特别广播英语第 311 课：Welcome to the Bottom of the World
南极大陆─世界最后的净土-1

Antarctica is the highest, driest, and coldest place on Earth. 南极洲是地球上最高、最干和最冷的地方。

It is also the remotest, a fact which accounts for its unspoiled environment. 它也是最偏僻的，这就解释了南极洲为什么会成为一片没被污染的环境。

It is difficult for people to get there, and not a comfortable place for people to stay once they arrive. 人们很难到那儿，即使到了那里，南极洲也不是个能让人呆得舒适的地方。

It is widely described as the last true wilderness on our planet. 它被普遍形容为我们星球上的最后一片真正的荒野。

The Antarctic continent has mountain ranges similar in size to the European Alps. 南极大陆的山脉覆盖的面积与欧洲的阿尔卑斯山差不多。

But whereas the Alps' snowcaps are just deep enough for skiing, Antarctic mountains are swallowed up by their caps, and lie buried beneath an ice sheet that is five kilometers thick. 不过阿尔卑斯山顶积雪的深度仅够滑雪，南极大陆的山脉却被积雪吞噬，深埋在厚达五公里的冰层下。

The cold climate is responsible for maintaining the continent's year-round ice fields: They never melt. 寒冷的气候使南极冰厚得可以常年维持：它们永不融化。

Even though Antarctica receives more sunlight than the equator, the temperatures are lower because the ice sheet reflects the heat back into space. 虽然南极洲的光照比赤道多，气温却比它低，因为冰层能将热能反射回天空。