TOPIC – Mt. Everest: Learn From Tragedy, Tighten Safety Measures
“It’s Obvious Why So Many Try To Scale Everest — But The Safety Protocol Must Be Tightened”
Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 8,848 metres, draws adventurers from all over. But the mountain on the Nepal-China border is fast becoming a dangerous place to visit even for the hardened mountaineer. The inherent risks were this month highlighted with a photograph by Nirmal Purja, a Gorkha ex-soldier. The image, which went viral and altered the manner in which people worldwide imagine what it is to scale Mt. Everest, showed a long queue awaiting a final tilt at the summit, with all the dangers such a wait holds. This season, at least 10 climbers have died or gone missing, including four Indians. Experts have been calling for Nepal to restrict the number of permits. It awarded a record 381 for this spring, each fetching $11,000 (climbing from the Tibet side is more expensive). On Wednesday, 200 climbers ascended the summit, a new record for a single day. Last year, 807 managed to reach the summit. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were more than 26,000 visitors to the Everest region, and this figure has grown manifold since then. Nepal officials argue that permits are not issued recklessly, and that jams such as this year’s near the summit are on account of spells of bad weather, which result in mountaineers being compelled to summit within a narrow time-frame. Waiting in sub-zero temperatures at the rarefied altitude can be fatal — this season’s deaths were mostly due to frostbite, exhaustion, dehydration and lack of oxygen. This year’s drama has caught the public imagination, as happened in 1996 when eight persons died in a single day amid an unexpected storm — events of and around that day were the subject of Jon Krakauer’s bestselling book, Into Thin Air. The adventure industry that is built around the human desire to scale the peak has meant many amateurs take up the challenge, confident that support teams and specialised equipment will make up for their lack of adequate mountaineering experience. The fallout is that in case of a disaster not only are some of them unable to manage, but they hold up others, putting them in harm’s way. The commercial operations have led to the Everest being called the world’s highest garbage dump as many climbers discard non-critical gear and fail to clean up the mess. It is unlikely, however, that this season’s tragedies will deter future summiteers, as the hypnotic lure remains intact. As George Mallory, the English mountaineer who perished in the attempt to scale Everest, reportedly said of its pull, “Because it’s there.” But the authorities must learn from this year’s tragedies and work out an optimum number of climbers and strengthen safety measures.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1.hardened
Meaning: very experienced in a particular job or activity and therefore not easily upset by its more unpleasant aspects.
Synonyms: inured, desensitized, deadened, accustomed
Antonyms: unaccustomed
Example Sentence: “hardened police officers”
2.inherent
Meaning: existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute.
Synonyms: Intrinsic, innate, immanent, built-in, inborn
Antonyms: acquired, alien
Example Sentence: “any form of mountaineering has its inherent dangers”
3.viral
Meaning: circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another.
Example Sentence: “a viral ad campaign”
4.altered
Meaning: change in character or composition, typically in a comparatively small but significant way.
Synonyms: Change, make changes to, make different, make alterations to
Antonyms: preserve, stay the same
Example Sentence: “Eliot was persuaded to alter the passage”
5.awaiting
Meaning: wait for (an event).
Synonyms: wait for; expect, anticipate, look for
Antonyms: Doubt
Example Sentence: “we await the proposals with impatience”
6.tilt
Meaning: move or cause to move into a sloping position.
Synonyms: Lean, tip, list, slope, camber, bank, slant, incline, pitch, dip,
Antonyms: Level, right, be/come level, be/come upright
Example Sentence: “the floor tilted slightly”
7.restrict
Meaning: put a limit on; keep under control.
Synonyms: limit, set/impose limits on, keep within bounds, keep under control, regulate, control, moderate, cut down on
Antonyms: Aid, Allow, Assist, Develop
Example Sentence: “some roads may have to be closed at peak times to restrict the number of visitors”
8.ascended
Meaning: climb to the summit of (a mountain or hill).
