3．It was early in the afternoon of May 10，1996．I hadn't slept in 57 hours．The only food I had been able to force down over the proceeding three days was a bowel of soup．Weeks of violent coughing had made ordinary breathing a bitter process．At 29，028 feet up in the troposphere（氣體對流），so little oxygen was reaching my brain that my mental capacity was that of a slow child．Under the circumstances，I was incapable of feeling much of anything except cold and tired．
I'd arrived on the summit a few minutes after Anatoli Boukreev，a Russian climbing guide working for an American commercial expedition，and just ahead of Andy Harris，a guide on the New Zealand-based team to which I belonged．Although I just met Boukreev，I had come to know and like Harris well during the proceeding six weeks．I snapped four quick photos of Harris and Boukreev striking summit poses，then turned and headed down．My watch read 1：17 p．m．I'd spent less than five minutes on the roof of the world．
A moment later，I paused to take another photo，this one looking down the Southeast Eidge，the route we had chosen to go up．Training my lens（鏡頭）on a pair of climbers approaching the summit，I noticed something that until that moment had escaped my attention．To the south，where the sky had been perfectly clear just an hour earlier，a blanket of clouds now hid the peaks surrounding Everest．Later，after six bodies had been located，after a search for two others had been abandoned，after surgeons had removed the rotten right hand of my teammate Beck Weathers，people would ask why，if the weather had begun to worsen，had climbers on the upper mountain not observed the signs？Why did experienced Himalayan guides keep moving upward，leading a gang of relatively inexperienced amateurs-each of whom had paid as much as $65，000 to be taken safely up Everest-into an apparent death trap？
Nobody can speak for the leaders of the two guided groups involved，because both men are dead．But I can assure that nothing I saw early on the afternoon of May 10th suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down．To my oxygen-exhausted mind，the clouds drifting up the grand valley of ice known as the Western Cwm（西庫姆冰斗） looked so friendly and innocent in the brilliant midday sun，not different from the harmless puffs（噴煙）that rose from the valley almost every afternoon．
As I began my descent I was extremely anxious，but my concern had little to do with the weather：a check of the meter on my oxygen tank had revealed that it was almost empty．I needed to get down，fast．
（Note：Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN EIGHT WORDS．）
78．Where were the three climbers mentioned in the second paragraph from？Russia and New Zealand．
79．Besides the change of the weather，what else led to the expedition team's falling into a death trap？Both the climbers and the guides．
80．The underlined phrase"the harmless puffs"in paragraph 4 refers to．the clouds drifting up the valley of ice
81．The author spent less than five minutes on the roof of the world and climbed down fast becausehis oxygen tank is almost empty．
分析 本文屬于記敘文閱讀，作者向我們講述了他在登山時遇到的危險，甚至有六個人因為天氣以及他們自己的原因而遇難，而作者的氧氣瓶中的氧氣也快用盡而快速下山的故事，通過這個故事作者告訴我們外出時要注意自己的安全．
解答 78．Russia and New Zealand． 細節(jié)理解題，根據(jù)第二段a Russian climbing guide working for an American commercial expedition，and just ahead of Andy Harris，a guide on the New Zealand-based team to which I belonged．可知提到的三個登山者來自于俄羅斯和新西蘭，故填Russia and New Zealand．
79．Both the climbers and the guides． 細節(jié)理解題，根據(jù)第三段if the weather had begun to worsen，had climbers on the upper mountain not observed the signs？Why did experienced Himalayan guides keep moving upward，leading a gang of relatively inexperienced amateurs-each of whom had paid as much as $65，000 to be taken safely up Everest-into an apparent death trap？可知天氣惡化之后登山者沒有觀察到天氣，而有經(jīng)驗的導游也不斷向上攀登，因此即有導游的責任也有游客的原因，故填Both the climbers and the guides．
80．the clouds drifting up the valley of ice 細節(jié)理解題，根據(jù)第四段To my oxygen-exhausted mind，the clouds drifting up the grand valley of ice known as the Western Cwm（西庫姆冰斗） looked so friendly and innocent in the brilliant midday sun，not different from the harmless puffs（噴煙）that rose from the valley almost every afternoon．可知the harmless puffs在文中指的是云飄香冰谷，故填the clouds drifting up the valley of ice．
81．his oxygen tank is almost empty 細節(jié)理解題，根據(jù)最后一段a check of the meter on my oxygen tank had revealed that it was almost empty．I needed to get down，fast．可知作者快速的下去是因為他的氧氣罐已經(jīng)快要空了，故填his oxygen tank is almost empty．
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