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． |
| 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. |
| A．The sea ice. |
| B．The Antarctic winter. |
| C．The things they carried. |
| D．The captain’s unreasonable command. |
| 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. |
2 . It was late, about 10:15 p. m. Janice Esposito got off the train at Bellport, New York, went to her car and started driving home. She was so familiar with the route that she almost drove automatically. However, when Esposito's car had just crossed the railroad tracks—bam!, it hit another vehicle and was pushed back onto the tracks. Injured but mostly shocked by the crash and by the airbags that popped up, she was stuck in the vehicle.
As it happened, Pete DiPinto was just about to go to sleep when he heard a sharp noise. As a volunteer firefighter, he fetched a flashlight and rushed out without hesitation. “Any firefighter would have done what I did,” he said. “We're always on duty.”
After making sure that the driver was all right, DiPinto discovered Esposito's car straddling the railway tracks. And then he heard the bell ring, which signaled a train's arrival.
DiPinto rushed to Esposito's car and broke the window on the driver's side. Esposito looked up at him, with her eyes glazing over. “I don't know where 1 am,” she said.
“I have to get you off right now!” DiPinto yelled. The train was running toward them at a high speed. The driver's door cannot be opened due to the collision (硬撞), so DiPinto quickly ran to the other side and managed to open the door. He pulled her toward him across the passenger seat until finally got her out to safety. Several seconds later, the train crashed into the vehicle. “It was like a Hollywood movie,” DiPinto told reporters the next day.
“Last night,” said Gregory Miglino Jr, Chief of the Department in South Country Ambulance, “the hero arrived in pajamas (睡衣裤), not in a fire truck.”
1. What can we know about the accident from Paragraph 1?| A．Esposito's car hit another vehicle. |
| B．Esposito drove too fast. |
| C．Esposito didn't know the route well. |
| D．A running train crashed into Esposito's car. |
| A．She felt all right. |
| B．She was badly hurt. |
| C．She got stuck in the car. |
| D．She completely lost her consciousness. |
| A．Through the window on the driver's side. |
| B．Through the door on the driver's side. |
| C．Through the window on the passenger's side. |
| D．Through the door on the passenger's side. |
| A．DiPinto was not a professional firefighter. |
| B．DiPinto rushed to save life without thinking about himself. |
| C．DiPinto was a special firefighter who liked wearing pajamas. |
| D．DiPinto was unable to find a fire ruck when the accident happened. |
3 . It is interesting to see that the force of only 6 or 7 people pushing in the same direction can cause up to 1,000 pounds of force—enough to break brick walls. During a fatal stampede (蜂拥), people can even die standing up. People die when pressure is put to their bodies in a front to back direction, causing them not to be able to breathe.
If you are in a crowd, the first and most important thing is to make yourself familiar with your surroundings and find different exits. No matter where you are, make sure you always know how to get out.
Make yourself aware of the type of the ground you are standing on, and know that in a crowd of moving people wet ground can cause you to fall.
When in danger, a few seconds can make a difference, giving you the possibility of making use of your escaping route. Always stay closer to the escape route. If you find yourself in the middle of a moving crowd, do not fight against the pressure and do not stand still or sit down, because you can easily get trampled (踩踏). Instead, move in the same direction of the crowd; make use of any space that may open up to move sideways to the crowd movement where the flow is weaker.
Keep your hands up by your chest, like a boxer—it gives you movement and protects your chest. If you fall, get up quickly. If you can’t get up because you are injured, get someone to pull you up. If you have kids, lift them up. If you fall and cannot get up, keep moving in the same direction of the crowd, or if that is not possible, then cover your head with your arms; do not lie on your stomach or back.
1. Why may people in a stampede die standing up?| A．They can’t breathe freely. |
| B．They push in the same direction. |
| C．They are not able to get up. |
| D．They aren’t familiar with the surroundings. |
| A．Harmful. | B．Shocking. |
| C．Deadly. | D．Hateful. |
| A．Fight against the pressure. |
| B．Stand still where you are. |
| C．Sit down covering your head. |
| D．Move along the escape route. |
| A．How to stay far away from a crowd. |
| B．What to do when you are in a crowd. |
| C．Where to go when you are in danger. |
| D．How to get along with a big crowd. |
