Learning English

Inspiring language learning since 1943

The story…

Endurance: Shackleton's lost ship is found in the Antarctic

Learn language related to…

shipwrecks

Need-to-know language…

preserved – kept in its original condition

construction – way something was built

pristine –perfect condition

portholes – round windows on the side of a ship

raised – brought to the surface of the sea

Answer this…

How far below the sea ice is the wreck of Endurance?

Transcript

Emerging from the Antarctic deep – the world’s most famous undiscovered shipwreck – now found.

It’s the first time anyone has seen it in more than 100 years.

Endurance – perfectly preserved – frozen in time, 3,000 metres beneath the ice.

Mensun Bound, Director of Exploration, Endurance 22
I knew that this was probably either the first of second most strongly-built ice ship ever, and I was just in awe of her construction. And I thought if there was any wood-built ship that could survive the impact with the seabed, it would be the Endurance. And she did – she held together beautifully. But I’ve never ever seen a wreck anything like as beautiful and as inspiring as this one.

The condition of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship is astonishing. The ship’s wheel is almost pristine. The portholes look polished. And these white circles are dinner plates abandoned by the crew.

This was the polar icebreaker that brought the team to the wreck. The conditions were challenging. The Agulhas II had to carve its way through the thick ice in the Weddell Sea. Underwater robots were deployed and spent weeks searching the deep until the Endurance was at last found.

And this was the ship just before it sank. Captured on camera in footage that’s been restored and released by the BFI [British Film Institute]. The Endurance was in trouble from the start – becoming stuck in thick sea ice just weeks after setting off from South Georgia. It drifted for months before an order was eventually given for the crew to abandon the ship.

The ship won’t be raised and nothing will be removed. Left exactly as it was found, resting in the darkness of this most remote corner of the world.

Did you get it?

How far below the sea ice is the wreck of Endurance?

It lies 3,000 metres beneath the ice.

Latest Lingohack

Flying car
Episode 220525 / 25 May 2022
Language related to retail: model, processing, licensed, orders, bring (something) to market.
Pigs on patrol
Episode 220511 / 11 May 2022
Learn language related to farming: scarecrow, harvest, crop, soil, fertile
‘Extinct’ fish returns to the wild
Episode 220504 / 04 May 2022
Learn language related to disappearing and reappearing: missing, under the radar, bringing (something) back, recovering, making a comeback
Endurance: Shackleton's lost ship is found in Antarctic
Episode 220427 / 27 Apr 2022
Learn language related to shipwrecks: preserved, construction, pristine, portholes, raised
How to make people like robots
Episode 220420 / 20 Apr 2022
Learn language related to behaviour: playful, curious, sociable, interact, accept
Hope for people with diabetes
Episode 220413 / 13 Apr 2022
Learn vocabulary related to medical treatment: trial, monitors, game changer, quality of life, stabilised.
First woman of colour completes a solo expedition across Antarctica
Episode 220406 / 06 Apr 2022
Learn language related to physical challenges: comfort zone, gruelling, toughest, reservations, hardships
Going for gold in e-waste
Episode 220330 / 30 Mar 2022
Learn language related to chemical process: components, extract, heated, end result, recover
A family’s hope of ending discrimination
Episode 220316 / 09 Mar 2022
Learn language related to discrimination: to face, bullying, uniqueness, educate, stigma.
Recycling food waste
Episode 220309 / 09 Mar 2022
Learn language related to sustainability: deal with, breaks down, organic matter, sustainable, pathogens
Ancient bone found in the Thames
Episode 220302 / 23 Feb 2022
Learn language related to rivers: lurking, shallows, causeway, low tide, mudflats
Britain's lost Lego
Episode 220223 / 23 Feb 2022
Learn language related to the beach and the ocean: wash up, shoreline, off the coast, ocean currents, tide
Boxing to beat Parkinson’s disease
Episode 220216 / 16 Feb 2022
Learn language related to health and lifestyle: quality of life, rock bottom, medical intervention, exercise-orientated therapy, back on its feet
Out-of-hours work ban
Episode 220209 / 09 Feb 2022
Learn language related to work: civil servant, job, boss, normal hours, private sector.
Electric buses: greener public transport
Episode 220202 / 27 Jan 2022
Learn language related to buses: chugging, double-decker, secreted, cabin, range
Reducing construction waste
Episode 220126 / 26 Jan 2022
Learn language related to construction: wooden pallets, skip, manufacturing, supply chain, building site
Following whales round the Southern Ocean
Episode 220119 / 19 Jan 2022
Learn language related to researching animals: conducted, tags, track, migrations, transmitting
Robotic surgery
Episode 220112 / 12 Jan 2022
Learn language related to surgery: operation, medical field, patient, surgeons, keyhole surgery
Protecting seahorses
Episode 220105 / 05 Jan 2022
Learn language related to sea and boats: teeming with (life), mooring chains, seabed, tide, seafarers
How tourism and science work together in Antarctica
Episode 180522 / 18 May 2022
Learn language related to behaviour: alluring, remote, expedition, ambassadors, fragile