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Lesson 4 Journey to the Antarctic The Race to the Pole On 1 June, 1910, Captain Scott left London to begin his journey to the Antarctic. On his way, he received a message from the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen: "I'm going South." So the race to the South Pole was on! During the polar summer of 1910-1911, both teams organised food bases in preparation for their journeys the next year. Then came the total darkness of the polar winter. Scott and Amundsen waited anxiously for spring. Amundsen was the first to leave, on 15 October, 1911. He had teams of dogs pulling the sledges and all his men were on skis. Because of this, he made rapid progress. Scott left on 1 November and soon had problems. First, his two sledges broke down, and then the horses began to have serious difficulties with the snow and the cold. After a while, Scott and his men had to push the sledges themselves. Amundsen reached the Pole on 14 December and put a Norwegian flag there. Then he prepared for the return journey. Scott finally arrived at the Pole with four team members on 17 January. They were shocked when they saw the Norwegian flag. Scott wrote sadly in his diary: "Well, we have now lost the goal of our ambition and must face 800 miles of hard pushing - and goodbye to most of our dreams." The return journey was one of the worst in the history of exploration. The men were soon exhausted and were running out of food. The weather conditions were terrible. Scott started to realise their hopeless situation: "... we are very cheerful, but what each man feels in his heart I can only guess. Putting on our shoes in the morning is getting slower and slower." However, on their way back they found time to look for rocks. They carried 20 kilos of rocks all the way with them. Later, these rocks proved that at one time in the distant past the Antarctic was covered by plants. Then, disaster soon came. Edgar Evans had a terrible disease and died after a bad fall. The next to go was Captain Oates, who was having great difficulty walking. Scott recorded his death: "He said, 'I am just going outside and I may be some time.' We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to stop him, we knew that it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman. We all hope to meet the end with a similar spirit, and certainly the end is not far." Scott and two of his team members carried on and got within eleven miles of one of their food bases. But then a terrible storm started and they could not leave their tent. Scott spent some of his last hours writing. He wrote a letter full of sadness to his wife Kathleen: "I could tell you lots and lots about this journey. What stories you would have for the boy ... But what a price to pay." Scott's diary also told the story of their end: "We are getting weaker and weaker and the end can't be far. It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more." The news of Scott's death shocked the world. He had failed to win the race to the Pole,but the extraordinary courage shown by Captain Scott and his men made them into heroes. 第四课 南极之旅 去南极的竞赛 1910年6月1日，斯科特上校从伦敦出发，开始他去南极的旅程。 在途中，他收到挪威探险家阿蒙森发来的信息：“我要去南极。” 因此，去南极的竞赛开始了！ 1910-1911年南极夏季的时候，两支队伍都建起食品储存处，为明年的旅行做准备。接着，一片漆黑的南极冬季到了。 斯科特和阿蒙森焦急等待着春天的到来。 阿蒙森是先出发的，那是1911年10月15日。他有一队拉雪橇的狗，而他所有队员都坐着雪橇。因此，他迅速前进。 斯科特11月1日出发，而且不久就出现了问题。先是他的两个雪橇坏了，后来马匹开始应付不了大雪和严寒的天气。不久，斯科特和他的队员不得不自己推雪橇。 阿蒙森12月14日到达南极，并在那插了一面挪威国旗。 然后他准备回程。斯科特和四名队员最终于1月17日到达南极。 看到挪威国旗的时候，他们震惊了。 斯科特在日记中悲伤地写道： "唉，现在我们已经失去了抱负目标，而且必须面对800英里的艰难行进-并向我们的梦想道别。" 回程旅程是探险史上最糟糕的一次。队员们很快就筋疲力竭了，食品也快吃完了。 天气状况很糟。斯科特开始认识到他们绝望的境遇： "……我们非常高兴，但每个人心中的感受，只有我能明白。 大家早上穿鞋的速度越来越慢。 然而，在回去的路上，他们花时间寻找石块。 一路上，他们扛了20公斤石块。 后来，这些石块证实，在遥远的过去，南极洲曾经被植被覆盖。 不久，不幸发生了。埃德加o埃文斯得了可怕的疾病，一个萧瑟的秋天过后，他去世了。 接着是奥茨上校，他行走非常困难。 斯科特记录了他的死："他说，'我出去一会，或许过一阵子才能回来。'" 我们知道可怜的奥茨正接近死亡，即便我们设法阻止他，我们知道这是一个勇敢的英国绅士的举动。 我们都希望临死时能有同样的精神，而死肯定不远了。" 斯科特和两名同伴继续前行，到达距离食品储存处不足11英里的地方。 但后来，一场可怕的暴风雨来临，他无法无法离开帐篷。 斯科特用他生命最后的几个小时写作。 他给妻子凯思琳写了一封充满悲伤的信： "我可以告诉你很多很多有关这个旅程的事。你可以给孩子讲这些故事……但这些付出都很值得。" 斯科特的日记同样记录了他们的死亡： "我们变得越来越虚弱，死离我们不远了。这是很遗憾的，但我想我不能再记日记了。" 斯科特的死讯震惊了世界。 他在去南极的竞赛中失败了，但斯科特和他队友的非凡勇气使他们成为英雄。 |
