World News for Students of English

19-12-2014 15:00

After travelling 2,500 gruelling kilometres across the most inhospitable continent on Earth, Dutch actress-turned-explorer Manon Ossevoort finally reached the South Pole in a tractor.

Yep, after a number of setbacks including mechanical failures and tricky terrain, Manon’s team arrived at its destination just two days after its target date.

They made up for lost time by driving non-stop for over a week, taking advantage of the 24-hour sunlight of the Antarctic summer.

The expedition is just a last leg of a much longer journey for Ossevoort. She’s taken part in a 38,000-kilometre odyssey which saw her leaving her home in Holland in 2005 and driving through Europe and Africa before arriving at Cape Town borne in a tractor.

“I’m so absolutely happy and in awe. It feels… Me and this massive Ferguson  5610 tractor have made it to the South Pole and this seemingly impossible story has actually got its beautiful happy ending and I’m so grateful for that.”

Ossevoort, known as “tractor girl,” said she had been dreaming about achieving this her whole life.

When she arrived at the pole, she jumped down from the tractor and hugged the small statue that marks the Earth southernmost point.

Difficult words: gruelling (extremely tiring), inhospitable (difficult to live in), setback (problem), target date (the date when people want to do something), leg (section/part), odyssey (a long journey), borne (transported).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com