VOA标准英语2008年-Mount Everest Legend Edmund Hillary Dies at 88

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
11 January 2008

Legendary¹ adventurer Edmund Hillary has died at the age of 88. The New Zealander was the first man to climb the world's tallest mountain, Mount Everest. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Edmund Hillary made history when he conquered Mount Everest with his Nepalese climbing partner, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in May 1953.

After scaling the 8,850 meter peak, Hillary led a number of expeditions to the South Pole and devoted² his life to helping³ the Sherpa people of Nepal's Khumbu region.

The death of the iconic New Zealander has prompted an outpouring of sympathy, with messages of condolence flooding in from around the world.

Acting⁴ Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the explorer was an inspiration to generations.

"Sir Edmund's name is synonymous with adventure, with achievement, with dreaming and then making those dreams come true," she said. "I'm sure there will be many Australians today who reflect on his death. It was obviously a long life and well lived."

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Hillary was a heroic figure and said all New Zealanders would deeply mourn his passing. Hillary will be honored with a state funeral.

He spent two years as New Zealand's High Commissioner⁵ to India, and founded the Himalayan Trust in 1964.

The trust helped build hospitals and schools in the region. He was made an honorary Nepalese citizen in 2003.

At home in New Zealand, the legendary explorer was a simple beekeeper. Speaking in 2003, he said he was just an ordinary man who did not deserve celebrity⁶ status.

"I never permitted the climb of Everest to make me regard myself as a heroic figure," he said. "I knew I was no heroic figure."

Hillary was born in Auckland in 1919 and began climbing mountains in his native New Zealand as a teenager.

Following his Everest triumph, tragedy struck in 1975, when his wife and daughter died in a plane crash on their way to meet him at a construction site.

One of the 20th century's greatest adventurers died in an Auckland hospital of a heart attack after a long illness. Mountaineer Edmund Hillary was 88.

1 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

2 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

6 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。