2025.11.04 青少年新闻速递
Hello, everyone, and welcome to our weekly news roundup! I’ve got a really cool story for you today. We are going on an amazing adventure to Antarctica! China’s 42nd Antarctic expedition team has just set sail from Shanghai on a mission that will last for seven long months. This isn’t just any trip; it’s a major scientific journey to the bottom of the world. Two powerful polar icebreakers, named Xuelong (which means Snow Dragon) and Xuelong 2, are leading the way. You can almost feel the chilly sea spray on your face and hear the loud horn of the ships as they begin their brave, bold voyage.
This massive expedition/journey isn’t a small one. It has brought together a huge team of more than 500 members! To help you picture that, think about the number of students in our entire school. This team is probably even bigger! It’s a fantastic mix of scientists and researchers who have come from over 10 different countries and regions. They have all united for a common purpose: to better understand, protect, and use the resources of Antarctica in a smart way. According to Long Wei, a key leader at the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, this mission is incredibly important for science.
One of the team’s top jobs is to continue building and improving a special place called the Qinling Station. This is China’s fifth and newest research base in Antarctica, and it only started running in February 2024. The team has a lot of work to do. They need to finish constructing new buildings for research and set up all the necessary pipelines and communication networks to make sure everything runs smoothly. It’s like building a small, high-tech city in the middle of a frozen desert. They are also testing some amazing new technologies developed in China, such as systems that can turn seawater into fresh drinking water and machines that generate electricity from the wind and the sun. These tests will help them see if the equipment can handle the extreme/severe Antarctic weather.
Now, let’s talk about something truly innovative at Qinling Station. It has a special new energy system that is the first of its kind. Imagine you’re standing at the station. You can feel the powerful Antarctic wind howling outside, but you’re not worried about the lights going out. Why? Because you see giant wind turbines spinning, you see solar panels glistening in the polar sun, and you know there are also hydrogen and diesel power sources ready as backup. This hybrid system has been working perfectly for over eight months! What’s even more impressive is that renewable energy, like wind and sun, now provides 60 percent of the station’s power. This has saved 150 metric tons of fuel. That’s the weight of about 25 large elephants! By doing this, they have also cut carbon emissions by 350 tons. That’s a huge win for protecting the beautiful Antarctic environment.
The location of Qinling Station in the Ross Sea area is very special. This area is full of marine life and has strong ocean currents, which makes it a significant/important spot for studying global climate change. In the future, most of the science at this station will focus on the ocean. During their seven-month trip, the scientists will conduct comprehensive/complete investigations across many different fields. They want to understand Antarctica’s role in our planet’s changing climate. In key parts of the Southern Ocean, they will study how climate change is affecting the ecosystem. They will look at everything, from tiny sea creatures to the chemistry of the water, the atmosphere, and the massive glaciers.
And now for what I think is the most exciting part of the mission. The team is going to do something that sounds like it’s from a science-fiction movie. They are preparing for China’s first-ever scientific drilling experiment into a deep, ice-covered lake. These are called subglacial lakes, which are bodies of water hidden miles beneath the ice sheet. Using special hot-water drilling systems, they will carefully drill through more than 3,000 meters of solid ice! To give you an idea of how deep that is, it’s like stacking eight of our city’s tallest skyscrapers on top of one another! Their goal is to take clean samples from this isolated environment that has been cut off from the world for thousands, maybe millions, of years. What will they find? Could there be unique life forms adapted to this extreme, dark, and cold world? The results could tell us so much about life in extreme places and about our planet’s climate history. If you could send a tiny robot camera down that hole into a mysterious, hidden lake, what would you hope to see first?
This expedition is also a chance to validate/confirm that new Chinese-made equipment and technologies work well in the toughest conditions on Earth. They will be testing things like automated observation tools and using satellites for remote sensing to gather data from afar. The entire team is expected to return to China in May of 2026, hopefully with tons of new knowledge. This amazing journey shows us how curiosity and teamwork can push the boundaries of human exploration.
