Mount Everest, Himalayas. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Source.
B1 English reading comprehension about Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and the first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest. Read, answer the questions and practise fluency.
Mount Everest, on the border of Nepal and Tibet, is the highest mountain above sea level. For decades, climbers tried to reach its summit, facing extreme cold, violent weather, avalanches and dangerously thin air. By the early 1950s, expeditions had learned much more about possible routes and the use of bottled oxygen. In 1953, a British expedition led by John Hunt approached Everest from Nepal. On 29 May, New Zealand beekeeper and mountaineer Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, an experienced Sherpa climber from the Himalayan region, left their high camp for the summit. One difficult obstacle was a steep rock step near the top, later known as the Hillary Step. The pair continued upward and reached the summit at approximately 11:30 in the morning. They spent only about fifteen minutes there, taking photographs and leaving small items before beginning the dangerous descent. News of the successful ascent reached Britain around the time of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and received enormous international attention. Hillary and Tenzing both became famous, although discussion about which man stepped onto the summit first sometimes distracted from the fact that mountaineering was a partnership. Tenzing later explained that Hillary had stepped onto the summit first, but both men consistently presented the achievement as a shared success. Everest has since been climbed thousands of times, yet it remains dangerous, and the 1953 ascent is remembered as a landmark in exploration.
Comprehension questions
Where is Everest located?
Who led the 1953 British expedition?
When did Hillary and Tenzing reach the summit?
How long did they spend near the summit?
How did Hillary and Tenzing describe the achievement?
