69-year-old Xia Boyu recently became the oldest double amputee (双侧截肢者) to climb Mount Qomolangma. That is amazing, but even what is more impressive is the fact that he did it after he tried four times.
Xia Boyu’s first try to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma was in 1975, as part of an expedition (远征) by the Chinese Government. With only 250 meters to go from reaching the top, the team was stopped by bad weather. To make sure that everyone made it back alive, the team decided to turn back and finish their dream another time.
On the way, Xia Boyu gave his sleeping bag to one of his teammates who was in worse shape than him. Unluckily, this selfless act made him lose both his feet to frostbite (冻伤).
In 1996, Xia Boyu got cancer. But it also didn’t stop the mountain climber from realizing his dream of climbing the world’s highest peak. “Climbing Mount Qomolangma is my dream, ” Xia said. “I have to realize it. It also stands for a personal challenge, a challenge of fate. ”
Over twenty years after losing his feet, Xia Boyu trained to get his body ready for another try at climbing Mount Qomolangma. In 2014, he tried again, but finally had to turn back because of bad weather. The same thing happened the following year, as well as in 2016.
In 2018, Xia Boyu finally reached the top of Mount Qomolangma on his fifth try. He thus became only the second double amputee to climb the world’s highest mountain top, after Mark Inglis from New Zealand, who did it in 2006, and the first to do it from the Nepal (尼泊尔) side.
Answer the following questions with no more than 7 words.
1. How many times did Xia Boyu try to climb Mount Qomolangma?
2. Who is the first double amputee to climb the world’s highest mountain top?
3. When was Xia Boyu’s first try to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma?
4. Why did Xia Boyu give up trying while climbing Mount Qomolangma in 2014?
5. What happened to him after Xia Boyu gave his sleeping bag to his teammate?
