高中三年级英语(人教版)全一册 Unit 2 Integrating Skills 2

　　James Cook travelled around the world making maps between 1768 and 1771 on his ship, the Endeavour. The English government also gave him secret instructions to search for the mysterious continent. After visiting.Tahiti, Cook set sail to the south, where he expected to find land. Unable to find it, he decided to set sail for New Zealand, which had already been discovered by the Dutch. Passing between the North and the South Island Cook discovered the east coast of Australia more or less by accident. When Cook arrived back in England in 1771, he still could not answer the question whether there was an unknown southern continent or not.

　　So, in 1772 the British government sent him on a second expedition to solve the problem of the southern continent once and for all. Cook sailed as far south as possible. On 10 December, 1772 he saw the first iceberg. For the next two summers, Cook sailed between icebergs searching for land, which he found at last. Naturally, he thought it was the southern continent, but he was very disappointed when it turned out to be just a small island covered with snow. James Cook did not discover Antarctica, but when he came home in 1775 he was sure that there was no great southern continent with a mild climate, as scientists had believed for hundreds of years.