Kilimanjaro Climb : a Rite of Passage for Father and Son

Climbing Kilimanjaro is a transformational experience for many people. The things that make the mountain hard are the very things that make it so powerful. In the case of my son Josh and I，the walk up Kilimanjaro proved a powerful symbol of his transition into manhood, and a great change in our relationship.

Day three on the mountain, Josh was hit with massive headaches. He told me every step felt like a nail driving into his head. And then, on the night we climbed the crater rim, less than 40 minutes from the summit, Josh fell. I was walking ahead, and did not even see it. He was so exhausted that he could not get up. He recalled our guides, debating whether or not they should take him straight down. Josh snapped out of it. He forced himself to his feet, shook the guides off. He set his face towards the peak and just kept marching. Near the summit he caught up with m e and we reached the peak together.

“ I’ve never been in so much pain and so happy at the same time，，，he said, as we sat side by side on the frozen rock and looked down over Africa. “You know, in the past when we’d go on camping and rafting trips, you guided and took care of me through it all. But on Kilimanjaro it was different. From the bottom up, I climbed it. I never felt like a kid, even when 1 was in pain. You never acted like a parent.”

“That’s not quite true，”I replied. “When you told me that on the summit you fell-and I did not even notice, my first thought was, ‘Oh my God! I’m such an awful parent!’ But then it hit me, ‘He got himself up. He wa lked to the peak on his own. He didn't need me to help.，” I realized as I spoke that two people had died that night on Kilimanjaro. A child and a parent. It was just two friends who walked down the mountain together.

1. What is NOT mentioned in the first paragraph?

A. Kilimanjaro is powerful.

B. Kilimanjaro is hard to climb.

C. Many people, including Josh, have changed after climbing Kilimanjaro.

D. The writer has a distant relationship with his son after climbing Kilimanjaro.

【答案】D

【解析】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第一段提到乞力馬扎羅山很強(qiáng)大，很難爬，很多人，包括Josh都在爬過(guò)乞力馬扎羅山后改變了。沒(méi)有提到 D選項(xiàng)的內(nèi)容，故選D。

2.From the second paragraph we know that_____

A. Josh had a slight headache.

B. Josh reached the top of the mountain with the help of the guides.

C. Josh overcame various difficulties on his way to the summit.

D. Climbing Kilimanjaro was too hard for such a child as Josh.

【答案】C

【解析】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段的句子：He forced himself to his feet, shook the guides off. He set his face towards the peak and just kept marching. Near the summit he caught up with me and we reached the peak together.可知Josh在登上山頂?shù)倪^(guò)程中克服了很多困難。.故選C。

3. What does the underlined phrase in the second paragraph mean?

A. cheered up B. gave up C. burst out D. ran out

【答案】A

【解析】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。cheer up振作起來(lái);gave up放棄;burst out突發(fā);ran out耗盡。

根據(jù)He forced himself to his feet, shook the guides off.可知：snap out of重新振作起來(lái)。故選A。

4. What can be inferred from the talk between the father and the son?

A. Josh felt quite good about his independence.

B. Josh appreciated his parents ，company and care.

C. The father fel t guilty all the time.

D. The father should have taken good care of Josh as usual.

【答案】A

【解析】推理判斷題。根據(jù)：“ I’ve never been in so much pain and so happy at the same time，，，可知Josh對(duì)自己的獨(dú)立感覺(jué)很好。故選A。

5. Why did the father feel that two people had died?

A. Because two people had lost their lives while climbing Kilimanjaro.

B. Because the father and son had become friends.

C. Because they had witnessed an accidence of a father and son.

D. Because two fr iends had misled him.

【答案】B

【解析】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)It was just two friends who walked down the mountain together.可知父親覺(jué)得和兒子成為了朋友，所以以前的兩個(gè)人死了。故選B。