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The icebreaker Polarstern was frozen in sea ice, for nearly a year. On board were about a hundred scientists and crew members who were braving the polar winter to study climate change in the Arctic. I was there too, photographing the first leg of the MOSAiC expedition. It was the longest and largest Arctic expedition (探险) in history and, for me, a gift from the universe.
Four years earlier I’d fallen ill because of the ice and cold on my first Aretic assignment. When I returned home, I vowed to devote my photography to the fragile polar environment that had attracted me. Shortly afterward I heard about MOSAiC and knew I had to go.
By the time the Polarstern set sail from Tromso, Norway, on September 20, 2019, I’d been on nine other polar expeditions. MOSAiC was different. For one thing, the first few legs took place during the long polar night. For another, help was very far away.
We arrived at the ice floe (浮冰) on October 4, one of the last days the sun rose above the horizon. Very soon the days passed in darkness.
Photographing was difficult. Wind and blowing snow made it hard to see through the camera’s view-finder. My hands became painfully cold. Many times I saw a beautiful moment but couldn’t capture it because my hands weren’t working.
The darkness also held terrors, which for me meant polar bears. As a polar bear guard on the ice, I stood alone with my rifle (步枪) outside a tent. There was too much wind, snow and darkness to see anything, even an eight-foot-tall polar bear.
On December 13 we saw a ship on the horizon coming to drop off the next team and pick us up. The return to Tromse took 16 days. About a week after my return I was in Washington, D．C．for National Geographic’s Storytellers Summit. As I walked through the city streets one morning, I had a sudden realization: I could’t fall through the ice into the ocean here. I didn’t have to scan the horizon for polar bears. I was safe. In that moment I understood how vigilant (警觉的) I’d become and how much fear I had felt. And yet, I missed the darkness so much.
1.Why is the Arctic expedition a gift from the universe for the author?
A.It gave him an unforgettable experience.
B.It enabled him to study climate change in the Arctic.
C.It helped him practise his photographic skills in the Arctic.
D.It allowed him to shoot a polar bear with the gun.
2.Why was the author determined to join the MOSAiC expedition?
A.He had heard about MOSAiC before.
B.He hadn’t been to the Arctic for a long time.
C.He had once fallen under the ice in the Arctic.
D.He wanted to devote himself to taking photos of the Arctic.
3.What does the author say about his experience in the Arctic?
A.A polar bear broke into his tent.
B.Beautiful moments couldn’t be captured at all.
C.He was the last to see the sun rise above the horizon.
D.His photographing was affected by extreme weather.
4.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A.The author was sensitive to everything in his daily life.
B.The author was likely to go Arctic expedition again.
C.The author arrived in Washington D．C． on December 29.
D.The author attended the Summit after his first Arctic assignment.
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