Most young people enjoy some form of physical activity. It may be walking, cycling, or swimming, or in winter, skating or skiing. It may be a game of some (26) --football, hockey, golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering.
Those who have a passion (27) climbing high and difficult mountains are often (28) with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to (29) cold and hardship, and to take risks on high mountains This astonishment is caused, however, by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity (30) men give their leisure. Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules, (31) there are for such games as golf and football. There are, (32) , rules of a different kind which would be dangerous to (33) , but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering (34) to many people. Those who climb mountains are (35) to use their own methods. If we compare mountaineering and other more (36) sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a ’team game’. We should be mistaken (37) this. There are, it is true, no ’matches’ between ’teams’ of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face (38) by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is (39) team work. The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of (40) . His sport requires high mental and physical qualities. A.related B.tied C.connected D.linked