The Coldest Place On Earth Chapter 1 Two Ships The race began in the summer of 1910 On June lst，in London，a black ship，the Terra Nova， went down the river Thames to the seaThousands of people stood by the river to watch itThey were all excited and happy On the Terra Nova，Captain Robert Falcon Scott smiled quietlyIt was a very important day for himHe was a strong man，not very tall，in the blue clothes of a captainHe was forty-one years old，but he had a young face，like a boyHis eyes were dark and quiet One man on the ship，Titus Oates，smiled at Scott What an exciting day，Captain！he saidLook at those people！I feel like an important man！ Scott laughedYou are important，Titus，he saidAnd youre going to be famous，tooWe all areDo you see this flag？He looked at the big British flag at the back of the ship，and smiled at OatesThat flag is coming with us，he said In the Antarctic，Im going to carry it under my clothes Were going to be the first men at the South Pole，and that flag is going to be first，too！ * * * * * Five days later，on June 6th，a man opened the door of his wooden house in NorwayHe was a tall man ， with a long face He waited outside the house for a minute Everything was very quietHe could see no houses，only mountains，trees，and wa-terIt was nearly darkThe sky was black over the mountains The man smiled，and walked quickly away from the house，down to the seaIn the water，a big wooden ship waited for himThe man got onto the ship，and talked and laughed quietly with his friends The ships name was Fram ，and the man was Roald Amundsen The Fram was the most beautiful ship on earth，Amundsen thoughtHis friends were the best skiers on earth，tooOne of them，Olav Bjaaland，smiled at him North Pole，here we come，Captain，he said YesAmundsen saidHis friends could not see his face in the darkFram is going to the Arctic 第 1 页 共 14 页 http:/www.en8848.com.cn/ 原版英语阅读网 Everyone on the Fram was ready to go to the North Pole，to the ArcticAmundsen wanted to go there，tooBut first he wanted to go southHis friends didnt know that At midnight on June 6th，the Fram moved quietly away from Amundsens house，out to sea Chapter 2 The Race The Fram went to an island in the south of NorwayIt was a very little island，with only one small wooden house，two treesand nearly a hundred dogs Look at that！Bjaaland saidIts an island of dogs！There are dogs in the water，near the trees，on the housedogs everywhere！ Two men came out of the houseHassel！Lindstrom！Amundsen saidIts good to see you！ How many dogs do you have for me？ Ninety-nine，Roald，said HasselThe best ninety-nine dogs from GreenlandAnd theyre very happy！They dont work；they just eat and play all day！Theyre having a won-derful summer here！ Good，goodAmundsen laughedBut thats finished nowHey，Bjaaland！Stop laughing come down here and help meLets get all these dogs onto the ship！ It was not easyThe dogs were fat and strong，and they didnt want to go on the shipBut at last，after three hourshard work，all ninety-nine were on the ship，and the Fram went out to sea again The men were not happyThe weather was bad，the dogs were dirty，and some of the men were illThey began to ask questions Why are we bringing dogs witn us？asked one man，Jo- hansenWere going thousands of kilometres south，past Cape Horn，and then north to AlaskaWhy not wait，and get dogs in Alaska？ Dont ask me，said his friend，Helmer Hanssen，I dont understand it The men talked for a long timeThen，on September 9th， Amundsen called everyone to the back of the shipHe stood quietly and looked at themBehind him was a big mapIt was not a map of the ArcticIt was a map of Antarctica Bjaaland looked at Helmer Hanssen，and laughedThen Amundsen began to speak Boys，he saidI know you are unhappyYou often ask me difficult questions，and I dont answerWell，Im going to an-swer all those questions now，today We began to work for this journey two years agoThen，we wanted to be the first men at the 第 2 页 共 14 页 http:/www.en8848.com.cn/ 原版英语阅读网 North PoleBut last year，Peary，an American，found the North PoleSo America was first to the North Pole，not NorwayWere going there，but were too late I dont understand this ， Bjaaland thought Why is Amundsen talking about the North Pole，with a map of Antarctica behind him？ Amundsen stopped for a minute，and looked at all the men slowlyNo one said anything We have to go a long way south before we get to Alaska，he saidVery near Antarctica，you knowAnd Captain Scott，the Englishman，is going to the South Pole this yearHe wants to put his British flag thereAn American flag at the North Pole，a British flag at the South Pole Bjaaland began to understand He started to smile and couldnt stop He was warm and excited Well，boys，Amundsen said slowlyDo we want the British to put their flag at the South Pole first？How fast can we travel？We have a lot of dogs，and s