中文版本
新闻探索时间！今天我们要探索我们星球上最冷、风最大、也最神秘的地方。 砰！啪！哇！大家好，欢迎收听我们的每周新闻快报！今天我为你们带来了一个超级酷的故事。我们将开启一场前往南极洲的奇妙冒险！中国的第42次南极考察队刚刚从上海出发，踏上了一段长达七个月的征途。这可不是一次普通的旅行，而是一次前往世界尽头的重大科学探索。两艘强大的极地破冰船——“雪龙”号和“雪龙2”号，正引领着队伍前行。我们几乎能感觉到那冰冷的海浪溅到脸上，能听到船只在开启勇敢、无畏的航行时发出的响亮汽笛声。
这次大规模的远征可不简单。它集结了一支超过500人的庞大队伍！为了让你有个概念，想象一下我们整个学校的学生数量，这支队伍的人数可能还要更多！简直不要太厉害！这是一个超棒的组合，科学家和研究人员们来自超过10个不同的国家和地区。他们为了一个共同的目标团结在一起：那就是更好地了解、保护和以聪明的方式利用南极的资源。据中国极地考察中心的副主任龙威介绍，这次任务对于科学研究来说至关重要。
考察队的首要任务之一，是继续建设和完善一个叫做“秦岭站”的特殊地方。这是中国在南极的第五个、也是最新的一个科考站，它在2024年2月才刚刚投入运营。队员们有许多工作要做。他们需要完成新的科研楼的建设，并铺设所有必需的管道和通信网络，确保一切都能顺利运行。这就像是在一片冰封的沙漠中央，建造一座小小的、高科技的城市。他们还在测试一些中国自主研发的超棒新技术，比如能把海水变成淡水的系统，还有能利用风和太阳发电的设备。这些测试将帮助他们检验这些设备是否能扛得住南极极端的恶劣天气。
现在，我们来聊聊秦岭站一项真正有创意的设计。它拥有一套独一无二的新能源系统。想象一下，你正站在秦岭站里。你能听到强劲的南极风在外面呼啸，但你一点也不担心会停电。为什么呢？因为你看到了巨大的风力发电机在旋转，看到了太阳能电池板在极地的阳光下闪闪发光，而且你知道还有氢能和柴油发电机作为备用。这套混合系统已经完美运行了八个多月！更让人佩服的是，像风能和太阳能这样的可再生能源，现在提供了科考站60%的电力。这已经节约了150公吨的燃料。这差不多相当于25头大象的重量！通过这种方式，他们还减少了350吨的碳排放。这对保护南极美丽的自然环境来说，真是一个巨大的胜利。
秦岭站位于罗斯海地区，这个位置非常特别。这片区域充满了海洋生物，并且有强烈的洋流，这使它成为研究全球气候变化的一个非常重要的地点。未来，这个科考站的大部分科研工作都将聚焦于海洋。在长达七个月的旅程中，科学家们将在许多不同领域进行全面的调查。他们想深入了解南极在我们这个星球气候变化中扮演的角色。在南大洋的关键海域，他们将通过综合研究，来分析气候变化是怎样影响生态系统的。他们会研究所有东西，从微小的海洋生物到海水的化学成分，再到大气和巨大的冰川。
接下来，是我认为这次任务最激动人心的部分了。考察队将要完成一件听起来像是科幻电影里才会发生的事。他们正准备进行中国首次深入冰下湖泊的科学钻探实验。这些湖泊被称为“冰下湖”，它们是隐藏在几公里厚冰盖下的水体。利用专门的热水钻探系统，他们将小心翼翼地钻透超过3000米厚的坚冰！为了让你明白这有多深，这就像把我们城市里最高的八座摩天大楼叠在一起那么高！他们的目标是从这个与世隔绝了成千上万年、甚至数百万年的独立环境中，采集到纯净的样本。他们会发现什么呢？会不会有适应了这种极端、黑暗和寒冷世界的独特生命形式？研究结果可能会告诉我们许多关于极端环境下的生命以及地球气候历史的秘密。如果是你，可以把一个微型机器人摄像机送到那个神秘的、隐藏湖泊的钻孔里，你最希望先看到什么呢？
这次远征也是一次绝佳的机会，来验证中国制造的新设备和新技术在地球上最严酷的条件下是否好用。他们将测试自动化观测工具，并利用卫星进行遥感探测，从远处收集数据。整个考察队预计将在2026年5月返回中国，希望他们能带回海量的新知识。这次了不起的旅程告诉我们，好奇心和团队合作是如何推动人类探索的边界的。
听力问题（中英文）
How many icebreaker ships are part of China’s 42nd Antarctic expedition? 中国的第42次南极考察队有多少艘破冰船参与？
What percentage of the Qinling Station’s power comes from renewable sources like wind and sun? 秦岭站的电力有多少百分比来自风能和太阳能等可再生能源？
How deep, in meters, does the science team plan to drill into the Antarctic ice to reach a subglacial lake? 为了到达冰下湖，科考队计划向南极冰层钻探多少米深？
What is one of the main construction tasks for the team at the Qinling Station? 考察队在秦岭站的主要建设任务之一是什么？
参考答案（中英文)
There are two icebreakers: Xuelong and Xuelong 2. 有两艘破冰船：“雪龙”号和“雪龙2”号。
60 percent of the station’s power comes from renewable sources. 科考站60%的电力来自可再生能源。
They plan to drill through more than 3,000 meters of ice. 他们计划钻探超过3000米深的冰层。
One main task is to finish constructing new research buildings, or to set up outdoor pipelines and communications networks. 一项主要任务是完成新的科研楼的建设，或者铺设户外的管道和通信网络。