2-41

 

41.

My plane landed on an archipelago called Svalbard. March 2011.

Stepping off the plane I did a slow turn, taking it all in. White, white, and more white. As faras the eye could see, nothing but ivory, snowy whiteness. White mountains, white snowdrifts,white hills, and threaded through it were narrow white roads, and not many of those. Most of thetwo thousand local residents had a snowmobile, not a car. The landscape was so minimalist, sospare, I thought: Maybe I’ll move here.

Maybe this is my purpose.

Then I found out about the local law forbidding anyone to leave town without a gun, becausethe hills beyond were patrolled by desperately¹ hungry polar bears, and I thought: Maybe not.

We drove into a town called Longyearbyen, the northernmost town on earth, a mere² eighthundred miles from the apex³ of the planet. I met my fellow trekkers. Captain Guy Disney, acavalryman who’d lost the lower part of his right leg to an RPG. Captain Martin Hewitt, aparatrooper whose arm became paralyzed after he’d been shot. Private Jaco Van Gass, anotherparatrooper, who’d lost much of his left leg and half his left arm to an RPG. (He gave theremaining nib⁴ of his arm a jaunty⁵ nickname, Nemo, which always cracked us up.) Sergeant⁶ SteveYoung, a Welshman, whose back had been broken by an IED. Doctors said he’d never walk again,and now he was about to tug⁷ a 200-pound sledge⁸ to the North Pole.

Inspiring lot. I told them I was honored to join them, honored just to be in their company, andit didn’t matter that the temperature was thirty below. In fact, the weather was so bad we weredelayed in setting off.

Ugh, Willy’s wedding, I thought, my face in my hands.

We spent several days waiting, training, eating pizza and chips at the local pub. We did someexercises to acclimatize to the harsh temperatures. We pulled on orange immersion⁹ suits, jumpedinto the Arctic Ocean. Shocking how much warmer the water was than the brutally¹⁰ cold air.

But mostly we got to know each other, bonded¹¹.

When the weather finally cleared we hopped¹² onto an Antonov and flew up to a makeshift icecamp, then switched to helicopters and flew to within two hundred miles of the Pole. It was aboutone a.m. when we landed, but bright as midday in a desert. There was no darkness up there:

darkness had been banished¹³. We waved goodbye to the helicopters and began.

Experts on Arctic conditions had urged the team to avoid sweating, because any moisturefreezes instantly at the North Pole, which causes all kinds of problems. But no one told me. I’dmissed those training sessions with the experts. So there I was, after the first day’s walk, after thepulling of heavy sledges¹⁴, absolutely gushing¹⁵ perspiration¹⁶, and sure enough my clothes wereturning to solid ice. More alarming, I was beginning to notice the first spots of trouble on myfingers and ears.

Frostnip.

I didn’t complain. How could I, among that bunch? But I also didn’t feel like complaining.

Despite the discomfort¹⁷, I felt only gratitude¹⁸ at being with such heroes, at serving such a worthycause, at seeing a place so few people ever get to see. In fact, on Day Four, when it came time toleave, I didn’t want to. Also, we hadn’t yet reached the Pole.

Alas¹⁹, I had no choice. It was leave now or miss my brother’s wedding.

I got onto a helicopter, bound for Barneo Airfield²⁰, from which my plane was to take off.

The pilot hesitated. He insisted that I needed to see the Pole before leaving. You can’t come allthis way and not see it, he said. So he flew me there and we hopped out into total whiteout.

Together, we located the exact spot with GPS.

Standing²¹ on top of the world.

Alone.

Holding the Union Jack²².

Back on the helicopter, off to Barneo. But just then, a powerful storm came sweeping²³ acrossthe top of the earth, canceling my flight, canceling all flights. Hurricane winds battered²⁴ the area,growing so intense that they cracked the runway.

Repairs would be required.

While waiting, I hung out with an assortment²⁵ of engineers. We drank vodka, sat in theirmakeshift sauna, then jumped into the ice-cold ocean. Many times I tipped back my head, downedanother shot of delicious vodka, told myself not to stress about the runway, the wedding, anything.

The storm passed, the runway got rebuilt, or moved, I forget which. My plane went roaringdown the ice and lifted me into the blue sky. I waved out the window. Goodbye, my brothers.

 

1 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 apex   

n.顶点，最高点

参考例句：

• He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
• His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。

4 nib   

n.钢笔尖；尖头

参考例句：

• The sharp nib scratched through the paper.钢笔尖把纸戳穿了。
• I want to buy a pen with a gold nib.我要金笔。

5 jaunty   

adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意

参考例句：

• She cocked her hat at a jaunty angle.她把帽子歪戴成俏皮的样子。
• The happy boy walked with jaunty steps.这个快乐的孩子以轻快活泼的步子走着。

6 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

7 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

8 sledge   

n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往

参考例句：

• The sledge gained momentum as it ran down the hill.雪橇从山上下冲时的动力越来越大。
• The sledge slid across the snow as lightly as a boat on the water.雪橇在雪原上轻巧地滑行，就象船在水上行驶一样。

9 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。

10 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

11 bonded   

n.有担保的，保税的，粘合的

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee.威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• This adhesive must be applied to both surfaces which are to be bonded together.要粘接的两个面都必须涂上这种黏合剂。

12 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

13 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 sledges   

n.雪橇，雪车( sledge的名词复数 )v.乘雪橇( sledge的第三人称单数 )；用雪橇运载

参考例句：

• Sledges run well over frozen snow. 雪橇在冻硬了的雪上顺利滑行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They used picks and sledges to break the rocks. 他们用[镐和撬]来打碎这些岩石。 来自互联网

15 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

17 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

18 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

19 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

20 airfield   

n.飞机场

参考例句：

• The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。
• The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。

21 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

22 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

23 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

24 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

25 assortment   

n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集

参考例句：

• This shop has a good assortment of goods to choose from.该店各色货物俱全，任君选择。
• She was wearing an odd assortment of clothes.她穿着奇装异服。