Текст. Exploring our world. Chapter 7

MOUNTAINS

Mountains cover about 25% of Earth. They are made of rocks and soil, and they are much higher than the land around them. They form when underground plates crash together and push the land up. This takes millions of years.

RECORD-BREAKING MOUNTAINS

The biggest mountain chain is the Himalayas in Asia. Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, is in the Himalayas. Everest is still growing about 5 millimeters every year.

The longest mountain chain is under the ocean! The Mid-Atlantic Ridge under the Atlantic Ocean is 16,000 kilometers long. The longest mountain chain on land is the Andes in South America.

WHY DO PEOPLE EXPLORE THE MOUNTAINS?

Geologists look at the rocks in mountains to learn more about how Earth was made. Some mountain explorers have found metals like gold, silver, copper, and tin. They have also found precious stones like rubies and emeralds, and rocks, like granite and limestone. Some mountain plants, like the snow lotus, are used to make medicines.

Mountain archaeologists look for ancient remains on the top of mountains. In 1999, Constanza Ceruti from Argentina was exploring 6,739 meters high at the top of the Llullaillaco Volcano between Argentina and Chile. She and Johan Reinhold found food pots, gold and silver statues, and three Inca mummies that were 500 years old.

MOUNTAINS EXPLORERS

Mountain explorers often want to be the first to climb a mountain. A Frenchman called Antoine de Ville climbed Mont Aiguille in the Alps in 1492.

Later, some people gave explorers money to climb mountains to see what was there. Michel Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat climbed Mont Blanc for a prize in 1786. Another French explorer called Marie Paradis was the first woman to climb Mont Blanc in 1808.

The first people to get to the top of Mount Everest were Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal in 1953. About 2,000 people have climbed to the top of Everest, but more than 200 of them never returned. Modern explorers try and find new ways to climb it.

The first woman to get to the top of Everest was a Japanese climber called Junko Tabei in 197 5. In 1992 she also became the first woman to climb the highest mountain in each of the seven continents.

The youngest person to climb Everest is a Nepalese girl catted Ming Kipa Sherpa. She climbed it with her brother and sister in 2003 when she was just 15 years old.

Answer the questions

1. How many mountains on the Earth?

2. How long does it take to form a mountain?

3. What is the biggest mountain chain?

4. What is the highest mountain in the world? Where is it?

5. Where is the longest mountain chain? Where is it? How long is it?

6. What is the difference between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Andes?

7. Why do people explore the mountains?

8. What can we find in the mountains?

9. What did Constanza Ceruti and Johan Reinhold find in 1999? Where did they find it?

10. Who was the first to climb the Alps?

11. What did Michel Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat climb Mont Blanc for?

12. Who was the first woman to climb Mont Blanc?

13. Who was the first to climb Mount Everest?

14. Does everyone who tried to climb Mount Everest succeeded?

15. Who was the first woman to climb Mount Everest? What else has she done?

16. Who is the youngest to climb Mount Everest? How old was he\she?