泛读3Unit5翻译.docVIP

Its Tough at the Top ??? Mount Everest has long been a great attraction to millions of people throughout the world. Many people have risked and lost their lives in the course of expedition. Modern explorers, however, are becoming more fascinated by the ultimate fate of earlier doomed explorers. ??? Because its there, George Mallory reportedly replied when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest. The only man to take part in all three of the British pioneering expeditions in the 1920s, Mallory was driven by a fascination to reach the summit of the mountain with which he had formed a strong personal bond with. Its an hell-like mountain, cold and treacherous, he once wrote in a letter home from Everest Base Camp. The risks of getting caught are too great; the margin of strength when men are at great heights is too small. Perhaps it is mere folly to go up again. But how can I be out of the hunt? ??? In 1920 when Francis Younghusband, the President of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), first put forward the idea of supporting an expedition to Everest, the mountain was still a mystery. At 8 848 meters Everest was almost 1 500 meters higher than anyone had previously climbed. There was even doubt as to whether it was possible to breathe at such altitude. At the time no one had been within 65 kilometers of the mountain, which could only be approached through the unknown kingdoms of Nepal or Chinas Tibet. ??? With the North and South Poles already discovered, Younghusband had his sights set on the third pole, setting up the joint RGS/Alpine Club, Mount Everest Committee. The accomplishment of such a feat will elevate the human spirit and will give man, especially us geographers, a feeling that we are acquiring a true mastery of our surroundings. This is the incalculable good which the ascent of Mount Everest will confer, he said. ??? High Hopes ??? George Mallory and Andrew Irvine had set out from Camp VI on 8 June 1924, attempting to become the first men to set f