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 April the 3rd was the day we attempted to reach Mount Everest. The morning saw us all up and rushing about the bungalow at daybreak. We bumped down the nine miles of dusty track, each clutching a camera or one of the more delicate instruments to our chests in an endeavour to make our bodies absorb as many of the shocks from the bumpy track as possible. The ground staff was already busy on our arrival. The sheds where the aircraft were kept had been opened and the great machines were being manhandled out onto the tarmac. The bottles of oxygen were careful placed in their clips and connected to the system. The vertical cameras were fitted and tested; air frames and engines were inspected and tested in every detail.
Pilots and observers fussed around the equipment, trying on oxygen masks which they had tried on many times before re-adjusting straps, electric leads and oxygen feed pipes that had already adjusted to a nicety. They then re-checked the charts which had been carefully prepared to allow accurately for the increasing wind speeds during the climb-all trying to keep themselves occupied during that tense half-hour wait for the return of the reconnaissance machine.
There had been so much preparation for this flight, and there was still so much of unknown about it, that the crews could not help being slightly affected by the general excitement. Waiting is always unpleasant, and we were all relieved to see the reconnaissance machine diving down through the dust haze. The Air Commodore who commanded it brought welcome news. Though he had been unable to climb above the dust, he had been able to see towards the mountains through the top of the haze and there was a cloudless sky. This was splendid: no cloud to mar the photography.
We had promised not to attempt the flight if the wind exceeded 40 miles an hour, but this was the first time we had found the wind under 100 miles an hour. We worked out the implications and reckoned that, provided we did not spend more than fifteen minutes at the summit, we could get back inside our petrol endurance. We might wait for days and weeks and not get another opportunity. The Air Commodore weighed the position carefully and gave the world “Go”


The author and his colleagues held their instruments close to their bodies because
there were so many people in the car.
the dust might have obscured their cameras.
The surface of the track was very uneven.
They wanted to protect themselves from bumps.
When the members of the expedition arrived at the aerodrome , the ground staff was
maneuvering the aircraft into position on the runway
attaching the clips to the bottles of oxygen.
waiting to remove the machines from the sheds.
making final adjustments to the vertical cameras.

The crews of the aircraft kept checking their equipment.
To ensure that the straps on their oxygen masks were adjustable.
To pinpoint the position of the reconnaissance plane.
To verify the accuracy of the wind speeds shown in their charts.
To keep themselves busy until it was time to take off.

For this expedition the pilots were equipped with.
A television system.
A new type of aircraft.
Breathing apparatus.
Parachute equipment.

During the reconnaissance flight the Air Commodore was able to
Get close to the summit of Mount Everest.
Observe the weather conditions above the dust.
Take long-range photographs of the mountain.
Send information back to the aerodrome.

The purpose of this expedition to Mount Everest was to
Investigate the atmosphere conditions on the mountain.
Make an aerial survey of the summit.
Test the breathing apparatus at high altitude
Penetrate the dust haze surrounding the mountain.

SECOND PASSAGE

Standing alone at the Browns’ party, Anna Mackintosh thought about her husband Edward, establishing him clearly in her mind’s eye. He was a thin man, forty-one years of age, with fair hair that was often untidy. In the seventeen years they’d been married he had changed very little: he was still nervous with other people, and smiled in the same abashed away, and his face was still almost boyish.
She believed she had failed him because he had wished for children and she had not been able to supply any. She had, over the years, become neurotic about this fact and in the end, quite some time ago now; she had consulted a psychiatrist, a Dr Abbat, at Edward’s pleading.
In the Browns’ rich drawing room, its walls and ceiling gleaming with a metallic surface of imitation gold, Anna listened to dance music coming from a tape recorder and continued to think about her husband.
In a moment he would be at the party too, since they had agreed to meet there, although by now it was three-quarters of an hour later than the time he had stipulated.