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What would you pack for a six-month trek 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 feats have seen him go pole to pole and climb Everest as a pensioner. 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 terrain by two special bulldozers. They'll be followed by 14 smaller sledges transporting fuel.

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

To get Foreign Office permission to go to Antarctica the team had to prove they could be self-sufficient. In the Antarctic 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 gear 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