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Formuchofthelast400millionyears,Antarcticawasawarmplace,coveredwithforestsandanimals.Duetothemovementofcontinents,Antarcticamovedfromtheequator①totheSouthPole,whereitisnow.Today,Antarcticaisthecoldestcontinentontheplanet,almostcompletelycoveredbyalayerofice,andentirelylackingofanimalsasidefromafewpenguins②andsmallinsectsinthecoastalareas.Butitwasn'talwaysthatway.Antarcticawasoncepartofthesupercontinent(超大陆)namedGondwana,whichlastedupuntilabout160millionyearsago,whenitslowlybegantobreakup.Gondwanaincludedmanycontinents,suchasSouthAmerica,Africa,Arabia,India,Australia,andNewZealand.Gondwanawasoneoftheworld'stwosupercontinents,andtheotherwasLaurasia,whichincludedpresentNorthAmericaandAsia.Itisreportedthatfossils③ofsomeoftheearliestlifehavebeenfoundinthesurroundingshallowseas.MuchofthefossilrecordoftheAntarcticaisundertheice,butfossils,includingthoseofdinosaurs,canbefoundintheAntarcticamountains.AsAntarcticabegantobreakawayfromthesupercontinentGondwana160millionyearsago,coolingbegan.Itmovedtowardssouth,stillconnectedtoAustraliaandSouthAmericabutseparatedfromAfrica.Atthispoint,Antarcticastillhadatropical④orsubtropical⑤climate,butitwaslocatedfurthersouth,nearthelatitude⑥ofpresentAustralia.Liketoday'sAustralia,thereweremanyplantsonthecontinent.Around40millionyearsago,Antarcticaseparatedfromtoday'sAustraliaandbegantocooldownevenmore,itsforestsdying.Iceandglaciers⑦begantocoverthecontinent,butthefinalendofAntarctica'slifecameonlyabout23millionyearsago.Itresultedinthecontinentbeingcoveredinamiledeeplayerofice,asthesnownevermelted.Today,Antarctica'sicesheet⑧containsabout70%ofallfreshwateronEarth.[多积词汇]①theequatorn．赤道②penguinn.企鹅③fossiln.化石adj.化石的；陈旧的④tropicaladj.热带的⑤subtropicaladj.亚热带的⑥latituden.纬度⑦glaciern.冰河，冰川⑧sheetvt.覆盖Antarctica①：theLastContinentAntarcticaisthecoldestplaceonEarth.It'salsothedriest.Withannual②rainfall③closeto④zero⑤，Antarcticaistechnicallyadesert.①Antarctica/æn'tɑːktɪkə/n.南极洲②annual/'ænjuəl/adj.每年的n.年刊，年鉴③rainfall/'reɪnˌfɔːl/n.降水量；降雨量④closeto靠近，接近，几乎⑤with复合结构作原因状语。[原文呈现][读文清障]SectionⅠIntroduction&Reading—Prereading[原文呈现][读文清障]Coveringabout14millionsquarekilometresaroundtheSouthPole⑥，itisthefifthlargest⑦continentintheworld.Ahighmountainrange,theTransAntarcticrange⑧，runsfromeasttowest,cuttingthecontinentintwo⑨.Therearevolcanoestoo,buttheyarenotveryactive.Antarcticaholds⑩90%oftheworld'sice,andmostofitsfreshwater(70%)isinafrozenstate⑪，ofcourse.⑥coveringabout...theSouthPole作状语。⑦thefifthlargest第五大⑧TransAntarcticrange横贯南极洲的山脉⑨现在分词短语作状语。