Experienced climbers of Mount Qomolangma are wondering if new proposed rules will solve the root causes of various deadly accident on the world’s tallest mountain. The proposals, if approved by the government of Nepal, would add steps to the permitting process for mountaineers as well as limitation to tourism companies to prevent the disaster in last May happening again.
Traditionally, Nepal has given climbing permits to anyone prepared to pay a fee of $11, 000. In 2019, the government approved a record high of 381 permits. With essential Sherpas and guides added, more than 800 people were trying to reach the peak during the short weather window. The overcrowding led to deadly delays in what is known as the “death zone”, the area above 8, 000 meters, and the death of eleven climbers eventually, many of them dying in late May after they were stuck there. It also raised suspicions that guide companies were urging inexperienced or incompetent mountaineers to attempt the climb.
To reduce the potential risks, among the suggested changes is a rule for those who want to climb the Mount to have a qualified doctor prepare a report on their medical history and general health. Another is that climbers provide evidence they have climbed another tall mountain in Nepal. They will also need to be accompanied by a trained Nepalese guide.
American mountaineer Ed Viesturs said the proposed changes will likely limit the amount of climbers able to plan journeys up the Mount, yet will not do enough to stop the “group think” mentality that led to the traffic jam in late May. He said climb leaders at base camp also needed to consider how to fix the problem. “I know several climbers who waited until later and had the mountain almost to themselves,” Viesturs said of the 2019 climbing season. “We really need to answer why so many people are there on the same day? How can you control it?”
What is paragraph 3 mainly about?A.New requirements for the climbers. |
B.The procedure for getting a permit. |
C.Importance of applying the proposals. |
D.Qualifications of the applicants. |
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【推荐1】Taierzhuang (台儿庄) ancient town offers a refreshing view in the summertime with green lands, blue skies and a clear canal.
Taierzhuang ancient town, located nearby the Grand Canal Zaozhuang section, is a popular tourist site with more than 2,000 years of history.
The town, located in the transitional zone between North and South China, was regarded in ancient times as the traffic hub connecting goods transported both on rivers and roads at the Grand Canal, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2014.
One of the three men who were fined for smoking in the Palace Museum.
Three men have been fined for smoking in the Palace Museum, said Beijing police Saturday.
Having posted a video of their smoking online, each was fined 200 yuan for disturbing public order.
The video was shot in an openair area in the museum and shows a man asking who dares to smoke in the Palace Museum and another inhaling a cigarette before saying, “Awesome”.
The Palace Museum is a historical and cultural heritage site that should be protected by the public, with all visitors abiding by the rules to maintain social order, said police.
Flames rise from Notre Dame cathedral (巴黎圣母院) as it burns in Paris, Monday.
French Culture Minister says artworks from Notre Dame Cathedral will be transferred to Louvre Museum (卢浮宫) PARIS — The artworks evacuated from Notre Dame Cathedral during the blaze on Monday will be transferred to the Louvre Museum, the French Culture Minister told reporters.
Staff from the fire department, the Culture Ministry and the city town hall rushed to the Cathedral when the fire started to protect the main artworks that were inside, the Minister had said earlier.
The artworks, which include relics such as the Christ’s crown of thorns and French king SaintLouis’s 13th century tunic, were first moved to the city town hall and will now be transferred to the nearby Louvre Museum, the Minister said.
1. What role did Taierzhuang play in ancient times according to Picture 1?2. What does Picture 2 mainly tell us?
A.Three men smoked in Palace Museum. |
B.Three men were fined for smoking in Palace Museum. |
C.We should protect a historical and cultural heritage site. |
D.A historical and cultural heritage site is the most important. |
【推荐2】The Sheriff’s search-and-rescue teams had spent the
Ben is skilled at looking for where photos are taken and always
A.previous | B.snowy | C.terrible | D.foggy |
A.mystery | B.challenge | C.accident | D.location |
A.considerate | B.successful | C.confident | D.mature |
A.picked out | B.picked up | C.folded up | D.printed out |
A.identified | B.compared | C.explored | D.searched |
【推荐3】When the Titanic sank, approximately 1, 509 of its 2214 passengers passed away. A majority of them died because the ship carried lifeboats for only half of the people on board. By all accounts, most died either by drowning or of hypothermia, since the temperature of the water was -2° C (28° F), in which death occurs in about fifteen minutes. The survival rate for men was 19%, for women 72%, and for children, 50%. Most survivors were first class passengers, followed by second class, and finally third class. Six of the seven children in first class survived, and all of the children in second class survived, but only about 31 percent were saved in third class.
In short, the available evidence from the Titanic disaster suggests that we often care for others, even at some cost to ourselves. But why? Do we in fact psychologically tend to be altruistical? Or are we blank slates (白板) on which culture and education draws our character, for better or worse? The survival rates of women and children appear to support the former explanation; but the culturally prejudiced explanations of those facts appear to support the latter. Is there a way to judge between them?
