真正的攀岩要受到天气和其他危险因素的影响，如松动的岩石、坠落的石块等)”。天气、岩石松动、石块坠落即A、C、D三项所叙述的原因。选项B提到了费用问题，原文并没有提到，也就是说费用不是造成室外攀岩困难的原因，因此选B项。
单选题
According to Paragraph 8, which of the following is NOT true of climbing competitions in the late 20th century? A. There are various standards to judge climbing competitions. B. Climbing competitions are attractive to various kinds of climbers. C. Only very skilled climbers can participate in climbing competitions D. Climbing competitions have won the support of many associations.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为正误判断题，考查考生是否能够根据文章中阐明的信息，判断什么是正确的信息，什么是错误的信息或文章中没有提到的信息。题目问：根据第八段，下列关于20世纪末登山竞赛的描述哪一项是不正确的?文章的最后一段提到“In the late 20th century，climbing competitions became popular with rock climbers and ice climbers of all ages and skill levels(20世纪末，登山竞赛吸引了各个年龄和技术水平的攀岩者和攀冰者)”。因此，选项B(登山竞赛吸引了各种登山者)是正确的。选项A(评判登山竞赛有各种标准，即有的看速度，有的看高度)和选项D(有各种俱乐部资助比赛)也都是正确的。只有选项C(只有技术很高超的登山者才能参加比赛)是错误的，所以正确答案为选项C。
单选题
Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Rock climbing is now practiced on cliffs with a wide range of heights. Where would the sentence best fit? A. Square Ａ. B. Square Ｂ. C. Square Ｃ. D. Square Ｄ.
问答题
Directions: Complete the table by matching the phrases below. Select the appropriate phrases from the answer choices and match them to the type of organism to which they relate. TWO of the answer choices will NOT be used. This question is worth 4 points.
Classic climbing styles
Recent developments
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Answer Choices
A. rock climbing B. indoor climbing C. environmental bonds D. a variety of climbing places E. climbing permits F. ice climbing G. professional equipment H. climbing competitions I. alpine climbing