TEXT B The discovery of the
Antarctic not only proved one of the most interesting of all geographical
adventures, but created what might be called "the heroic age of Antarctic
exploration". By their tremendous heroism, men such as Shckleton, Scott, and
Amundsen caused a new continent m emerge from the shadows, and yet that heroic
age, little more than a century old, is already passing. Modem science and
inventions are revolutionizing the techniques of former explorers, and, although
still calling for courage and feats of endurance, future journeys into these icy
wastes will probably depend on motor vehicles equipped with caterpillar traction
rather than on the dogs that earlier discoverers found so invaluable.
Few realize that this Antarctic continent is almost equal in size to South
America, and enormous field of work awaits geographers and prospectors. The
coasts of this continent remain to be accurately chartered, and the mapping of
the whole of the interior presents a formidable task to the cartographers who
undertake the work. Once their labors are completed, it will be possible to
prospect the vast natural resources which scientists believe will furnish on the
of the largest treasure hoards of metals and minerals the world has yet known,
and almost inexhaustible sources of copper, coal, uranium, and many other ores
will become available to man. Such discoveries will usher in an era of practical
exploitation of the Antarctic wastes. The polar darkness which
hides this continent for the six winter months will he defeated by huge
batteries of light, and make possible the establishing of air-fields for the
future inter-continental air services by making these areas as light as day.
Present flying routes will be completely changed, for the Antarctic refueling
bases will make flights from Australia to South America comparatively easy over
the 5,000 miles journey. The climate is not likely to offer an
insuperable problem, for the explorer Admiral Byrd has shown that the climate is
possible even for men completely untrained for expeditions into those frozen
wastes. Some of his party were men who had never seen snow before, and yet he
records that they survived the rigors of the Antarctic climate comfortably, so
that, provided that the appropriate installations are made, we may assume that
human beings from all countries could live there safely. Byrd even affirms that
it is probably the most healthy climate in the world, for the intense cold of
thousands of years has sterilized this continent, and rendered it absolutely
germfree, with the consequences that ordinary and extraordinary sicknesses and
diseases from which man suffers in other zones with different climates are here
utterly unknown. There exist no problems of conservation and preservation of
food supplies, for the latter keep indefinitely without any signs of
deterioration; it may even be that later generations will come to regard the
Antarctic: as the natural storehouse for the whole world. Plans
are already on foot to set up permanent bases on the shores of this continent,
and what sift fear years was regard as a "dead continent" now promises to be a
most active center of human life and endeavor.(517) The most healthy climate in the world is ______.
A．in South America B．in the Arctic Region C．in the Antarctic Continent D．in the Atlantic Ocean