115 學年度學測英文 第 36 題

In March 2022, the Endurance—the lost vessel of the famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton—was found in Antarctica, 107 years after it sank. The news made headlines around the world, not only for the incredible achievement of the search team, but because the discovery marked the final chapter in a legendary story of extraordinary courage and perseverance.

On August 4, 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton, along with a skilled crew of 27, set sail on the Endurance toward the South Pole, hoping to make the first land crossing over Antarctica. From Plymouth, UK, the team arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and on November 5 reached South Georgia Island, the last settlement of civilization en route to Antarctica. There, the real challenge began. Two days after leaving South Georgia in December, the Endurance encountered floating ice, and was soon completely trapped in pack ice.

The worthy vessel held up for nine months, drifting down south slowly and then pushed northward by the ice. Gradually, the pressure from the ice buckled the planks. Freezing water rushed in and exacerbated the situation. On October 27, 1915, Shackleton ordered his crew to abandon the ship, pitching tents on the ice a mile and a half away. Weeks later, they watched the Endurance sink beneath the Weddell Sea.

The next five months, the crew camped out on the pack ice as it drifted north, surviving on penguins, seals, and seaweed. Finally, the ice broke up enough for them to escape in lifeboats. For seven days, they sailed more than a hundred miles to the uninhabited Elephant Island. But the crew couldn't survive long there. So, Shackleton made a dangerous attempt to get help: With five crew members, he sailed 800 miles over 16 days across freezing, stormy seas to South Georgia Island. Then the group hiked for 36 hours across the island to reach a whaling station.

Help was almost at hand, but ice and bad weather hindered their return. On August 30, 1916, Shackleton finally got back to Elephant Island with a ship big enough to rescue the rest of his men. All the members of the expedition team survived, but the Endurance remained lost under the sea until its discovery in 2022.