Overcoming extreme cold, cruel ice and people dismissing him as mad, Slovenian Davo Kamicar became the first person to ski non-stop down Mount Everest.
After a dramatic fall over almost sheer cliffs of snow, stones and ice, 38-year-old Kamicar emerged in his base camp after five hours of skiing. “I feel only absolute happiness and absolute tiredness,” he said.
At one stage he had to speed over stretches of ice that collapsed and broke underneath him and could have sent him falling into the deep crevasses (裂缝) that dot the mountain.
The descent (下落) had been seen by many as insanely dangerous. The Darwin Awards website, which documents deaths which are foolhardy, urged people to log on to Internet broadcasts of the attempt. “Keep your eyes peeled for a live Darwin Award,” it said.
However, the only body to make the news was the corpse (尸体) of an unknown mountaineer which Kamicar zipped past as he descended, one of an estimated 120 corpses, thought to litter the slopes.
“This mountain is always full of surprises. Seeing a dead man out there was a really shocking experience,” he said.
Thanks to strategically placed cameras on the mountain and one attached to his safety helmet, hundreds of thousands of people witnessed his descent on the Internet, which was one of the record highs ever. During the run more than 650,000 hits were registered on his expedition website jamming it for a time as others tried to access the site.
Weather conditions were so severe that Kamicar had to abandon plans to rest on the summit before attempting to descend. Instead, suffering from fatigue, as soon as he reached the top he put on his skis and flung himself back down the mountain.
Dealing with the mountain had already cost Kamicar two fingers when a previous failed attempt saw him get frostbite as a fierce storm lashed the peak.
Kamicar comes from a skiing family and took part in his first Himalayan skiing expedition in 1989. Since then, he has been tireless in raising funds and sponsorship for more expeditions, with Everest as the permanent goal.
1.Davo Kamicar made history by ________.
A. skiing down Mount Everest without rest
B. descending Mount Everest within the shortest time ever
C. attracting largest number of audience online for his descent
D. becoming the first to film his descent down Mount Everest
2.The underlined word foolhardy in the passage is closest in meaning to ______.
A. sudden and hard to accept B. taking unnecessary risks
C. attracting public attention D. working hard to fool others
3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Kamicar saw about 120 dead bodies littering the slope.
B. The broadcast of his descent online was cancelled because of the website jam.
C. Kamicar’s family had a tradition to conquer Mount Everest.
D. This was not Kamicar’s first attempt on Mount Everest.
4.Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?
A. Mad man skis down Everest B. Darwin Award for Davo Kamicar
C. Extreme sports hero slides to a record D. Body of mountaineer found on Everest
High-sugar diets raise risks for heart disease, obesity and diabetes, but we do love our sweets, so health experts have tried to suggest alternatives, and honey has been foremost among them.
Honey is actually sweeter than sugar is , which means, in theory at least, that you could enhance flavor equally with a smaller quantity of honey. But honey actually has a higher calorie count. It may have more minerals, which looks better on a label but, in reality, these are such trace amounts that they don’t offer any real advantages.
Honey’s reputation as a medicine is not wholly unfounded. Some honey does indeed have antibacterial properties. One byproduct of enzymes in honey is hydrogen peroxide, a powerful germ killer. Plus, honey’s texture and consistency are good for keeping wounds clean, and bad for bugs that might want to infect them. Honey is moist and its gooey consistency mean it can easily spread over and stay over wounds while keeping the tissue from becoming dry and fragile. The sticky substance means bacteria can not accumulate and multiply easily. It is particularly well-known for fighting bacteria like staph, salmonella, E. Coliand certain bacteria that can infect the gut and cause ulcers.
However, scientists can only say this for sure about Makuna and Malaysian Tualang honey. We don’t know yet whether local home grown honey has the same potency-or safety. A hot cup of tea with some honey stirred in certainly sounds like it would make you feel better. But it’s difficult to say for sure that it will.
