7．The Cold Places  寒冷的地带

The Arctic is a polar region. It surrounds the North Pole.

Like Antarctica, the Arctic is a land of ice and snow. Antarctica holds the record for a low temperature reading ---125 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. Reading of 85 degrees below zero are common in both the Arctic and Antarctica. Winter temperatures average 30 d3egrees below zero in the Arctic. At the South Pole the winter average is about 73 degrees below zero.

One thing alone makes it almost impossible for men to live in Antarctica and in parts of the Arctic. This one thing is the low temperature --- the killing chill of far North and the polar South.

To survive, men must wear the warmest possible clothing. They must build windproof shelters. They must keep heaters going at al times. Not even for a moment can they be unprotected against the below-zero temperatures.

Men have a way of providing for themselves. Polar explorers wrap themselves in warm coats and furs. The cold makes life difficult. But the explorers can stay alive.

What about animals? Can they survive? Do we find plants? Do we find life in the Arctic and in Antarctica? Yes, we do. There is life in the oceans. There is life on land.

Antarctica, as we have seen, is a cold place indeed. But this has not always been the case. Expedition scientists have discovered that Antarctica has not always been a frozen continent. At one time the weather in Antarctica may have much like our own.

Explorers have discovered coal in Antarctica. This leads them to believe that Antarctica at one time was a land of swamps and forests. Heat and moisture must have kept the trees in the forests alive.

北极地区是个极地的区域，它把北极围在中间。

    如同南极洲，北极是一个冰雪覆盖的大陆。南极洲最低记录保持在华氏零下125度。无论是在北极还是在南极，华氏零下85度是很常见的。北极的冬天，气温平均在摄氏零下30度左右。而在另一端的南极，冬天的平均气温则在零下73度左右。

    只有一件事情足以使得人类几乎无法生存于南极和北极的一些地区，那就是它们的低气温——遥远两极要人命的寒冷天气。

    为了在两极生存，人类必须尽可能穿最暖和的衣物，必须建立防风住所。而且必须确保全天候暖气供应。对付零下的低温，他们甚至连片刻也不能不作防护。

    人类是有办法装备自己的。到南北极的探险者用温暖的御寒大衣和皮衣把自己裹得严严实实的。尽管寒冷天气使人难以生存，但南北极的探险家却能够顽强地生活在这两片冰冻的大地上。

    那么其他动物能在此生存吗?有植物被发现吗?我们在两极里能找到生命吗?是的，我们在冰洋上、雪地里找到了生命。

    南极洲，在我们看来是一个如此寒冷冰封的大陆，但情况并不总是如此。远征的科学家们发现，南极洲并不总是一个冰天雪地的大陆。曾经在某个时期，南极洲可能跟我们现在生活的大陆拥有同样温暖的气候。

    探险家们在南极发现了煤矿。这使他们有理由相信南极洲曾经是一片森林和沼泽。也许曾经温暖和潮湿的空气使这里的森林中的树木茂盛地生长过。

★1).The lowest temperature that man has ever known was recorded in Antarctica.-R

★2).Winter temperatures average 85 degrees below zero in Antarctica.-W

★3).The Arctic and Antarctica are no man’s lands because of their notorious coldness.-W

★4).Polar explorers can stay alive without heaters and windproof shelters.-W

★5).Despite the hostile environment, both animals and plants can be found in the oceans and on land in polar areas.-R

★6).As discovered by expedition scientists, Antarctica has not always been so cold as it is today, so has the Arctic.-N

★7).At one time, the weather in Antarctica was so warm and damp that trees grew there.-R