Module1DeepSouthFormuchofthelast400millionyears,Antarcticawasawarmplace,coveredwithforestsandanimals.Duetothemovementofcontinents,Antarcticamovedfromtheequator(赤道)totheSouthPole,whereitisnow.Today,Antarcticaisthecoldestcontinentontheplanet,almostcompletelycoveredbyalayerofice,andentirelylackingofanimalsasidefromafewpenguinsandsmallinsectsinthecoastalareas.Butitwasn'talwaysthatway.Antarcticawasoncepartofthesupercontinent(超大陆)namedGondwana,whichlastedupuntilabout160millionyearsago,whenitslowlybegantobreakup.Gondwanaincludedmanycontinents,suchasSouthAmerica,Africa,Arabia,India,Australia,andNewZealand.Gondwanawasoneoftheworld'stwosupercontinents,andtheotherwasLaurasia,whichincludedpresentNorthAmericaandAsia.Itisreportedthatfossilsofsomeoftheearliestlifehavebeenfoundinthesurroundingshallowseas.MuchofthefossilrecordoftheAntarcticaisundertheice,butfossils,includingthoseofdinosaurs,canbefoundintheAntarcticamountains.AsAntarcticabegantobreakawayfromthesupercontinentGondwana160millionyearsago,coolingbegan.Itmovedtowardssouth,stillconnectedtoAustraliaandSouthAmericabutseparatedfromAfrica.Atthispoint,Antarcticastillhadatropical(热带)orsubtropical(亚热带)climate,butitwaslocatedfurthersouth,nearthelatitude(纬度)ofpresentAustralia.Liketoday'sAustralia,thereweremanyplantsonthecontinent.Around40millionyearsago,Antarcticaseparatedfromtoday'sAustraliaandbegantocooldownevenmore,itsforestsdying.Iceandglaciersbegantocoverthecontinent,butthefinalendofAntarctica'slifecameonlyabout23millionyearsago.Itresultedinthecontinentbeingcoveredinamiledeeplayerofice,asthesnownevermelted.Today,Antarctica'sicesheetcontainsabout70%ofallfreshwateronEarth.Section_ⅠIntroduction_&_Reading_—_Prereading[原文呈现]Antarctica①：theLastContinentAntarcticaisthecoldestplaceonEarth.It'salsothedriest.Withannual②rainfall③closeto④zero⑤，Antarcticaistechnicallyadesert.Coveringabout14millionsquarekilometresaroundtheSouthPole⑥，itisthefifthlargest⑦continentintheworld.Ahighmountainrange,theTrans-Antarcticrange⑧，runsfromeasttowest,cuttingthecontinentintwo⑨.Therearevolcanoestoo,buttheyarenotveryactive.Antarcticaholds⑩90%oftheworld'sice,andmostofitsfreshwater(70%)isinafrozenstate⑪，ofcourse.98%ofthesurfaceis⑫coveredpermanently⑬intheicecap.Onaverage⑭itistwokilometresthick,butinsomeplacesitreachesadepth⑮offivekilometres.Strongwinds⑯drivenbygravity⑰blowfromthepoletothecoastline,whileotherwindsblowroundthecoast.Itisdifficulttoimagineamoreinhospitable⑱place.[读文清障]①Antarctica/æn'tɑktIk/ːən.南极洲②annual/'ænjul/əadj.每年的n.年刊，年鉴③rainfall/'reInfl/ˌɔːn.降水量；降雨量④closeto靠近，接近，几乎⑤with复合结构作原因状语。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/steIt/n.状态；状况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/'ɡrævti/ən.重力，地心引力⑱inhospitable/Inh'spItbl/ˌɒəadj.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...
