雅思Test 2 Passage 3 阅读译文

A In the early days of mountaineering, questions of safety, standards of practice, and

environmental impact were not widely considered. The sport gained traction following the

successful 1786 ascent of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe, by two French

mountaineers, Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard. This event established the

beginning of modern mountaineering, but the sole consideration over the next hundred

years was the success or failure of climbers in reaching the summit and claiming the

prestige of having made the first ascent.

早期的登山运动并不会对安全性，可行性和环境因素多做考量。这项运动在1786年两位法国登山者杰克斯．包马特以及帕卡德成功登上西欧最高峰白朗峰之后受到关注和追捧。这次成功标志着现代登山运动的开始。但在之后的一百多年里，攀登者登顶的成败以及登上从前无人造访的山峰而获得的声望成为唯一的关注点。

B Toward the end of the nineteenth century, however, developments in technology

spurred debate regarding climbing practices. Of particular concern in this era was the

introduction of pitons (metal spikes that climbers hammer into the rock face for leverage)

and the use of belaying① techniques. A few, such as Italian climber Guido Ray, supported

these methods as ways to render climbing less burdensome and more 'acrobatic'. Others

felt that they were only of value as a safety net if all else failed. Austrian Paul Preuss went

so far as to eschew all artificial aids, scaling astonishing heights using only his shoes and

his bare hands. Albert Mummery, a well-known British mountaineer and author who

climbed the European Alps, and, more famously, the Himalayas, where he died at the age

of 39 attempting a notoriously difficult ascent, developed the notion of 'fair means' as a

kind of informal protocol by which the use of 'walk-through' guidebooks and equipment

such as ladders and grappling hooks were discouraged.

然而，在19世纪末，技术工艺的发展引发了对登山保护措施的讨论。其中对岩钉（登山者攀岩时钉入岩壁的金属钉状物）和系索技术的使用尤其受到关注。包括意大利登山家圭多雷在内的少数人这些工具能使登山过程中累赘更少，更具“杂技性”。其他人则认为这些工具只具有在失败时作为一张安全网的价值。美国登山家保罗·普罗伊斯为此拒绝使用鞋子除外的所有辅助工具，徒手攀登的高度同样令人震惊。曾经登顶过位于欧洲的阿尔卑斯山的著名英国登山家，作家阿尔伯特・墨梅里在39岁时向更具名气，登顶难度极大的喜马拉雅山发出挑战，却不幸在途中遇难。他认为使用工具是“不择手段”的，因为不能使用穿行指南以及像梯子、抓钩这样的工具是已经是一项不成文规定了。

C By the 1940s, bolts had begun to replace pitons as the climber's choice of equipment,

and criticism surrounding their use was no less fierce. In 1948, when two American

climbers scaled Mount Brussels in the Canadian Rockies using a small number of pitons

and bolts, climber Frank Smythe wrote of their efforts: 'I still regard Mount Brussels as

unclimbed, and my feelings are no different from those I should have that were I to hear

that a helicopter had deposited its passenger on the summit of that mountain just so that

he could boast that he had trodden an untrodden mountain top.'

上世纪四十年代，登山者对工具的选择从岩钉转向了膨胀栓。对使用它的批评声仍然不绝于耳。1948年，两位美国登山者利用岩钉和膨胀栓登顶位于加拿大落基山脉的布鲁塞尔斯山，对此登山家弗兰克·斯迈斯这样评价道：“我仍然认为布鲁塞尔斯山是无法登顶的，对此我的感觉就和听到直升机将乘客送达山顶并向他人夸耀自己征服了无人涉足的顶峰无异。”

D Climbing purists aside, it was not until the 1970s that the general tide began to turn

against bolting and pitons. The USA, and much of the western world, was waking up to the

damage it had been causing to the planet, and environmentalist campaigns and new

government policies were becoming widespread. This new awareness and sensitivity to

environmental issues spilled over into the rock climbing community. As a result, a stripped-down style of rock climbing known as 'clean climbing' became widely adopted. Clean

climbing helped preserve rock faces and, compared with older approaches, it was much

simpler to practise. This was partly due to the hallmark of clean climbing - the use of nuts

- which were favoured over bolts because they could be placed into the rock wall with one

hand while climbers maintained their grip on the rock with the other.