⑩hold此处指“拥有”⑪state/steɪt/n.状态；状况[原文呈现][读文清障]98%ofthesurfaceis⑫coveredpermanently⑬intheicecap.Onaverage⑭itistwokilometresthick,butinsomeplacesitreachesadepth⑮offivekilometres.Strongwinds⑯drivenbygravity⑰blowfromthepoletothecoastline,whileotherwindsblowroundthecoast.Itisdifficulttoimagineamoreinhospitable⑱place.⑫“分数或百分数＋of＋名词”构成的短语作主语时，谓语动词的数要与of后面的名词保持一致。⑬permanentlyadv.永久地，长期地⑭onaverage通常，按平均值above/belowaverage高于/低于平均水平⑮depth/depθ/n.深度⑯过去分词短语作后置定语。⑰gravity/'ɡrævəti/n.重力，地心引力⑱inhospitable/ˌɪnhɒ'spɪtəbl/adj.荒凉的，不适宜居住的南极洲：最后(一块被发现)的大洲[第1段译文]南极洲是地球上最冷的地方，同时也是最干燥的地方。南极洲年降水量几乎为零，严格来说该地区就是一片荒漠。南极洲覆盖了南极圈周围约1400万平方千米的面积，是世界第五大洲。一条横贯南极洲的高大山脉，从东到西将南极洲分为两半。南极洲也有火山，但并不十分活跃。南极洲拥有世界90%的冰，当然其大部分淡水(70%)都处于一种冰冻状态。南极洲98%的地表永久地被冰盖覆盖。冰层平均厚度为2000米，但某些地方厚度可以达到5000米。受地球重力影响，会有暴风从极地吹向海岸，同时也有其他方向吹来的风。很难想象比南极洲条件更为恶劣的地方了。⑲adapt(to)(使)适应adaptoneselfto使自己适应或习惯⑳extreme/ɪk'striːm/adj.极端的，极度的n.极端extremelyadv.极其，极端，非常○21which引导非限制性定语从句，修饰wildlife。○22which引导定语从句，修饰winternight。YetAntarcticaisfullofwildlife,whichhasadaptedto⑲itsextreme⑳conditions○21.Therearedifferenttypesofpenguins,flyingbirds,seals,andwhales.ButthelongAntarcticwinternight,whichlastsfor182days○22(thelongestperiodofcontinuousdarknessonearth),aswellastheextremecoldandlackofrainfall,[原文呈现][读文清障][原文呈现][读文清障]meansthatfewtypesofplantscansurvivethere○23.Onlytwotypesofflowering○24plantsarefound,whiletherearenotreesonthelargecontinent○25.Therestoftheplantsaremadeupofmosses○26，algae○27andlichen○28.Someformsofalgaehaveadaptedtogrowonice.○23means用第三人称单数形式，与aswellas...前面的winternight保持数的一致，并且that引导宾语从句。○24flower/'flaʊə/v.开花○25while意为“而，然而”，作并列连词，表示对比。○26moss/mɒs/n.藓；苔藓○27algae/'ældʒiː/n.藻类(植物)○28lichen/'laɪken/n.地衣[第2段译文]但南极洲仍然栖息着很多野生生物，它们已经适应了那里极其恶劣的条件。这里有不同种类的企鹅、飞禽、海豹以及鲸。但是南极洲冬天的夜晚长达182天地球上持续时间最长的黑暗时期，而且气候极度寒冷，降水量极少，这意味着很少有植物能够在这里生存。仅发现了两种开花类植物，而这片大陆上没有树木生长。其他的植物也就是一些苔藓、海藻以及地衣。有些藻类已经适应了在冰上生长。Mostoftheicehasbeenthereforthousandsofyears.Asaresult○29，ithasbecomeawindowonthepast,andcangiveresearcherslotsofusefulinformation.Gasesandminerals,intheformof○30volcanicdusttrapped○31intheice○32，cantellusalotaboutwhattheworld'sclimatewaslikeinpastages○33.Antarctic○29asaresult结果○30intheformof以……的形式(介词短语)taketheformof采取……的形式(动词短语)○31trap/træp/v.储存，留存○32过去分词短语trappedintheice作后置定语。○33what引导的宾语从句作介词about的宾语。[原文呈现][读文清障]rocksarealsoveryimportantforresearch.Mostofthemaremeteorites○34fromouterspace○35.Onerock,knownasthe“Alien”rock○36，maycontain○37evidenceofextraterrestrial○38life.SincemostAntarcticrocksaredarkincolour○39，theystandout○40againstthewhitebackgroundandareeasy