In 1929,
在1929年
three years after his flight over the North Pole,
在飞越北极3年之后
the American explorer, R.E. Byrd,
美国探险家 R.E.伯德
successfully flew over the South Pole for the first time.
第一次飞越了南极
Though, at first,
虽然开始时
Byrd and his men were able to take a great many photographs of the mountains that lay below,
伯德和他的助手们 拍下了飞机下面连绵群山的大量照片
they soon ran into serious trouble.
但他们很快就陷入了困境
At one point, it seemed certain that their plane would crash.
在有个地方 飞机似乎肯定要坠毁了
It could only get over the mountains
只有在飞至10000英尺的高度时
if it rose to 10,000 feet.
它才能飞过这些山头
Byrd at once ordered his men to throw out two heavy food sacks.
伯德马上命令他的助手们把两个沉重的食物袋扔掉
The plane was then able to rise
于是飞机可以上升了
and it cleared the mountains by 400 feet.
它在离山头400英尺的高度飞越了过去
Byrd now knew that he would be able to reach the South Pole
伯德这时知道他能够顺利飞抵
which was 300 miles away, for there were no more mountains in sight.
300英里以外的南极了 因为前面再没有山了
The aircraft was able to fly over the endless white plains without difficulty.
飞机可以毫无困难地飞过这片茫茫无际的白色原野