The blank slate theory of human nature is related to the seventeenth-century English philosopher, John Locke. He argued that the mind should be considered as a blank sheet of paper until it is furnished by experience, which varies from person to person. Locke’s theory was a particularly effective way to weaken the influence of the church and of king’s right to rule, both of which were held to be self-evidently true.
The belief of the blank slate has proved to be greatly influential, extending far beyond the field of political theory. The social sciences generally have tried to explain human behavior as a product of the socialization of children by culture and education.
Which group has the highest survival rate in the Titanic accident?
A.Men in second class. |
B.Men in third class. |
C.Children in first class. |
D.Children in second class. |
【推荐1】On August 25, an American family’s vacation went terribly wrong. A man, his wife and their three children stopped at a shooting range (靶场) in the southwestern state of Arizona, where people pay to fire guns at targets. Charles Vacca worked for the business, called Bullets and Burgers. He helped the family’s nine-year-old girl shoot a submachine gun called an Uzi. But the girl lost control of the weapon. At least one bullet hit Mr. Vacca in the head. He fell to the ground. Later, he died of his injuries.
No one has been charged with a crime. In fact, the families of both Mr. Vacca and the girl have said they feel very bad for each other. But the event has made Americans talk once again about guns and children. In the United States, federal law bars anyone younger than 18 from owning a handgun. But, many state laws give young people the right to shoot all kinds of guns under certain conditions.
Some Americans say children (like adults) need to learn to shoot a weapon so they can protect themselves. Others say shooting guns is just part of the way they grow up. But “safety” is a word many people use when it comes to children and guns. Last year, the Pew Research Center reported that over one-third of American homes have a gun. So, the argument goes, children could easily see a gun at home, or in the home of a friend or neighbor, and decide to fire it. Indeed, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital says about 1,500 children die every year from a gun accident. Many more are injured.
Laura Cutilletta is a lawyer for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. She said most U. S. states have firm restrictions on keeping children away from guns in the home. But state laws about children hunting or shooting for fun, such as at a shooting range, are much looser.
In general, most states permit children to hunt or use a gun when an adult is with them. But, Laura Cutilletta notes that even a responsible adult cannot protect a child who is too young to shoot a gun safely. And, she says no one needs to shoot the most powerful guns just for fun.
Which of the following word can best replace the underlined word in Paragraph 2?
A.permit | B.suspect |
C.accuse | D.forbid |
【推荐2】Opening day at the nation’s second-largest school district unfolded with a mix of emotions: frustration over long waits, anxiety over health protocols and concern for how things would go for children who have been learning online for a year and a half. But for many, the sense of joy and relief at being together again eased the worries.
In the early morning at John Marshall High, lines of students waiting to enter extended two blocks. By 9 a.m., some students were still waiting, having missed part of the first class.
What’s the meaning of underlined word “protocols” in paragraph 3?
A.Benefits. | B.Test reports. | C.Problems. | D.Physical strengths. |
【推荐3】For the past five years, Paula Smith, a historian of science, has devoted herself to re-creating long-forgotten techniques. While doing research for her new book, she came across a 16th-century French manuscript (手稿) consisting of nearly 1,000 sets of instructions, covering subjects from tool making to finding the best sand.
The author’s intention remains as mysterious (神秘) as his name; he may have been simply taking notes for his own records. But Smith was struck mainly by the fact that she didn’t truly grasp any of the skills the author described. “You simply can’t get an understanding of that handwork by reading about it,” she says.
Though Smith did get her hands on the best sand, doing things the old-fashioned way isn’t just about playing around with French mud. Reconstructing the work of the craftsmen (工匠) who lived centuries ago can reveal how they viewed the world, what objects filled their homes, and what went on in the workshops that produced them. It can even help solve present-day problems: In 2015, scientists discovered that a 10th-century English medicine for eve problems could kill a drug-resistant virus.
The work has also brought insights for museums, Smith says. One must know how an object was made in order to preserve it. What’s more, reconstructions might be the only way to know what treasures looked like before time wore them down. Scholars have seen this idea in practice with ancient Greek and Roman statues. These sculptures were painted a rainbow of striking colours. We can’t appreciate these kinds of details without seeing works of art as they originally appeared-something Smith believes you can do only when you have a road map.
Smith has put the manuscript’s ideas into practice. Her final goal is to link the worlds of art and science back together: She believes that bringing the old recipes to life can help develop a kind of learning that highlights experimentation, teamwork, and problem solving.
Back when science — then called “the new philosophy” — took shape, academics looked to craftsmen for help in understanding the natural world. Microscopes and telescopes were invented by way of artistic tinkering (修补), as craftsmen experimented with glass to better bend light.
“If we can rediscover the values of hands-on experience and craftwork,” Smith says, “we can marry the best of our modern insights with the handiness of our ancestors.”
