2001/02(追試)

My old friend John Price persuaded me to take up hill walking. I am far from being the world’s fittest man, and I always find it very tough. But when I first climbed to the top of a mountain, the view was so beautiful that I fell in love with walking. So now we go walking together whenever we can.

On this particular autumn day we were in the north-west of England. When Price arrived to pick me up at the station, I was waiting eagerly. We drove to the hotel, left our bags, got two packed lunches from the kitchen, dressed in stylish hiking clothes and set off.

Although the weather was threatening, the car parks and roadsides were crowded with cars. Everywhere people were finding their equipment and pulling on warm socks and strong boots. We did the same, and joined in behind a long line of walkers, all with rucksacks and knee-high socks, to start the climb. Our goal was the famous summit of Bow Fell, a height of 900 meters. Walkers ahead of us formed well-spaced dots of color leading to a summit lost in cloud.

We climbed through the grassy lower slopes onto more difficult ground, finding our way over rocks and loose stones, until we were up among broken cloud that hung above the valley floor some 300 meters below. The views were sensational ? the other peaks across the valley, with its farms now looking so tiny, and a sea of brown hills away to the west. This was living.

As we went on, the weather worsened. The wind began to blow tiny pieces of ice at us that hurt the skin. Then came fog, and we had to walk at a slow, careful pace so that we would not lose the path. Out of the fog ahead of us appeared something that looked rather like an orange snowman. It proved to be high-tech hiking clothes. Somewhere inside them was a man.

“Bit breezy,” he said, saying less than he meant. Price asked him if he’d come far.

“Just from Blea Lake.” This was 16 kilometers away over difficult ground.

“Bad over there?”

“Hands-and-knees job. It’ll be like that here soon.”

We nodded knowingly.

“Well, I must be going.” announced the man, as if he couldn’t spend the whole day chatting, and disappeared again into the white soup. I watched him go, then turned to find Price vanishing into the mist ten meters ahead of me.

“Hey, wait for me!” I shouted and hurried after.

“Hurry up, Hill!” came the reply.

It was hard going, but we finally reached the top. I counted thirty-four people there ahead of us, sitting among the rocks with sandwiches, bottles and wildly blowing maps. We went over to a rock, where a couple kindly moved their rucksacks to make room for us. We sat and reached into our brown bags in the whistling wind, cracking open boiled eggs, drinking soda, eating cheese-and-tomato sandwiches, staring into the thick fog we had spent three hours climbing through.

I tried to imagine how I would explain to a non-walker why so many people had had the idea that struggling up a mountain on a wet Saturday at the winter end of October was fun. How could I explain that three dozen people enjoyed having a picnic in an ice storm? Perhaps it is the views; perhaps the escape from city life; perhaps the feeling of fellowship with other walkers. More, it is the feeling of achievement, of setting myself a goal and reaching it, even under difficult conditions.

As I sat there, though, I realized there was no way you could explain it to anyone who has never done it. But I thought. I seriously thought: God, I love doing this.

  1. What first made the writer become interested in hill walking?
    ① He enjoyed the scenery from the top.
    ② He lived near mountains as a child.
    ③ He wanted to be fit and needed more exercise.
    ④ He wanted to experience something new.
  2. Why was the writer waiting for Price eagerly at the station?
    ① He hadn’t had lunch yet.
    ② He was looking forward to the climb.
    ③ It was getting cold.
    ④ Price was always late for appointments.
  3. What did Price and the writer see up on Bow Fell when they set out?
    ① Climbers at a distance.
    ② Colorful autumn trees.
    ③ People coming down because of the weather.
    ④ Some cows in the fields.
  4. What did the hiker in orange clothes mean by “Hands-and-knees job”?
    ① He had had great difficulty because of the weather.
    ② He hurt his hands and knees coming down.
    ③ People needed to hold hands so that they would not get lost.
    ④ There was a long way to go from there to the peak.
  5. Which of the following is meant when the writer thinks, “God, I love doing this”?
    ① He is amused by other climbers’ foolish behavior.
    ② He is explaining why people like to climb mountains.
    ③ He is praying to God to express how grateful he is.
    ④ He is satisfied to have succeeded in another climb.
Center

前の記事

2001/01(本試)
Center

次の記事

2002/01(本試)