英语听力精选进阶版 6396

What would you pack for a six-month trek¹ on the coldest continent in the world? Bear in mind that there'll be no shops around and no help from home.

That's the challenge the British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes faces as he prepares to lead a six-strong team on foot across Antarctica.

The expedition to start in March will cross areas where the temperature has fallen as low as -90C.

It'll be the 68-year-old adventurer's latest record attempt. Past feats³ have seen him go pole to pole and climb Everest as a pensioner⁴. Guinness World Records describes him as the world's greatest living explorer.

According to the BBC's Matthew Price, the expedition's 200 tonnes of equipment will be dragged across 2,000 miles of some of the world's most inhospitable terrain⁵ by two special bulldozers. They'll be followed by 14 smaller sledges⁶ transporting fuel.

To make sure they'll stay on the surface of the ice shelf, two skiers will lead the way, on the lookout⁷ for crevasses⁸ using a small radar⁹ system.

To get Foreign Office permission to go to Antarctica the team had to prove they could be self-sufficient. In the Antarctic² winter there's no way of being rescued.

"That means everything from vehicle spares down to a toothbrush," says Brian Newham, who's been organising the gear¹⁰ for the expedition. He's even been counting the number of sheets on a toilet roll.

"We're taking 165 rolls. That's one for all of us for every 2.25 days," he says.

And nothing is left to chance. Their luggage also includes 20 kg of dried egg, 7,300 tea bags, 230 kg of chocolate and 30 toothbrushes.

There's enough food to last a year including dried fruits, sports nutrition products, and dried foods like lasagne. They can't take tins with them as they'd freeze and burst.

And there'll be no empty suitcases on their return. Everything the explorers take with them will be removed from the ice at the end of the expedition, including the human waste.

Quiz 测验

1. Look at the article. What adventures has the British explorer had in the past?

He has travelled from one pole to the other and has climbed Everest.

2. What particular danger on the ice does the expedition have to be aware of as it advances?

The existence of crevasses.

3. Is the following statement true, false or not given? The explorers are carrying more food than they need in case they get in trouble and have to wait to be saved.

True.

4. Look at the article. What word describes an area difficult to live in?

Inhospitable.

5. What word means equipment?

Gear.

Glossary 词汇表

to pack 打点行李

a trek 跋涉，旅行

to bear in mind 记住

a challenge 挑战

the explorer 探险者

the expedition 远征，探险

the adventurer 冒险者

a feat 功勋，壮举

a pensioner 一个领养老金的人

inhospitable 不适于居住的

a bulldozer 推土机

a sledge 雪橇

on the lookout 寻找

a crevasse 一个裂缝

a radar system 一个雷达系统

self-sufficient 自给自足的

to rescue 营救

the gear （专用）一套装备

to be left to chance 侥幸，碰运气

human waste （人的）粪便

1 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

2 Antarctic   

adj.南极(区)的；n.(the A-)南极洲，南极圈

参考例句：

• The Antarctic is a mountainous area.南极洲是一个多山的地区。
• It is well known that penguins live in the Antarctic.企鹅生活在南极洲是众所周知的。

3 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。

4 pensioner   

n.领养老金的人

参考例句：

• The tax threshold for a single pensioner is$ 445.单身领退休年金者的纳税起点为445英镑。
• It was the pensioner's vote late in the day that influenced the election of Mr.Sweet.最后是领取养老金者的选票影响了斯威特先生的当选。

5 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

6 sledges   

n.雪橇，雪车( sledge的名词复数 )v.乘雪橇( sledge的第三人称单数 )；用雪橇运载

参考例句：

• Sledges run well over frozen snow. 雪橇在冻硬了的雪上顺利滑行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They used picks and sledges to break the rocks. 他们用[镐和撬]来打碎这些岩石。 来自互联网

7 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

8 crevasses   

n.破口，崩溃处，裂缝( crevasse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Splays are commonly formed by currents from crevasses in levees. 嗽叭形堆积通常由堤防决口的洪流所形成。 来自辞典例句
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses. 冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。 来自辞典例句

9 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

10 gear   

n.齿轮，传动装置，设备，衣服；vt.使适应

参考例句：

• We have to gear our lives to the new changes.我们必须使自己的生活适应新的变化。
• The teeth of the wheel gear into each other.齿轮互相啮合。