文档介绍：Contemporary English Listening B2 Unit 11 Nature
Area14,000,000 km2 Population 5,000 temporary residents
Antarctica
Roald Amundsen and his crew looking at the Norwegian flag at the South Pole, 1911
Dumont d'Urville Station, an example of modern human settlement in Antarctica
Task l Words and expressions
The Antarctic : 南极地区
Antarctica: 南极洲
fossil: 化石
Gondwanaland: 冈瓦纳大陆
proof: 证据;证明
ice sheet: (technical 术语) 冰原;冰盖
Gondwanaland冈瓦纳古陆(冈瓦纳大陆)
冈瓦纳古陆又称南方大陆。大陆漂移说所设想的南半球超级大陆。包括今南美洲、非洲、澳大利亚以及印度半岛和阿拉伯半岛。上述各大陆被认为在古生代及以前时期曾经连接在一起。“冈瓦纳大陆”是奥地利地质学家休斯()于1885年在<地球的面貌>(The Face of the Earth)一书中提出的。根据印度中部冈瓦纳地区石炭纪到侏罗纪的地层——“冈瓦纳系”得名。休斯认为,非洲、印度等大陆具有相同的地质历史和古植物群,过去曾经是一个统一的大陆。石炭纪一二叠纪时,南方大陆的大规模冰川活动已由非洲、南美洲、澳大利亚、印度等地发现的冰碛岩所证实。该古陆上发育的大冰盖,其中心在南极洲东部和非洲南部,冰盖由此辐散出去。古地磁资料也表明,当时这一带靠近古南极,大冰盖分布于古南纬60°以内。二叠纪时期,南方大陆占优势的植物群是种子蕨类植物舌羊齿,其分布遍及南美洲、中非、南非、澳大利亚、南极洲和印度,而在包括北美洲、格陵兰、欧亚大陆在内的北方大陆则没有出现这类植物。一般认为,冈瓦纳古陆在中生代开始解体,新生代期间逐渐迁移到现今位置。
Gondwanaland
Task 1 Key
A.
1) It had quite a warm climate then.
2) About 150 million years ago, Gondwanaland began to break up, and the Antarctic moved southwards until it reached its present position.
3) 99 percent of the total area of Antarctica is covered by a massive ice sheet.
Task 1 Key
B.
1) Africa; Australia
2) small dog; (former) land connection; animals; plants
3) penguins
Task 1 Script
The Antarctic has not always been covered in ice. Fossil plants found in the rocks indicate that it had quite a warm climate about 150 million years ago. Antarctica once formed part of the supercontinent Gondwanaland, with South America, Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand all grouped around its edge. However, about 150 million years ago Gondwanaland began to break up. The Antarctic moved southwards until it reached its present position.