【新编大学英语】（第一册）Unit 6 C 富兰克林探险队（3/5）

英语自学网

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        Jane Franklin
        John Franklin
        Baffin Bay
        Franklin Expedition
        三处破折号
        PS:
        开头处 "The last message"为该文章小标题，单独起一行
The last message
Jane Franklin was John Franklin's wife. She wanted to know exactly what had happened to her husband. In July 1857, she sent an expedition to the Arctic. A year later, on an island in Baffin Bay, they discovered one of Franklin's sailors. He was lying in a boat at the edge of the sea – dead. Near the dead man, they found a small stone house. Inside the house they found a note. It was the last message from the Franklin Expedition.
We arrived here in September 1846 – nineteen months ago. Our ships are trapped in the ice and we cannot move. The men are dying – men are already. Captain John Franklin died on June 11th, 1847. We left the ships two days ago. Our only chance now is to walk.
So, Franklin and his men died in the Arctic – three years after they left England. Without any food, their only chance was to walk to their deaths in the ice. The Franklin mystery was solved.
But was it solved? Why were there so many sailors dying when they left the ships? Franklin had excellent maps of the area. Why did he take the wrong route? There were still questions to be answered.