{{B}}The Cold Places{{/B}} 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
Fahrenheit below zero. Readings of 85 degrees below zero are common in both the
Arctic and Antarctica. Winter temperatures average 30 degrees below zero in the
Arctic. At the South Pole the winter is about 73 degrees below zero.
One thing alone makes it almost impossible for men to Jive in Antarctica
and in parts of the Arctic. This one thing is the low temperature—the killing
chili of the 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 all times. Not even for moment can they be
unprotected against the below-zero temperature. 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 the 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 may have been much like our own.
Explores 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.
单选题
The lowest temperature that man has ever known was recorded in Antarctica.