When you have a cold, contact with warm water (from tea) may help to bust up phlegm(痰）that blocks your airways. But some suspect the real secret to the qualities of a cuppa is in the honey. There are studies that suggest that honey does work as well or better than cough suppressant（抑制性的）drugs like Robitussin.
Most of these, however, were considered by the academic world to be widely misinterpreted by the media. One of the findings that seemed to have given the honey trend some additional legs came from a study that said there was “no difference”, statistically speaking, between honey and one particular cough suppressant.
1.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Honey has more minerals than sugar.
B. Honey can be used to treat wounds.
C. The sweetness in honey can fight bacteria.
D. All kinds of honey can act as medicines.
2.What is the author's attitude when it comes to the functions of honey?
A. Objective B. Critical
C. Supportive D. Skeptical
3.What might be talked about next?
A. Honey will be widely used in other fields.
B. Honey will not be recommended in medical treatment any more.
C. Other studies showed honey worked better than some cough medicines.
D. Other studies showed neither honey nor some cough medicines functioned well.
Danielle was living in a new city with no local bank of her own. She desperately needed to ______ a bank to cash her paycheck. For more than two weeks, she made ______ one after another but in vain. How could she continue to ______ herself and her two children as a single mother?
Taking a break from her ______, Danielle decided to attend a meeting at the local women's resource center. The women there had been a strong source of encouragement since she fled her home ______ for her safety. Sitting next to Danielle, Amy began to share the details of her ______situation. She was just days away from ______ her home and her car. Her phone and electric services were both scheduled to be ______. Her husband had gambled away their money. She had nothing left. Nothing!
As Amy described the degree of the situation, Danielle ______ God’s soft whisper in her heart: “After the meeting, give Amy twenty dollars.” Danielle immediately thought, “But I can’t. I only have forty dollars.” She heard the ______ again. Danielle knew she needed to follow. When the meeting ______, she reached into her purse and ______ handed twenty dollars to Amy. Knowing Danielle's situation, Amy was ______ to accept it at first. But as a crowd of women ______ to give Amy hugs of support, Danielle told her that God wanted her to have it. Then Danielle left.
Now with just twenty dollars left in her wallet, Danielle decided to ______ cashing her paycheck at just one more bank before heading home. ______ she expected the rejection she had received at so many other banks, she was ______ filled with renewed confidence and optimism. Hopefully, she walked into the bank next to the women's center. Moments later, the bank ______ her paycheck with no questions asked. Wearing a big smile, Danielle returned home.
As for Danielle, it has been three years since that day. Realizing true hope has no ______, she continues to be ______ for the lifetime supply that she received for just twenty dollars.
1.A. select B. find C. consult D. search
2.A. decisions B. choices C. appointments D. attempts
3.A. encourage B. believe C. support D. comfort
4.A. ambitions B. struggles C. failures D. experiences
5.A. in fear B. in debt C. in public D. in doubt
6.A. similar B. unique C. desperate D. social
7.A. ruining B. leaving C. missing D. losing
8.A. cancelled B. reduced C. abolished D. charged
9.A. received B. found C. heard D. felt
10.A. story B. advice C. order D. voice
11.A. followed B. lasted C. concluded D. agreed
12.A. quietly B. politely C. happily D. sadly
13.A. unlikely B. unwilling C. eager D. embarrassed
14.A. intended B. approached C. managed D. continued
15.A. avoid B. try C. consider D. risk
16.A. If B. But C. Since D. While
17.A. anyhow B. somehow C. therefore D. otherwise
18.A. counted B. checked C. cashed D. tested
19.A. price B. cost C. cause D. purpose
20.A. ready B. welcome C. fortunate D. thankful
Why ________ you choose to work in a remote village school when you can own a respectable job in a city?
A. need B. should
C. must D. will
—— Congratulations on your promotion. Go out for dinner, OK?
—— Good! __________, just you and me.
A. Follow me B. My treat
C. My pleasure D. Allow me
