新概念3Lesson 42 modern caveman.docVIP

Lesson 42 modern caveman Cave exploration, or pot-holing, as it has come to be known, is a relatively new sport. Perhaps it is the desire for solution or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures people down to the depths of the earth. It is impossible to give a satisfactory explanation for a pot-holer’s motives. For him, caves have the same peculiar fascination which high mountains have for the climbers. They arouse instincts which can only be dimly understood. Exploring really deep caves is not a task for the Sunday afternoon ramber. Such undertakings require the orecise planning and foresight of military opertations. It can take as long as eight days to rig up rope ladders and to establish supply bases before a descent can be made into a very deep cave. Precautions of this sort are necessary, for it is impossinle to foretell the exact nature of the diffculties which will comfront the pot-holer. The deepest known cave in the world is the gouffre berger near gernoble. It extends to a depth of 3700 feet. This immense chasm has been formed by an underground stream which has tunneled a course through a flaw in the rock. The entrance to the cave is on a plateau I the Alps. As it is only 6 feet across, it is barely noticeable. The cave might never have been discovered had not the entrance been spotted by the distinguished french pot-holer, Berger. Since its discovery it has become a sort of pot-holer’s everst. Thought a number of descents have been made, much of it still remains to be explore. A team of pot-holers recently went down the GB. After entering the narrow gap on the plateau, they climbed down the steep sides of the cave until they came to a narrow corridor. They had to edge their way along this, sometimes wading across shallow streams , or swimming across deep pools. Suddenly they came to a waterfall which dropped into an underground lake at the bottom of the cave. They plunged into the lake,and after loading on an inflatable rubber dinghy, let