A
In 1997, a group of twenty British women made history. Working in five teams with four women in each team, they walked to the North Pole. Apart from one experienced female guide, the other women were all ordinary people who had never done anything like this in their lives before. They managed to survive in an environment which had defeated several very experienced men during the same period.
Once on the ice, each woman had to ski along while dragging a sledge(雪橇) weighing over 50 kilos. This would not have been too bad on a smooth surface, but for long stretches (一片地域), the Arctic ice is pushed up into huge piles two or three meters high and the sledges had to be pulled up on side and carefully let down the other so that they didn't crash. The temperature was always below freezing point and sometimes strong winds made walking while pulling so much weight almost impossible. It was also very difficult to put up their tents when they stopped each night.
In such conditions the women were making good progress if they covered fourteen or fifteen kilometers a day. But there was another problem. Part of the journey was across a frozen sea with moving water underneath the ice and at some points the team would drift (漂流) back more than five kilometers during the night. That meant that after walking in these very terrible conditions for ten hours on one day, they had to spend part of the next day covering the same ground again. Furthermore, each day it would take three hours from waking up to setting off and another three hours every evening to set up the camp and prepare the evening meal.
So, how did they manage to succeed? They realized that they were part of a team. If anyone of them didn't pull her sledge or get her job done, she would endanger the success of the whole expedition (远征探险).Any form of selfishness could result in the efforts of everyone else being completely wasted, so personal feelings had to be put to one side. At the end of their journey, the women agreed that it was mental effort far more than physical fitness that got them to the North Pole.
21．During the expedition, the women had to be careful to avoid ________.
A．being left behind B．damaging the sledges
C．falling over on the ice D．breaking the ice
22．It was difficult for the women to cover 15 kilometers a day because ________.
A．they got too tired B．they kept getting lost
C．the ice was moving backwards D．the temperatures were very low
23．Which of the following can best describe the women in the text?
A．Strict but caring. B．Proud but patient.
C．Honest and devoted. D．Determined and strong-willed.
24．What can we infer from the text?
A．Experience must be bought.
B．Facts speak louder than words.
C．He who risks nothing gains nothing.
D．Motivation and teamwork achieve goals.
