Japanese woman—Junko Tabei

    Mount Qomolangma is the highest mountain in the world. It is in the Himalaya(喜马拉雅)Mountains between Nepal(尼泊尔)and China, and it is about 8, 844 meters high. Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal were the first people ever{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(climb)Mount Everest in 1953. Men from several different countries climbed it after that.

    Junko Tabei, a Japanese, was the first woman{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(make)this difficult climb. A Japanese newspaper-television company{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(choose)fifteen women from mountaineering clubs to climb Mount Qomolangma in 1975. The group climbed for several days. Then there was an accident. The heavy ice and snow{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(hurt)ten of the women. They had to stop climbing. The other five went on climbing.

    Only Ms. Tabei was able to climb the last 70 meters. She{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(stand)on the top of the world. She was the first woman there. Ms. Tabei was 35 years old at that time. She started climbing mountains in 1960. She still climbs mountains now. She is not an ordinary{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(Japan)housewife. Ms. Tabei makes money for her trips by{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(teach)English and piano to children. She climbs a mountain about every three years. She has climbed some of{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(high)mountains in six countries. Finally, she wants to climb the highest mountain in every country in the world. When she reaches the top of a mountain, she thinks, "I'm glad that I'm at the top."