The climbing season of 2006 was the deadliest on record for those attempting to conquer Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain, as more people perished attempting to reach the summit in 2006 than in any other year. Interestingly, most mountaineering experts attribute the high number of fatalities, almost all of which occurred in the unforgiving "death-zone" above 26,000 feet, directly to the exceptionally good weather prevalent during the 2006 climbing season. Which of the following, if true, best helps to explain the conclusion of the mountaineering experts?
A. All of the forecasts were for extremely bad weather; the good weather was a significant surprise to all of the climbers.
B. The good weather prompted significantly more people than ever to try to reach the summit and enter the "deathzone," many of whom would have turned back at a lower altitude in poorer weather.
C. The good weather caused the "death-zone" to have warmer temperatures and less intense winds than in recent years.
D. Modern equipment is particularly effective in protecting climbers from the elements in bad weather.
E. Many accomplished climbers don't attempt Mt. Everest during good weather because they feel it is not a challenge.
What is the best reasonable Option in this?
OA B
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The climbing season of 2006
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The scenario: 2006 was the deadliest climbing season on record for Mount Everest; more people attempted to reach the summit than in any other year; most deaths occurred above 26,000 feet; the weather was exceptionally goodlheiannie07 wrote:The climbing season of 2006 was the deadliest on record for those attempting to conquer Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain, as more people perished attempting to reach the summit in 2006 than in any other year. Interestingly, most mountaineering experts attribute the high number of fatalities, almost all of which occurred in the unforgiving "death-zone" above 26,000 feet, directly to the exceptionally good weather prevalent during the 2006 climbing season. Which of the following, if true, best helps to explain the conclusion of the mountaineering experts?
A. All of the forecasts were for extremely bad weather; the good weather was a significant surprise to all of the climbers.
B. The good weather prompted significantly more people than ever to try to reach the summit and enter the "deathzone," many of whom would have turned back at a lower altitude in poorer weather.
C. The good weather caused the "death-zone" to have warmer temperatures and less intense winds than in recent years.
D. Modern equipment is particularly effective in protecting climbers from the elements in bad weather.
E. Many accomplished climbers don't attempt Mt. Everest during good weather because they feel it is not a challenge.
What is the best reasonable Option in this?
OA B
We're trying to explain how the good weather could have accounted for the higher death toll. Well, if more people were trying to make it to the top than ever before, and most of the deaths happened at very high altitudes, perhaps it was the good weather that made climbers believe it was safe to ascend to that dangerous region. This is what B gives us. If the weather had been bad, many climbers wouldn't have risked going to the most dangerous part of the mountain, and presumably they'd have survived.
