3-4. It is true that during their explorations they often faced difficulties and dangers of the most perilous nature, equipped in a manner with would make a modern climber shudder at the thought, but they did not go out of their way to court such excitement.

【译文】

的确，探险中他们经常遇到性质最为危险的艰难险阻，他们装备之简陋使现代登山者一想起来就胆战心惊。但他们并非故意寻求这种刺激。

【讲解】

equipped in a manner…thought是过去分词短语，作原因状语，修饰faced。at the thought后省略了of the manner。

【单词和短语】

perilous：充满危险的；濒临毁灭的（very dangerous），

例如：

a perilous rate of inflation 危机四伏的通货膨胀率

perilous的名词形式为peril。

shudder at：对……感到惊恐（to think that something is very bad or unpleasant），

例如：

He shudders at the sight of a snake.

他一见到蛇就胆颤心惊。

go out of their way to do something：特地；不怕麻烦地（to do something with more effort than is usual or expected），

例如：

She went out of her way to help me.

她不怕麻烦地来帮我。

3-5. They had a single aim, a solitary goal—the top!

【译文】

他们只有一个目的，唯一的目标——顶峰！

【讲解】

从语法角度分析，a solitary goal和the top均是a single aim的同位语。从修辞角度看，作者以改变说法的方式达到加强语意的目的。这叫修正法（epanorthosis）。破折号引出被强调部分。

【单词和短语】

solitary：独一无二的（used to emphasize that there is only one of something），

例如：
a solitary exception 唯一的例外

3-6. It is hard for us to realize nowadays how difficult it was for the pioneers.

【译文】

如今我们很难理解登山先驱者昔日是多么艰苦。

【讲解】

it是形式主语，to realize nowadays how difficult it was for the pioneers是真正的主语。请掌握It is hard for sb. to do something.这个句型。

【单词和短语】

pioneer:先驱（someone who is important in the early development of something, and whose work or ideas are later developed by other people），

例如：
a pioneer of photography 摄影术创始人
a pioneer in the development of radar 雷达研制的先驱

3-7. Except for one or two places such as Zermatt and Chamonix, which had rapidly become popular, Alpine village tended to be impoverished settlements cut off from civilization by the high mountains.

【译文】

除了泽曼特和夏蒙尼等一两个迅速出名的地方外，阿尔卑斯山山区的小村由于高山隔绝了文明日渐成为贫穷的村落。   

【讲解】

such as可以分开，如such places as…，这时as作关系代词，as引出的从句是省略句。such as不分开时其作用相当于like，表示举例。因此可以把such…Chamonix视为修饰places的定语。cut off from civilization by the high mountains是过去分词短语作定语，修饰settlements。

【单词和短语】

except for：除了……之外，

例如：
I know nothing about him except for the fact that he lives next door.

我除了知道他住在隔壁外，对他的其他情况一无所知。

impoverish：使穷困，使赤贫（to make some one very poor），形容词为impoverished，名词形式为impoverishment。