• Go through the article and number the paragraphs.
• Look at the source of the article. What does this suggest about the target readership?
• Alliteration is used in the headline for emotive impact. Identify it.
• 2 metaphors/puns are used in the subhead � rather lamely in my opinion. What are they, and what effect do you think McKie is trying to achieve?
• Paragraph 1 opens with an anecdote, a short, personal story to make the article more vivid by linking it to real people. Other techniques used in this paragraph to liven up the writing are: contrast, metaphor and dramatic choice of verbs. Identify and quote these usages.
• The words �within a couple of hours� and �a mere hour later� show the escalation of the danger within a short time scale. Another indicator of danger is found in a metaphor in the final sentence. Identify and comment on the metaphor.
• Note, by the way, the informality of beginning a sentence with �But�� You know you�re not allowed (by me) to do that, so why is McKie doing it? Look out for other examples of this sort of thing as the passage progresses.
• Find and quote 1 fact, 1 example of opinion and 1 piece of emotive language from paragraph 3.
• What is the rather clich�d metaphor �the crown jewel of the Alps� meant to suggest about the Matterhorn�s significance?
• In paragraph 4, what words are used to suggest the strength of the Alps, in contrast with the weakness of �melting� ?
• We are told of the variety of professions assembled at the International Permafrost Association conference (paragraph 5) so that we see them as authoritative sources and take them seriously; if all these people believe in it, we may be likely to think, it must be true.
• Am I a bit weird to see a balance between �Rarely� and �timely� in the last sentence? Yes, I thought so!
• Paragraph 6 presents �the science bit� (to quote an old shampoo ad) in language accessible to the lay person, but in the words of a civil engineer and university professor. By telling us that he is both of these things, it is suggested that he has both theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
• The headline and sub head of this article were both pretty despondent. Find the quotation from paragraph 7 which suggests that there may be hope.
• The structure of the article circles back to the beginning, as we revisit in paragraphs 8 & 9 the anecdote with which we began. Maybe there is a suggestion that, for all this science, we are still, really, no further forward. Certainly, I see the simile � like a cargo of fragile china dolls� as reinforcing the vulnerability of both the rescued climbers and the mountain itself.

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