1. explore the Congo Basin
   reach the South Pole
2. reach the North Pole

Amundsen found permanent glory by becoming the first man to reach the South Pole. He was also the first person confirmed to have reached both the North and South Poles.

1. Russia
   Norway
2. Iceland

Roald was a hard-headed Norwegian who embraced regions where cold is commonplace. His fortitude held up even in frigid conditions that would have killed lesser people.

1. ice making
   sea voyaging
2. fishing

His family was filled with sea merchant captains and men who owned their own ships. He was determined to do the same.

1. improved his health
   so that he could get used to low temperatures
2. simply loved the cold

Even as a young lad, Roald was certain he'd live a life pursuing outdoors adventures. He conditioned his body and mind to the cold by leaving his window open during winter nights.

1. medicine
   fishing
2. logging

He started by studying to become a doctor, in large part to make his mother happy. She died when Roald was in his early 20s, freeing him to pursue more adventurous plans.

1. first to climb the highest peak in Antarctica
   first to reach the South Pole
2. first to spend the winter in Antarctica

The Belgian Antarctic Expedition was the first to spend the entire winter in the area. They were not entirely prepared in terms of clothing and food … and the situation deteriorated.

1. sails were damaged
   became trapped in ice
2. started sinking

The captain sailed directly into an area that was sure to trap the ship in ice -- and he probably did it on purpose. Whatever the case, as winter set in, the men had no choice but to simply try and survive until the ship was freed.

1. two weeks
   four weeks
2. two months

For two solid months, the men were in total darkness. As they drifted in the ice, many of them suffered from scurvy and some of them literally lost their minds. The finally made it home in 1899.

1. travel to the North Pole
   take a ship through the Northwest Passage
2. sail around Norway in a single day

Amundsen took a small ship and headed for the Northwest Passage. It took more than three years, but he succeeded in making it through the Passage and then returning home to tell about it.

1. got lost every week
   blocked by ice
2. was too shallow

The route was indeed very shallow, but Roald's small ship made it through those areas. The ice, though, often slowed the crew, and they were forced to wait it out.

1. was hilarious
   reserved
2. bold and loud

Amundsen was a driven man -- and he was also very quiet. He led by example instead of by aggression or humor.

1. Artic wasn't challenging enough
   was drawn more to Antarctica
2. another team beat him to it

An American team beat Amundsen to the North Pole. He was disappointed but instead set his sights on the South Pole.

1. two
   one
2. zero

Only Roald and his brother knew of the change of plans. Once the ship headed to sea, he changed course and went south to Antarctica.

1. was simply a habitual liar
   was afraid the government would stop him
2. didn't want to anger his men

England was racing to be the first to the South Pole, and Roald worried that Norwegian authorities would be reluctant to challenge their powerful neighbor and ally. So he alerted no one until the ship was far from shore. And then, of course, he sent a telegram to one of his British rivals to taunt him -- and the race was on.

1. three-month head start
   three-week head start
2. actually a month behind

After a six-month voyage to Antarctica, Roald hit the ice running. He had only a three-week head start on British explorer Robert Scott, who was determined to catch his Norwegian counterpart.

1. succumbed to the cold
   faced worse weather
2. ran out of food

In a state of virtual panic on the ice, the men left their ship and set out on the ice earlier than planned, meaning that the weather was harsher and colder than if they'd waited a few more weeks. The weather took a toll on both dogs and men.

1. had to turn back
   gave up the expedition
2. stopped and camped for three weeks

The cold was so awful that the men had to turn back and take shelter at the ship. The hurried start resulted in injured men and dead sled dogs.

1. about two weeks
   about two months
2. didn't make it

They left the ship in mid-October and reached the South Pole in mid-December. Roald had accomplished his goal of beating everyone to the southernmost point of the Earth.

1. 390 miles
   550 miles
2. 800 miles

The five men set off hoping to survive the 800-mile journey to the pole, knowing full well that even if they accomplished their goal, they'd have to retrace their steps all the way back to the ship.

1. called them "paw patrol"
   called them "children"
2. called them "bloody curs"

Roald referred to the dogs as children and bet the expeditions fortunes on their four-legged engines. He picked the dogs carefully for their strength and tenacity in cold climates.

1. 11
   21
2. 41

Only 11 of the dogs survived the grueling expedition. The dogs that died along the way? The men ate them.

1. about 33
   about 43
2. about 13

Roald won the race to the South Pole by about 33 days. His men left behind items, including a letter to rival Robert Scott, to prove that they'd reached their ultimate destination before anyone else.

1. nearly starved
   came up just short of the Pole
2. all died

Scott and the four men he took on the dash to the pole all died. They accomplished their feat ... but the cold and blizzard conditions defeated them on their way back to their ship.

1. preparation
   conversation
2. mountain climbing

Roald was a meticulous planner who carefully weighed the pros and cons of his decisions. His preparation and logistics skills buoyed his courage and made him a successful explorer. Robert Scott, on the other hand, took liberties with planning that cost him and his men their lives.

1. true
2. false

Amundsen took dozens of dogs to the Pole precisely because he knew the men (and other dogs) would be eating them. It was a sad (and slightly psychotic) end for dogs that the men had treated like family.

1. wanted to see where the ice was going
   was ready to die
2. wanted the ice to carry the ship to his destination

Roald purposely took his ship as far north as he could and let it freeze into the ice, which he knew would drift north. He wanted to float across the North Pole.

1. the ship sank
   the ice didn't cooperate
2. it worked

This expedition, which consisted of sitting in a ship locked in by ice, was exasperatingly slow, and the ice simply didn't take the boat to where it needed to go. Crew members began leaving the ship and Roald eventually gave up.

1. fly over the North Pole
   return to Antarctica
2. retire

If he couldn't do it by boat, he wanted to use a plane to fly over the North Pole. He tried to fly from Alaska to Norway but his plane was battered, forcing them to abandon the plan.

1. at home
   in the Arctic
2. on the ocean

Amundsen told the journalist that he was so captivated by the Arctic that he wanted to die there. He was about 55 years old when he uttered those words.

1. typhoid
   drowned
2. no one knows

During a 1928 rescue mission in the Arctic, Amundsen's plane crashed. Parts of the wreckage were reportedly found but no one really knows how any of the men died.