Antarctica  is  cold.  Only  a  few  black  rocks  and  green  plants  in  iceless  valleys  add some color to the endless white cover of ice. (1) _______ . It contains 85 percent of all the fresh water on earth. At the edges,  pieces of ice,  icebergs  break off and float on the ocean currents  to  warmer  climates.  (2)  _______  .  In  winter  storms,  winds  blow  up  to  400 kilometers per hour. (3) _______ .But even in this impossible climate there is life. (4) _______ .  For two  months every summer they receive

sunlight almost 24 hours a day. At this time the Antarctic is the most productive  ocean  in  the  world.  (5)  _______  .  The  krill  provide  food  for  seabirds,  fish, seals, whales, and penguins. Since 1958 scientists from many countries have been working together in this huge “laboratory”. (6) _______ . Today Antarctica has more than 30 research stations, including those of Argentina, Australia, Chile, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, and the United States. Scientists know that this huge icy area is very important to the world’s climate and they are trying to learn why.  (7) _______ .  The ozone layer protects living things from the dangerous  rays  of  the  sun.  In  the  mid-1980s,  scientists  discovered  that  the  ozone  layer above Antarctica was very thin. (8) _______ .

Scientists have also discovered that since 1970 the temperature of the air and the water in Antarctica has been slowly rising. (9) _______ . Scientist think that some kinds of penguins are becoming fewer in number: these Antarctic creatures don’t have enough ice to survive. (10) _______ .

A. The icy cold water of the Antarctic Ocean contains tiny plants.

B. Warmer temperatures result in less sea ice during the winter months.

C. Much of their research focus on ozone, a form of oxygen.

D. Antarctica is the first part of the world used entirely for peaceful purposes.

E. Scientists are learning that the winter sea ice is very important to the chain of life.

F. They call this the “ozone hole”.

G.  These tiny plants provide food for millions of krill, a sea animal that is less than eight centimeters long.

H. This land of unimaginable cold must be entirely lifeless.

I.  The ice in Antarctica was formed at least 20,000 years ago and is thousands of meters deep

K. There are a lot of things to learn from the Antarctic Ocean.

L. An iceberg can cover four square kilometers.