新西兰英语 744 Death of famous mountaineer

 　　George Lowe, a famous New Zealand mountaineer, died yesterday at the age of 89. He was born in Hastings and became a teacher. During the school holidays, he climbed in the Southern Alps where he met Edmund Hillary and they became good friends. In 1953, he was one of the climbers on the expedition to reach the summit¹ of Mt Everest. On May 28th 1953, he set up the last camp just 300m below the summit. From this camp, Hillary and Tensing Norgay climbed to the summit the following day. They were the first climbers to reach the summit of the highest mountain in the world and return. George Lowe later made a film of this climb called the ‘Conquest² of Everest’.

　　George Lowe worked with Hillary to set up the Himalayan Trust to build schools and hospitals for the people of Nepal. He was on the 1957/58 expedition which crossed the Antarctic³ by the South Pole. He made a film of this, called ‘Antarctic Crossing’.

　　As a young man he was extremely fit and strong. He was a model for young mountaineers. He was also a very humble⁴ man and did not want to be a celebrity⁵.

　　The end of May this year will be 60 years since that first successful climb of Mt Everest. George Lowe prepared a book of photos for this celebration.

　　To learn more about Sir Edmund Hillary and Mt Everest, listen to August 13th 2011 and April 3rd 2008.

　　Vocabulary

　　?expedition – an organised journey of a group of people to explore a place

　　?summit – highest point, the top

　　?conquest – victory, a win

　　?a Trust – a charity which raised money to help the people of Nepal

　　?Nepal is in the Himalayan mountains. Mt Everest is one of these mountains.

　　?model – an example of someone to copy

　　?humble – not proud

　　?celebrity – famous, a star

1 summit   

n.最高点，峰顶；最高级会议；极点

参考例句：

• They climbed up the mountain and reached the summit.他们爬山，最终达到了山顶。
• The summit of the mountain is lost in the cloud and mist.山顶隐没在云雾之中。

2 conquest   

n.征服；克服；掠取物；征服的土地或人们

参考例句：

• They succeeded in the conquest of that city.他们夺取了那城市。
• One of the great achievements of the modern science and technology is the conquest of space.现代科学技术的一项伟大成就是对空间的征服。

3 Antarctic   

adj.南极(区)的；n.(the A-)南极洲，南极圈

参考例句：

• The Antarctic is a mountainous area.南极洲是一个多山的地区。
• It is well known that penguins live in the Antarctic.企鹅生活在南极洲是众所周知的。

4 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

5 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。