Базовый курс английского языка - Эккерсли К.Э.
ISBN 5-7871-0174-X
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On 18th January they reached the Pole. Three of the men were frost-bitten; all were hungry and weak. And at the Pole, in the midst of the waste of snow, stood a tent, with the Norwegian flag flying above it. Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer, had been there a month before and had gone. In the tent was a letter addressed to Scott saying:" Welcome to 90 degrees. With kind regards. I wish you a safe return. Roald Amundsen."
Bitterly disappointed, Scott and his companions set out on the return journey. It had taken them seventy-six days to get there; it would take at least as long to get back, and there were no ponies at the Barrier, only their frozen flesh, and they might not even find that. It was. still the Antarctic summer but the weather was bitter, the wind was blowing at blizzard force, the ice was rough and food was short. They got at last to the top of the glacier. "1 wonder if we can do it," wrote Scott. The conditions were terrible; their sleeping-bags never really thawed out, ice formed on the inside of their tent, and then, a month after they left the Pole, Evans collapsed. When he could no longer walk he tried to crawl on hands and knees down the glacier. Their only hope of success was to go on and leave Evans. But
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they did not go on. They stayed by him and, "we did not leave him till two hours after his death," writes Scott.
Without Evans' mighty strength it was almost impossible for the others to pull the sledge. The weather grew worse, with hurricanes, blizzards, intense cold, and they had not enough fuel to warm their food. Oates was suffering terribly from frost-bite and could not pull the sledge; indeed he could hardly walk. "What shall I do?" he said to Dr. Wilson. "Keep on, keep on," said Wilson. But Oates knew he was slowing down the progress of his friends and making their death certain too. He slept through the night, hoping that he would not wake, but in the morning he was still alive. He said to his friends, "I am going outside and I may be some time. "They knew he was walking out to his death in order that they might live, and tried to dissuade him, "but," says Scott, "we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman. We all hope to meet the end with a similar spirit, and assuredly the end is not far."
They came at last to a spot only 11 miles from their "One-Ton Camp", but the blizzard was so fierce .that they had to camp where they were with fuel for one hot meal and food for two days only. Only
11 miles to safety but they could not reach it. The blizzard blew more fiercely than ever. Despite the cold and hunger, Scott and his companions lived for four days longer, and they died there in their tent, three friends who did not fail one another.
Scott was the last to die. He filled in his diary almost to the last day and wrote a noble last message:
"We are weak, writing is difficult, but for my own sake I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can endure hardship, help one another and meet death with as great a fortitude as ever in the past.
"Things have come out against us; we have no cause for complaint but bow to the will of God, determined still to do our best to the last.
"But if we have been willing to give our lives to this enterprise, which is for the honour of our country, I appeal to our country to see that those who depend on us are properly cared for. Had we lived I should have had a tale to tell of the endurance and courage of my
companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale."
Eight months later a search party found that silent tent. They were there as they had died. Scott's arm was outstretched to touch his friend Wilson. The diary and letters were by his side; there was no food whatever, but on the sledges outside were still the rocks, etc., 35 lbs. in weight, for scientific study that they had brought back from the Pole. In that last painful march they had not forgotten that they were scientists as well as explorers. The body of Oates was never found, but somewhere about the place where he went away they put up a heap of stones with the words: "Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman, Captain L.E.G. Oates, who, on their return journey from the Pole in March 1912, willingly walked to his death in a blizzard to try to save his companions."
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Работа с глаголом (19): set
В Уроке 23 вам встретились предложения:
Captain Scott set sail in Terra Nova.
They watched them set off.
Scott and his companions set out on the return journey.
Глагол set имеет очень много значений. Например:
The sun sets in the west.
Tell Susan to set the table (i.e., put the cups, saucers, plates, etc., in position on the table).
The child was playing with matches and set fire to some papers and the whole house was set on fire.
Frieda's engagement ring is a diamond set in gold.
Jan broke his leg playing football and the doctor set the broken bone.
He opened the cage and se/the bird free.
