Nowadays many people enjoy 41 activities—walking, cycling or mountaineering.
People often 42 the act of climbing high and difficult mountains to be astonishing. Why are men and women 43 to suffer cold and hardship, and to 44 on high mountains? This astonishment may be caused by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activities to which men 45 their leisure time.
There are no man-made rules, as there are for 46 sports as golf and football. There are, of course, principles of different kinds. It would be dangerous if you 47 them. But it is this freedom from man-made rules 48 makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to choose their own 49 .
If we 50 mountaineering with other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a kind of 51 work at all. 52 , it is only our misunderstanding. There are no “matches” 53 “teams” of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope which their lives may 54 , there is obviously teamwork.
A mountain climber knows that he may have to fight with natural 55 that are stronger and more powerful than man.
A mountain climber 56 to improve his skill year after year. A skier has probably passed his best by the age of thirty, and most tennis champions 57 in their early twenties. But it is not 58 for men of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more 59 to do that than younger men, but they probably climb more skillfully and with less effort, and they certainly experience equal 60 .
41. A. physical B. easy C. difficult D. mental
42. A. find B. respect C. treat D. consider
43. A. scared B. willing C. afraid D. suitable
44. A. have a break B. make sense C. take a risk D. lose weight
45. A. give B. hope C. discover D. receive
46. A. so B. various C. different D. such
47. A. applied B. worried C. ignored D. noticed
48. A. which B. that C. how D. why
49. A. methods B. tradition C. styles D. activities
50. A. contact B. relate C. replace D. compare
51. A. pair B. complex C. team D. simple
52. A. Otherwise B. Therefore C. Furthermore D. However
53. A. between B. within C. from D. beyond
54. A. keep on B. go on C. depend on D. focus on
55. A. storms B. forces C. energies D. strengths
56. A. tries B. wants C. continues D. decides
57. A. will be B. are C. appear D. is
58. A. unusual B. normal C. common D. frequent
59. A. gifts B. means C. brains D. time
60. A. astonishment B. ambition C. concern D. enjoyment
41—45 ADBCA 46—50 DCBAD 51—55 CDACB 56—60 CBADD