Synonyms: climb (up), come/go/move up, make one’s/its way up
Antonyms: descend
Example Sentence: “the first traveller to ascend the mountain”
9.estimated
Meaning: roughly calculate or judge the value, number, quantity, or extent of.
Synonyms: oughly calculate, approximate, make an estimate of, guess
Antonyms: Ignorance, Fact, Truth
Example Sentence: “the aim is to estimate the effects of macroeconomic policy on the economy”
10.manifold
Meaning: many and various.
Synonyms: many, numerous, multiple, multifarious, multitudinous, multiplex
Antonyms: Same, One, Single
Example Sentence: “the implications of this decision were manifold”
11.recklessly
Meaning: without regard to the danger or the consequences of one’s actions; rashly.
Synonyms: Carelessly, Daringly, Foolishly
Example Sentence: “he was driving recklessly and lost control”
12.compelled
Meaning: force or oblige (someone) to do something.
Synonyms: force, coerce into, pressurize into, pressure, impel
Antonyms: Dissuade, Discourage, Halt
Example Sentence: “a sense of duty compelled Harry to answer her questions”
13.rarefied
Meaning: (of air, especially that at high altitudes) of lower pressure than usual; thin.
Example Sentence: “every ounce carried counts triple when you’re trudging uphill in rarefied air”
14.altitude
Meaning: the height of an object or point in relation to sea level or ground level.
Synonyms: height, elevation
Antonyms: Depth
Example Sentence: “flight data including airspeed and altitude”
15.fatal
Meaning: causing death.
Synonyms: deadly, lethal, mortal, causing death, death dealing
Antonyms: harmless, superficial
Example Sentence: “a fatal accident”
16.frostbite
Meaning: injury to body tissues caused by exposure to extreme cold, typically affecting the nose, fingers, or toes and often resulting in gangrene.
Example Sentence: “when they rescued him he was suffering from frostbite”
17.exhaustion
Meaning: a state of extreme physical or mental tiredness.
Synonyms: Extreme tiredness, overtiredness, fatigue, weariness, lack of energy
Antonyms: vigour
Example Sentence: “he was pale with exhaustion”
18.dehydration
Meaning: the loss or removal of water from something.
Example Sentence: “from an inspection of plants undergoing dehydration there was no evidence of root damage”
19.amid
Meaning: surrounded by; in the middle of.
Synonyms: In the middle of, surrounded by, among, amongst, between
Antonyms: surrounding
Example Sentence: “our dream home, set amid magnificent rolling countryside”
20.desire
Meaning: a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.
Synonyms: Wish, want
Antonyms: Apathy, Distaste, Disgust
Example Sentence: “he resisted public desires for choice in education”
21.discard
Meaning: get rid of (someone or something) as no longer useful or desirable.
Synonyms: Dispose of, throw away, throw out, get rid of, toss out
Antonyms: keep, acquire
Example Sentence: “Hilary bundled up the clothes she had discarded”
22.hypnotic
Meaning: relating to or producing hypnosis / a sleep-inducing drug.
Synonyms: mesmerizing, mesmeric, spellbinding, entrancing, bewitching
Antonyms: invigorating
Example Sentence: “her voice had a hypnotic quality”
23.lure
Meaning: tempt (a person or animal) to do something or to go somewhere, especially by offering some form of reward.
Synonyms: tempt, entice, attract, induce, coax, persuade, inveigle
Antonyms: Deter, put off
Example Sentence: “the child was lured into a car but managed to escape”
24.perished
Meaning: die, especially in a violent or sudden way.
Synonyms: die, lose one’s life, be killed, fall, expire
Antonyms: live, survive
Example Sentence: “a great part of his army perished of hunger and disease”
25.amateurs
Meaning: a person who engages in a pursuit, especially a sport, on an unpaid rather than a professional basis.
Synonyms: non-professional, non-specialist, layman, layperson
Antonyms: professional
Example Sentence: “it takes five years for a top amateur to become a real Tour de France rider”
