本篇阅读材料的难度中等，全文约329词，因此建议阅读时间（含做题）为6分钟。阅读要求：认真阅读短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。 Kathmandu， Nepal（CNN）—Four people died while coming down the southern slope of the mountain during the weekend after reaching Mount Everest’s 8，848-meter （29，028 foot） summit（顶峰）， officials said.
The victims are Ebehard Schaaf， 61， a German medical doctor； Sriya Shah， 33， a Nepali-born Canadian woman； Song Wondin， a 44-year-old man from South Korea； and Wen Ryi Ha， 55， of China， according to officials with the Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry（旅游民航部） and at the base of the mountain.
“Climbers climbing down the mountain have said that they have seen the body of the Korean，” said Tilakram Pandey， of the Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry， by phone from the base of the mountain.
The Korean had earlier been reported missing. There were reports of a Nepali missing as well， but those reports could not be verified， Pandey said. The cause of the German’s death is a disease called high-altitude cerebral edema， according to Ang Tshering Sherpa of Asian Trekking， which organized this expedition.
Mountaineers often use up all their energy while climbing the mountain and do not think about energy needed to come down. “As a result， they become weak and suffer from altitude sickness，” Sherpa said.
On Saturday a 73-year-old Japanese woman， Tamae Watanabe， had climbed the mountain from the northern side on the Tibet-China border to become the oldest woman on the summit.
Bal Krishna Ghimire， a spokesman of the Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry， said that mountaineers began summiting the mountain from the south side this spring season only since Saturday， about 10 days later than usual， because of bad weather conditions.
The spring mountaineering season， which lasts from March 1 to May 31， is the most popular season to climb the Himalayan peaks in Nepal.
With these four deaths the number of people killed on Everest this year has reached six， ministry official Dipendra Poudel said. Two Nepali Sherpas died on the mountain earlier this month.
1. Who could probably NOT come from the Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry？
A. Pandey. B. Poudel. C. Sherpa. D. Ghimire.
2. The underlined word “verified” in Paragraph 4 means “ __________ ”.
A. declared B. checked C. sorted D. corrected
3. What leads to the death of the German doctor？
A. Cerebral edema. B. Lack of air.
C. Lack of food. D. Extreme weather. 4. Which of the following matches the news story？
A. Ang Tshering Sherpa organized the expedition.
B. The Japanese woman is the oldest climber on the summit.
C. Most climbers like to climb Everest between March to May.
D. This year， six Everest climbers lost their lives for two reasons.
5. The article suggests that you should _______ when climbing Everest.
A. bring along necessary equipment
B. make sure you climb with a doctor
C. climb the southern side of the mountain
D. balance your energy to climb up and down
【答案及解析】
1. C。细节理解题。A、B、D在文中都有明确的职务说明，通过同位语的形式呈现出来的；但是Sherpa来自Asian Trekking， 并不知道这个组织是否属于旅游民航部。
2. B。词义猜测题。该词所在句子中的those reports 并不包括失踪的韩国人的情况，因为那人已经被发现死亡，上文已经提到。根据but的作用，对照前后的说明，可以猜测到词义。verified意识是“核实，证实”。
3. A。细节理解题。根据关键词（人物、地名一般起到定位作用）找到该句：The cause of the German’s death is a disease called high-altitude cerebral edema， ...可获知答案。
4. C。细节理解题。倒数第二段有句：... from March 1 to May 31， is the most popular season to climb the Himalayan peaks in Nepal. 可知答案。A选项表达有误，组织探险的是Asian Trekking 而不是Sherpa这个人。
5. D。推理判断题。答案来自文章第五小节：Mountaineers often use up all their energy while climbing the mountain and do not think about energy needed to come down.登山者通常在爬山的时候就用光了所有的力气，不考虑下山仍需要它。那样会导致高山疾病。
【词汇聚焦】
1. use up 用光，用完，耗尽
例如：All those I had are used up. 我所拥有的全都用完了。
“It does not take long to use up these supplies，”she says. “不用多久这些物资就会用完。”她说。
2. suffer from 受……之苦，因……不舒服；患疾病；有缺陷
例如：He suffered a great deal from cold and hunger. 他又冷又饿，痛苦万分。
Your son suffers from your excessive shielding. 你的过分袒护，反而害了你的儿子。
How long have you been suffering from a headache？你头痛有多久了？
There are about 350 million people all over the world that suffer from disabling hearing loss. 全球听力受损的人，约有三亿五千万。
3. than usual 比平常……
例如：She was feeling a little better than usual. 她比往常感觉要好一些。
The road is even more crowed than usual on Monday morning. 星期一早晨路上要比往常拥挤好多。
as usual 像平常一样
She would go home， as usual， for Christmas. 她总会像平时一样回家过圣诞节。
I have forgotten something as usual. 我跟平时一样总是忘事儿。
【难句解析】
1. Four people died while coming down the southern slope of the mountain during the weekend after reaching Mount Everest’s 8，848-meter（29，028 foot）summit（顶峰）... 周末，四人登上珠穆朗玛峰8848米（29028英尺）高的顶峰后，在从山峰南侧下来时丧生……
这是一个简单句。主语是four people，谓语died，while和after后接动词-ing形式作时间状语。不过while 后的coming是分词，而after后面的reaching是动名词。
2. The cause of the German’s death is a disease called high-altitude cerebral edema， according to Ang Tshering Sherpa of Asian Trekking， which organized this expedition. 据组织此次探险的亚洲徒步旅行团的Ang Tshering Sherpa说，德国登山员的死因是一种叫作高海拔脑水肿的疾病。
这是一个复合句。主句中的主语是the cause谓语部分是is a disease，called high-altitude cerebra edema是过去分词作定语修饰 disease；which organized this expedition是定语从句，修饰Asian Trekking（亚洲徒步旅行团）。
3. Bal Krishna Ghimire， a spokesman of the Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry， said that mountaineers began summiting the mountain from the south side this spring season only since Saturday， about 10 days later than usual， because of bad weather conditions. 旅游航空部的发言人Bal Krishna Ghimire说，由于天气恶劣，登山运动员今年春季从上周六才开始登顶，比往年晚了大约十天。
that从句中的主语是mountaineers，谓语began，summiting the mountain是begin的宾语。from the south sides是地点状语，this spring season以及since Saturday， about 10 days later than usual都表示时间概念，但是 about 10 days later than usual 与Saturday是同位关系。because of bad weather condition是原因状语，修饰谓语动词。