It's Tough at the Top 艰难登顶
相亲相爱2013 星>蓝雨
摘自：英语泛读教程
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.
珠穆朗玛峰对于全世界数百万人来说， 长期以来有着巨大的吸引力。在征服珠穆朗玛峰的过程中，许多人冒了巨大的危险，而且失去了生命。然而，现代探险者对早年遭到厄运的攀登者的最终命运，表现出越来越浓厚的兴趣。
"Because it's 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. "It's an hell-like mountai
n, 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?"
据说,当乔治·马罗礼被问及他为何要攀登珠峰时，他这样回答，“因为有珠峰”。 他是唯一参加二十世纪二十年代英国组织的 所有三次征服珠峰活动的探险家。他对珠峰怀有强烈的情感，一直神往登上山顶。“它是一座魔鬼般的大山，冷峻而且反复无常，”他在珠峰大本营给家人写信时有一次这样写道。“冒的险实在太大；人们攀登峰顶时可使的力量又是这么小。也许只是发疯了才再次攀登。可是我怎能摆脱这种诱惑呢?”
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 China's Tibet.
1920年皇家地理学会主席弗兰西斯·扬哈斯本首次提出支持珠峰探险的想法时，人们对这座山 还一无所知。高达8848米的珠峰比当时人类攀登过的最高峰还高出1500米。人们甚至怀疑，在这样的高度有没有可能呼吸。那时，还没有人到过珠峰 周围65公里的范围，只能从人们不太熟悉的尼泊尔王国或中国的西藏走近这座高山。
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.
随着人们发现了北极与南极，扬哈斯本把他的目光投向“第三极”，设立联合皇家地理学会/登山俱乐部下属的珠穆朗玛峰委员会。“这次壮举的完成将振奋人类精神，也让人类，尤其是我们地理学家感到，我们正在成为我们这个环境真正的主人。登上珠穆朗玛峰所产生的 效益是难以估量的，”扬哈斯本说道。
High Hopes 厚望
George Mallory and Andrew Irvine had set out from Camp VI on 8 June 1924, attempting to become the first men to set foot on the summit. They never returned. Today, with more than 550 mountaineers from 20 countries having reached the summit, the mystery has shifted away from Everest the mountain, towards Mallory the man. In March 1999, 75 years after Mallory's death on the mountain, the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition set out for Everest, not because it was there, but because he was. Leader of the 1999 expedition Eric Simonson and his team were hoping to discover whether or not the two men achieved their goal before they died.
乔治·马罗礼与安德鲁·欧文于1924年6月8日从六号营地出发，试图成为首次登上珠峰的人。可他们再也没有回来。时至今日，已有20个国家五百五十多名登山运动员登顶成功。谜团也就从珠峰这座山转向马罗礼这个人了。1999年3月，在马罗礼罹难后的第75年，马罗里—欧文研究探险队向珠峰进发，不是因为珠峰在那里，而是因为他在那里。1999年探险队长埃里克·西门松及其队员希望发现这两人死之前是否成功登顶。
杨幂刘恺威为什么离的婚They had only a few clues to go on. In 1933 an ice axe, thought to be Irvine's, had been f口是心非张雨生
ound on the route, and in 1975, the body of a climber was discovered nearby by a Chinese climber who described it as being an "old English dead" on account of the vintage clothes the body still wore. However, the identity of the dead climber has never been confirmed. Simonson's team expected to relocate the body during their high level search. They anticipated it to be Irvine, the inexperienced Oxford graduate who had possibly fallen, dropping his ice axe on the icy slabs of Everest's North Face. Mallory's fate was unknown.
走光露点他们只有几条探寻的线索。1933年，在登山线路上到被认为是欧文使用的一把冰斧。1975年，一名中国登山运动员在附近发现一具登山者的尸体，将其描述为“一位年长的英国死者”，因为尸体穿的是老式衣服。然而，这位死去的登山者的身份从未得到确认。西门松的探险队期望在高地再 次到那具尸体。他们认为会是欧文，这位经验不足的牛津毕业生可能是从悬崖上坠落的，将冰斧掉在珠峰北坡的冰层上。马罗礼的下落则不清楚。
Searching amongst the snow gullies and scouring ledges at 8 320 meters, Simonson's team discovered a body, the skin bleached porcelain white by the sun. It was lying face d
own, head and arms frozen into the earth. Only the collars of the tattered clothes were intact and on one was uncovered a manufacturer's label, still legible despite years of vicious assaults by ice and wind. Beneath this was another label, which they could all easily read. In simple carefully stitched letters was written: G Mallory. Mallory's name on the clothes so surprised the search party their first thought was to wonder why Irvine had been wearing his climbing partner's shirt. The discovery of Mallory's body prompted admiration of expedition search member, Jake Norton. "As a climber, to know what Mallory did was phenomenal. He was a powerful tough guy, who fought till the end," he told reporters.