According to Smith, the reconstruction work is done mainly to ________.A.restore old workshops |
B.understand the craftsmen |
C.improve visual effects |
D.inspire the philosophers |
【推荐1】Early fifth-century philosopher St.Augustine famously wrote that he knew what time was unless someone asked him.Albert Einstein added another wrinkle when he theorized that time varies depending on where you measure it.Today’s state-of-the-art atomic(原子的) clocks have proven Einstein right.Even advanced physics can’t decisively tell us what time is, because the answer depends on the question you’re asking.
Forget about time as an absolute.What if,instead of considering time in terms of astronomy,we related time to ecology?What if we allowed environmental conditions to set the tempo(节奏) of human life?We’re increasingly aware of the fact that we can’t control Earth systems with engineering alone,and realizing that we need to moderate(调节)our actions if we hope to live in balance.What if our definition of time reflected that?
Recently,I conceptualized a new approach to timekeeping that’s connected to circumstances on our planet,conditions that might change as a result of global warming.We’re now building a clock at the Anchorage Museum that reflects the total flow of several major Alaskan rivers,which are sensitive to local and global environmental changes.We’ve programmed it to match an atomic clock if the waterways continue to flow at their present rate.If the rivers run faster in the future on average,the clock will get ahead of standard time.If they run slower,you’ll see the opposite effect.
The clock registers both short-term irregularities and long-term trends in river dynamics.It’s a sort of observatory that reveals how the rivers are behaving from their own temporal frame(时间框架),and allows us to witness those changes on our smartwatches or phones.Anyone who opts to go on Alaska Mean River Time will live in harmony with the planet.Anyone who considers river time in relation to atomic time will encounter a major imbalance and may be motivated to counteract it by consuming less fuel or supporting greener policies.
Even if this method of timekeeping is novel in its particulars,early agricultural societies also connected time to natural phenomena.In pre-Classical Greece,for instance,people“corrected”official calendars by shifting dates forward or backward to reflect the change of season.Temporal connection to the environment was vital to their survival.Likewise,river time and other timekeeping systems we’re developing may encourage environmental awareness.
When St.Augustine admitted his inability to define time, he highlighted one of time ‘s most noticeable qualities:Time becomes meaningful only in a defined context.Any timekeeping system is valid,and each is as praiseworthy as its purpose.
What is the main idea of Paragraph 1?A.Timekeeping is increasingly related to nature. |
B.Everyone can define time on their own terms. |
C.The qualities of time vary with how you measure it. |
D.Time is a major concern of philosophers and scientists. |
【推荐2】The Yurok people have lived along the Klamath River, which flows from the Cascades in Oregon southwest through Northern California, for thousands of years, protecting the region and river from which they — and others — draw sustenance (生计).
But as development and pollution continue to reduce the number of fish in the river and the quantity and quality of its waters, the Yurok Tribe is legalizing (合法化) the tribe’s longstanding care by granting the Rights of Personhood to the Klamath, the first river in North America to have such rights declared.
......
What is paragraph 2 mainly about?A.The process of legalization. | B.The tradition of Yurok tribe. |
C.The reason behind the legalization. | D.The importance of the Klamath River. |
【推荐3】On March 7, I907, the English statistician Francis Galton published a paper which illustrated what has come to be known as the “wisdom of crowds” effect. The experiment of estimation he conducted showed that in some cases, the average of a large number of independent estimates could be quite accurate.
This effect capitalizes on the fact that when people make errors, those errors aren’t always the same. Some people will tend to overestimate, and some to underestimate. When enough of these errors are averaged together, they cancel each other out, resulting in a more accurate estimate. If people are similar and tend to make the same errors, then their errors won’t cancel each other out. In more technical terms, the wisdom of crowds requires that people’s estimates be independent. If for whatever reasons, people’s errors become correlated or dependent, the accuracy of the estimate will go down.
But a new study led by Joaquin Navajas offered an interesting twist (转折) on this classic phenomenon. The key finding of the study was that when crowds were further divided into smaller groups that were allowed to have a discussion, the averages from these groups were more accurate than those from an equal number of independent individuals. For instance, the average obtained from the estimates of four discussion groups of five was significantly more accurate than the average obtained from 20 independent individuals.
In a follow-up study with I00 university students, the researchers tried to get a better sense of what the group members actually did in their discussion. Did they tend to go with those most confident about their estimates? Did they follow those least willing to change their minds? This happened some of the time, but it wasn’t the dominant response. Most frequently, the groups reported that they “shared arguments and reasoned together”. Somehow, these arguments and reasoning resulted in a global reduction in error. Although the studies led by Navajas have limitations and many questions remain, the potential implications for group discussion and decision-making are enormous.
What is paragraph 2 of the text mainly about?
A.The methods of estimation. |
B.The underlying logic of the effect. |
C.The causes of people’s errors. |
D.The design of Galton’s experiment. |