5. Solved exercises

Icono IDevice Reading activity
The Savage Mountain1

 

By Szumyk. GNU Free Documentation License and C. Commons
At the meeting where Devaj advised Paco and the group of tourists to follow his instructions, someone asked about K2. "It is known as the Savage Mountain", Devaj said, "due to the difficulty of ascent and the 2nd highest fatality rate among the 'eight thousanders' for those who climb it". "For every four people who have reached the summit, one has died trying". "Unlike Annapurna, the mountain with the highest fatality rate, K2 has never been climbed in winter", he explained.

When he realised Paco and the others were so interested in the topic, he continued talking about the early expeditions to K2:

"The mountain was first surveyed by a European survey team in 1856. Thomas Montgomerie was the member of the team who designated it "K2" for being the second peak of the Karakoram range. The other peaks were originally named K1, K3, K4 and K5, but were eventually renamed Masherbrum, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I respectively.

The first serious attempt to climb K2 was undertaken in 1902 by Oscar Eckenstein and Aleister Crowley. After five serious and costly attempts, the team could only reach up to 6,525 metres. The failures are attributed to a combination of questionable physical training, personality conflicts, and poor weather conditions.

The next expedition to K2 in 1909, led by Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, reached an elevation of around 6,250 metres on the South East Spur, now known as the Abruzzi Spur (or Abruzzi Ridge). This would eventually become part of the standard route, but was abandoned at the time due to its steepness and difficulty. After trying and failing to find a feasible alternative route on the West Ridge or the North East Ridge, the Duke declared that K2 would never be climbed.

By Kogo and lain99. GNU Free Documentation License and C. Commons

The next attempt on K2 was not made until 1938, when an American expedition led by Charles Houston made a reconnaissance of the mountain. They concluded that the Abruzzi Spur was the most practical route, and reached a height of around 8,000 metres before turning back due to diminishing supplies and the threat of bad weather. The following year an expedition led by Fritz Wiessner came within 200 metres of the summit, but ended in disaster when four climbers disappeared high on the mountain.

Charles Houston returned to K2 to lead the 1953 American expedition. The expedition failed due to a storm which pinned the team down for ten days at 7,800 metres. A desperate retreat followed, during which Pete Schoening saved almost the entire team during a mass fall, and Gilkey was killed, either in an avalanche or in a deliberate attempt to avoid burdening his companions. In spite of the failure and tragedy, the courage shown by the team has given the expedition iconic status in mountaineering history."

 

1 Adapted from Wikipedia.org

Listen to an read the text carefully. Click below if you have further problems with vocabulary.



Icono de iDevice Solved exercise
Although you needn't understand every single word of a text, it is important that you understand most of it and can guess the meaning of some words by context. This is the reason why in almost any test you take, including those of the PAU, you have to answer some Reading Comprehension questions such as the ones below. Some of them ask for general information, others are asked to see if you can guess specific information.

Answer the following questions,

1. According to the text, has the mountain with the highest fatality rate ever been climbed in winter?

2. According to the text, why was the savage mountain called K2?

3. According to the text, is the American expedition led by Charles Houston important? Why?


As you can see, the answers to those questions are neither short nor long. You should try to find the best words to answer the questions and give a brief explanation of why your answer is that. Remember it is not your opinion what is being asked. You must extract the information from the text.
Icono IDevice Important
Most of the passage above is in direct or quoted speech, that is, they are the exact words said by a person in the past, on this occasion, they are Devaj's words. That is the reason why they are between inverted commas ("). When we want to repeat those words in the present (reported or indirect speech), we must take into account the following: Who said what to whom. It is important because there are changes in verb tenses, pronouns and some place and time adverbs. Let's have a look at an example:
Direct speech: "I will tell you about the first expeditions to K2 now", Devaj announced.

Reported speech: Devaj told them he would tell them about the first expeditions to K2 then.

Icono de iDevice Self-Assessment activity

It is important that you learn how to report other people's feelings or opinions, not only because it may be asked in the PAU tests but also because it is necessary if you want to narrate your or other people's experiences.

Rewrite the following sentences in the reported speech.

1. "For every four people who have reached the summit, one has died trying", Devaj said.

Devaj said (that) for summit, trying.

2. "The first serious attempt to climb K2 was undertaken in 1902 by Oscar Eckenstein", he said.

He explained that climb K2 1902 by Oscar Echenstein.

3. "The Duke declared that K2 would never be climbed", Devaj assured.

Devaj assured (that) the Duke .

  

Icono de iDevice Solved exercise
At the beginning of the passage, the narrator says what Devaj's intention was at the meeting: Devaj advised Paco and the group of tourists to follow his instructions. The reporting verb, advise, tells the reader or listener about the intention of the speaker. It must also be taken into account when reporting sentences, since it provides extra information about people's feelings and/or intentions when uttering sentences.
Could you guess Devaj's exact words when he pronounced the previous sentence?

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