The little boy conquered the Appalachian Trail

江西 馮唐為

阿巴拉契亞國家步道（the Appalachian Trail）亦稱阿巴拉契亞小徑，是阿巴拉契亞山脈上的一條小路，也是美國最長的徒步旅行步道之一，因而挑戰這條小徑并不簡單。 然而，一名5歲男孩卻成功地征服了這條小徑，他是如何做到的？

At 5 years old, Harvey is one of the youngest—and the latest of several youngsters in recent years—to complete the trail, along with his parents over more than 2,100 miles in 209 days. It was hard work, but it was fun checking out frogs and other wildlife. Skittles （彩虹糖） onto peanut butter provided fuel for the walk. “Climbing the rock was really fun but hard. We were not bored,” he said cheerfully in a phone interview from Virginia, where he lives with his parents, Josh and Cassie Sutton.His parents were so busy keeping him engaged and entertained that it distracted them from the physical pain of hiking over so many miles. “It gave us a bond and a strength that we hadn't realized before,” Cassie Sutton said.

For Harvey's hike, his parents decided to take a “mini retirement” from their real estate jobs in Lynchburg, Virginia.They'd been hiking with Harvey since he was 2, so the Appalachian Trail made sense to them. The family got used to sleeping in a tent, waking at 5：30 am and hiking all day.There was a simplicity of the routine and good-fellowship with other “thru hikers” that kept it from getting boring,Josh Sutton said. The parents said the biggest challenge was keeping their son's imagination engaged.Harvey made plans to build homes, construct spaceships and host a lava （火山巖） party in discussions over miles and hours of hiking. They completed the hike on August 9th atop Mount Katahdin. Then Harvey was back to kindergarten and his parents were both back to work.

Harvey's journey earned accolades from another hiking legend, Dale “Greybeard” Sanders, the oldest person to hike the trail,at age 82 in 2017. “It's going to change his life forever, and his parents'life, too. The kid went through some hardships. Hardships make us stronger,” said Sanders, now 86.“That kid is going to smile through life.”

Reading Check

1. Which of the following was the most difficult for Harvey's parents when hiking the trail?

A. The physical pain of hiking.

B. Keeping Harvey's imagination engaged.

C. The simple routine and boring journey.

D. Sleeping in a tent and waking early.

2. What does the underlined word “accolades” in the third paragraph mean?

A. Support. B. Encouragement.

C. Gratitude. D. Praises.

3. What did the family get through the hike?

A. Top honor from the country.

B. Physical changes.

C. Power and closeness.

D. Encouragement from the public.

4. How long had Harvey's parents been hiking with him?

A. Nearly 1 year. B. Nearly 2 years.

C. Nearly 3 years. D. Nearly 4 years.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

There was a simplicity of the routine and good-fellowship with other “thru hikers” that kept it from getting boring, Josh Sutton said. 喬希·薩頓說，日常路線非常簡單，而且與其他“全程徒步旅行者”的友誼讓旅途變得不再無聊。

【點石成金】此句包含一個定語從句that kept it from getting boring，修飾先行詞goodfellowship。