• 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 clichéd 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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