1 . In the fall of 1915, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance (耐力号) sank off the coast of Antarctica. While all of the expedition’s 28 crew eventually were rescued, the ship’s final resting place has remained a much-discussed maritime mystery. That is, until today. A team of researchers has announced they’ve located the wreck at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, almost the northernmost part of Antarctica.

Endurance was backed by the British government and private donors and supported by Winston Churchill to deliver a group of explorers to the coast of Antarctica and then travel overland across the continent via the South Pole.

It set out from South Georgia on December 5, 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. But the enemy that Shackleton and his men faced was of a different sort. The Weddell Sea, covering an area of more than a million square miles, is one of the most remote and unforgiving environments in the world, littered with icebergs and roiled by strong surface winds. Shackleton called it “the worst sea in the world.”

The expedition made good progress at first, but as the Antarctic winter of 1915 closed in, the men found themselves trapped in the sea ice on Tuesday, October 26. The next day, the men removed tools, instruments, and provisions and set up camp on the ice floe. Endurance finally sank on November 27. Shackleton famously said, “What the ice gets, the ice keeps.” . But Endurance’s story did not end with the ship’s sinking.

In 2019, the Falklands Heritage Maritime Trust began its first expedition to find the ship but had been unable to locate the wreck. This winter, they tried again, organizing and funding Endurance22.

One of the toughest problems, besides the sea ice, was establishing the ship’s location. After Endurance was initially trapped in the ice, it continued to drift as the floes moved with the current. Due to poor visibility on the day the men abandoned the ship, however, the captain had been unable to take proper measurements that would help calculate the direction and speed of the floes.

1. Which can show the positions of Weddell Sea and Antarctica?

A．	B．
C．	D．

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Endurance hasn’t been found since the fall of 1915.

B．Endurance was only supported by Winston Churchill.

C．Ernest Shackleton died and sank off the coast of Antarctica in the fall of 1915.

D．Ernest Shackleton’s goal was to travel across the Antarctica via the South Pole.

3. What is the fundamental cause of the disaster according to the passage?

A．The sea ice.

B．The Antarctic winter.

C．The things they carried.

D．The captain’s unreasonable command.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The way how to establish the ship’s location.

B．The reason why locating the ship is difficult.

C．The measurements that the captain took to locate the ship.

D．The time when Endurance22 was organized and funded.