直到上世纪70年代，登山运动净化者开始兴起反系栓、反岩钉运动。美国和很多西方国家开始意识到这些工具对地球带来的危害，环保人士的呼吁和政府制定的政策使这样的意识深入人心。对环保问题的意识和敏感性也深入到攀岩体之中。最后，被称作“清洁攀岩”的简装攀岩方式被广泛接受。“清洁攀岩”有助于保护岩壁，并且与旧方式相比更加便于行动。这归功于“清洁攀岩”方式的特——对岩石塞的使用。它比岩钉和膨胀栓更受到欢迎，因为攀岩者在用一只手卡住岩石时，可以用单手将其固定在墙上。

E Not everyone embraced the clean climbing movement, however. A decade later,

debates over two more developments were erupting. The first related to the practice of

chipping, in which climbers chip away pieces of rock in order to create tiny cracks in which

to insert their fingers. The other major point of contention was a process that involves

setting bolts in reverse from the top of the climb down. Rappel bolting makes almost any

rock face climbable with relative ease, and as a result of this new technique, the sport has

lost much of its risk factor and sense of pioneering spirit; indeed, it has become more about

muscle power and technical mastery than a psychological trial of fearlessness under

pressure. Because of this shift in focus, many amateur climbers have flocked to indoor

climbing gyms, where the risk of serious harm is negligible.

然而，并非所有人都接受“清洁攀岩”运动。上世纪八十年代，多种攀岩工具的发展引发了激烈的议论。首先是凿壁行为，攀岩者在岩壁上凿出小凹槽以便他们卡进手指。另一个争论的焦点是在终点使用膨胀栓从反方向爬下的攀岩过程。栓索下降几乎使攀岩难度大大减轻，而且新技术的使用使得这项运动丧失了风险性和首创精神。相比于面对压力时克服恐惧的心理锻炼，攀岩运动逐渐对肌肉力量和技术使用更加看重。因为运动焦点的改变，很多业余攀岩者纷纷涌向了严重伤害的风险性可以忽略不计的室内攀岩馆。

F Given the environmental damage rock climbing can cause, this may be a positive

outcome. It is ironic that most rock climbers and mountaineers love the outdoors and have

great respect for the majesty of nature and the impressive challenges she poses, but that

in the pursuit of their goals they inevitably trample sensitive vegetation, damaging and

disturbing delicate flora and lichens which grow on ledges and cliff faces. Two researchers

from a Canadian university, Doug Larson and Michelle McMillan, have found that rock

faces that are regularly climbed have lost up to 80% of the coverage and diversity of native

plant species. If that were not bad enough, non-native species have also been

inadvertently introduced, having been carried in on climbers' boots.

但考虑到攀岩所造成的环境破坏，室内攀岩也许会带来正面积极的效果。这对大多数热爱室内攀岩，崇尚大自然以及她所赋予的威严挑战的攀岩者而言是讽刺的。但是在他们力求达到攀岩目标的同时，的确会不可避免地踩踏敏感植被，破坏长在壁架和崖面上的脆弱植物和地衣，扰乱它们的生长。来自加拿大一所大学的两名研究者道格·拉尔森，米歇尔·麦美伦发现常被攀爬的岩面会丧失超过百分之八十的本土植物覆盖面和植物多样性。更为糟糕的是，非本土植物会附在攀岩者的靴子上从而被无心的引进。

G This leaves rock climbing with an uncertain future. Climbers are not the only user

group that wishes to enjoy the wilderness - hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders

visit the same areas, and more importantly, they are much better organised, with long-established lobby groups protecting their interests. With increased pressure on limited

natural resources, it has been suggested that climbers put aside their differences over the

ethics of various climbing techniques, and focus on the effect of their practices on the

environment and their relationship with other users and landowners.

这使攀岩运动前途未卜。登山者并不是唯一想要享受荒野乐趣的团体——徒步跋涉者、山地自行车骑行者、马背骑行者都造访着同一年土地。更为重要的是，他们组织的更加完善，有成立多年的游说团体维护他们的利益。有限自然资源带来的压力日益增加，有人建议攀岩团体放下对使用攀岩工具的成见，关注他们的行为给环境以及和其他团体和土地所有者的关系所带来的影响。

H In any event, there can be no doubt that the era of the rock climber as a lone wolf or

intrepid pioneer is over. Like many other forms of recreation, rock climbing has increasingly

come under the fold of institutional efforts to curb dangerous behaviour and properly

manage our natural environments. This may have spoiled the magic, but it has also made

the sport safer and more sustainable, and governing bodies would do well to consider

heightening such efforts in the future.

① fastening or controlling of a climber's rope by wrapping it around a metal device or

another person

不管怎样，毫无疑问攀岩作为一匹孤狼或者说无畏拓荒者的时代已经结束。像很多的休闲方式一样，攀岩运动受到了越来越多的制度限制，禁止危险动作，同时合理地利用自然环境。这也许会使这项运动的魔力不再，但是同时也是这项运动更加安全以及更具有可持续性，也使政体在将来更将重视这项运动并为此作出努力。