Mountaineers aim to clean up Mount Everest 登山客誓言恢復聖母峰整潔

A view of Mount Everest taken from an aircraft on Nov. 28, 2006. 一張從飛機上拍攝的聖母峰照片，攝於二ＯＯ六年十一月二十八日。照片：法新社 PHOTO: AFP

As more and more people climb Mount Everest, it has become littered with trash. Now a team of mountaineers has a plan to help clean up the world’s highest peak.

Expedition leader Dawa Steven Sherpa said his team will test a US-developed “Clean Mountain Can.” It’s essentially a very strong bucket that can be strapped on to backpacks.

The idea started last year when Sherpa saw human waste high on the mountain.

“We were looking around and thinking, ‘this is a holy mountain, something has to be done. This is disgusting,’” Sherpa said.

Years of expeditions have left the 8,848m peak littered with ropes, equipment and rubbish.

“I am going to give [Sherpas] a financial incentive to bring down garbage,” the 23-year-old expedition leader said.

A fund will pay a dollar per kilogram of waste brought down. Sherpa thinks he can bring down at least three of the estimated 10 tonnes of garbage that still litters the peak. He hopes other expeditions will follow his lead.

(STAFF WRITER, WITH AFP)

隨著越愈來愈多人登上聖母峰，那裡也變得到處都是垃圾。現在，有一群登山客計畫要恢復這座世界最高峰的整潔。

遠征隊領隊達瓦．史帝芬．雪爾帕表示，他的團隊將試用美國研發的一種「山區清潔桶」，它其實就是一個可以扣綁在後背包上的牢固桶子。

雪爾帕去年在高聳的聖母峰上看到人類遺留的垃圾後，開始有了這個想法。

雪爾帕說：「我們環顧四周後心想：『這座聖山現在變得這麼噁心，有人必須站出來做點什麼。』」

多年來，登山隊伍在八千八百四十八公尺高的聖母峰上製造髒亂，留下了許多繩索、登山設備和垃圾。

二十三歲的雪爾帕說：「我計畫發獎勵金給帶垃圾下山的隊員。」

遠征隊有一筆基金，隊員每帶一公斤垃圾下山就發給一美元酬金。聖母峰上的垃圾估計還有十公噸，雪帕爾認為，他至少能清運掉其中三成，他也期望其他遠征隊可以仿效他的做法。（法新社／翻譯：袁星塵）

TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字 1. mountaineer n. 登山家 (deng1 shan1 jia1) 例: It's Rick's dream to become a mountaineer. (瑞克夢想成為一個登山客。) 2. essentially adv. 實質上 (shi2 zhi2 shang4) 例: "So essentially you're asking me to take the treat even if I don't like it?" Edward asked. (愛德華問：「所以基本上就算我不喜歡，你也還是要我接受款待囉？」) 3. incentive n. 獎勵 (jiang3 li4) 例: What are the incentives for doing this project? (參與這項計畫能得到什麼獎勵？) 4. estimate v.t. 估計 (gu1 ji4) 例: Let's estimate how many girls will come. (我們來猜猜看有多少女孩子會來吧。)