Question 10 Not yet answered Marked out of 10.

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B3-U12-Skills- Reading: Disaster on Everest

Read the article from an adventure magazine and answer the questions below.
Disaster on Everest

A. Beck Weathers is lucky to be alive. In 1996, he climbed Mount Everest, saw the world from one of its highest points, suffered
disaster on the way down, and lived to tell the story. But he almost didn’t. The 1996 climbing season on Mount Everest is famous in
the history of mountain climbing, not only for the number of people who died on the mountain that year, but also for the amazing
th
survival of some of the climbers, including Beck. More people died on the night of May 10 on Everest than had died on the mountain
up until that time: a total of eight climbers perished in that one, stormy night. Beck Weathers was not one of them.
B. Around three o'clock in the afternoon, the weather turned bad, and Beck and some other climbers were stuck as the worst storm
in living memory hit the mountain. They had no tents, no oxygen, and no food or water. Beck and his companions tried to descend,
but they quickly got lost in the blizzard. At some point, Beck became separated from his companions, and everyone on the mountain
believed that he had died.
C. When the others saw him, they thought he was a ghost. His face was totally frozen, and so were his hands. He had lost his glove on
the mountain earlier on, and he had not remembered to bring another pair. His right hand had frozen solid, like a piece of wood.
Everyone thought he would die very soon, so they put him in a tent and left him to die in agony. The next morning, he was still alive –
just.
D. But he hadn’t. It was so cold that Beck had almost fallen asleep, and falling asleep on a mountain when you are suffering from
extreme cold means death in minutes. Beck was dying. But then suddenly, he remembered his family. He remembered saying
goodbye to his wife, and he remembered kissing his two children as he left for Nepal. He suddenly decided he wanted to see them all
again, so he got up and limped with enormous difficulty down the mountain to the camp.
E. Beck Weathers was part of a group led by two experienced climbers: Rob Hall, who reached the summit, but then died on Everest
that day, and Jon Krakauer, who later wrote a book about the experience. On the day of the summit attempt, Beck was suffering from
altitude sickness and was having problems with his eyesight. The expedition leader Hall told Beck to wait near a rock called the
Balcony until his eyesight improved. Hall wanted to help some of the other climbers to reach the summit first, but he promised to
come back for Beck on the way down. He never did.
F. Beck was lifted off the mountain by helicopter and he lived to tell his story of amazing survival and inspire people though his
courage and endurance.
Question 1
Choose one answer.

1  The article is about:

Questions 2 – 5
Put paragraphs B to E in the correct order.

2   Paragraph

3   Paragraph

4   Paragraph

5   Paragraph

Questions 6 – 8
Complete the sentences.

6   Beck remembered to his wife.

7   Everyone on the mountain believed that Beck another pair of gloves.

8  Beck had not remembered . 

Questions 9 – 10
Mark one answer.

9   In paragraph B, “descend” most likely means.

10   In paragraph E, the first word “who” refers to:

◄ 3 Exam Unit 11

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