WORDLY WISE 3OOO ONLINE

Level 3 • Passage
Lesson 6
Doing It the Hard Way
Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth. It is cold even during
the summer months. The temperature there hardly ever gets above
30 degrees below zero. So who would want to cross this frozen land
on skis? Two women from different countries wanted to try it. Let’s
discover what made them do it and learn what it takes to make such
a journey.

For many years, both Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen had dreamed
of crossing Antarctica. That is a distance of 2,400 miles. Ann Bancroft
is a teacher from Minnesota. She says that her love of adventure
began when she was ten. She gives credit to her mother for planting
the seed. “My mom found adventure books for me to read which had
females actively involved in the story.”
Liv Arnesen is a teacher from Norway. She also has a great love
of adventure. She, like Ann, climbed and skied in different countries.
It was only a matter of time before these two women met. Once they
had, they began making plans to carry out their dream of crossing
Antarctica.
They decided to fly from South Africa on November 1, 2000, to
Queen Maud Land on the edge of Antarctica. From there, they would
cross the continent on skis, pulling sleds with their supplies. They both
had sails to use to pull themselves along. Antarctica is very windy.
Ann and Liv counted on using the wind to help them. They hoped to
reach the Ross Ice Shelf on the other side of Antarctica in February.
There, a ship would meet them. The ship would carry them home.
Foul weather kept them from flying to Queen Maud Land until
November 13. Then Ann and Liv wasted no time strapping on their
skis. They set off for the South Pole, pulling their sleds. The pole was
1,500 miles away. The first part of the trip was on bare ice and over
stretches of deep snow. They had to watch out for chasms in the ice.
The chasms could swallow them without warning. They were able to
average no more than one mile an hour.
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 Wordly Wise 3000®Online Level 3 • Passage • Lesson 6

Ann and Liv climbed to over 10,000 feet above sea level. At that
point they had reached the plateau that surrounds the South Pole.
Traveling then became easier. They were able to rig their sails. The
wind in their sails pulled them along on smooth ice at twenty-five
miles an hour. Once a gust of wind lifted Ann clear off the ice. She
found herself sailing through the air for a short time!
Each night they set up their tent. Then it was time for their evening
meal. For breakfast they often had oatmeal and dried fruit. They also
ate fatty foods to give them energy. Ann and Liv had telephones of
the latest design; this allowed them to stay in touch with the outside
world. They gave daily reports on their web site. The phones enabled
millions of school children from all over the world to follow their
adventures.
When Ann and Liv reached the South Pole, they took hot showers
and changed to fresh clothes. Before continuing their journey, they
picked up food and supplies. The women knew they were running
behind schedule. There were too many days without wind. If they
could not use their sails, they would not reach the ship on time. On
February 12, they arrived at the Ross Ice Shelf. They had crossed
Antarctica. The ship, however, was still 500 miles farther on. It had to
leave by February 22. After that it would be trapped by ice in the
Antarctic winter.
On February 14, Ann and Liv had hundreds of miles to go.
There was still very little wind. The women made a difficult decision.
They asked to be picked up by an airplane with skis. The plane was
standing by to help them. It carried them to the ship. They felt sadness
at not completing the entire journey. But mixed with that was relief
that their ordeal was over.

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 Wordly Wise 3000®Online Level 3 • Passage • Lesson 6

Answer each of the following questions in the form of a sentence. If a

question does not contain a vocabulary word from the lesson’s word
list, use one in your answer. Use each word only once.

1. From which continent did Ann and Liv leave when they flew to Queen
Maud Land?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
2. How much time did Liv and Ann allow for their crossing?

______________________________________________________________________

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3. What two qualities would you credit Liv and Ann for having?

______________________________________________________________________

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4. When could it be difficult to rig the sails?

______________________________________________________________________

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5. Why was travel easier when they reached the area around the
South Pole?

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chasm
______________________________________________________________________
continent
6. Why did Ann and Liv go so slowly during the first part of the trip?
credit

enable ______________________________________________________________________
foul
______________________________________________________________________
gust
7. What did a gust do while Ann was being pulled by a sail?
ordeal
______________________________________________________________________
plateau

rig ______________________________________________________________________
schedule

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 Wordly Wise 3000®Online Level 3 • Passage • Lesson 6

8. Why was the wind important for Ann and Liv?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
9. Name two things that made their trip an ordeal for Liv and Ann.

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
10. How might Ann and Liv’s sleeping bags smell after being slept in for
three months?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

• Do you know the difference between foul and fowl? These

two words are homophones. They sound the same but have
different spellings and meanings. A fowl is a bird such as a
chicken, turkey, or duck. So a bad tasting chicken would be a
foul fowl!

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