| [00:00.00]UNIT4 [00:15.10]A Canadian Family Story [00:18.16]My story begins in Newfoundland [00:21.66]where my brother and [00:23.20]I were born during [00:24.29]the Second World War. [00:26.04]The island of Newfoundland, [00:28.55]which was originally a British colony, [00:31.29]became the newest province [00:33.26]of Canada in 1949, [00:35.56]the same year that the People's [00:38.40]Republic of China was born. [00:40.48]Our mother was born [00:42.67]and raised in Newfoundland. [00:44.42]During the War (World War II), [00:46.83]she worked in St. John's, [00:49.78]the capital city, where she [00:51.75]met a young Canadian sailor [00:53.28]from Ontario. He was [00:55.69]a member of the crew [00:57.66]of a Royal Canadian Navy ship [00:59.30]that was part of one [01:01.16]of the convoys that [01:02.69]escorted supply ships across [01:04.22]the Atlantic Ocean to Europe [01:06.63]during the war. They fell [01:09.58]in love and subsequently, [01:10.90]got married. The rest [01:12.32]is history, so to speak. [01:14.72]Our family moved to Ontario [01:17.79]in late 1945, just [01:20.96]after the war ended. [01:22.71]In 1999, acting on impulse, [01:27.09]my brother and I decided [01:29.28]to take our mother to [01:30.59]Newfoundland for a visit. [01:32.67]It had been almost [01:34.20]fifty years since we had [01:36.17]last visited our mother's outport [01:37.81](remote or very rural island village) [01:42.19]where she grew up. [01:43.94]It was also the 50th anniversary [01:45.68]of Newfoundland's becoming part of Canada. [01:49.41]In 1950, I was six [01:53.46]and my brother was five [01:54.77]when we last visited [01:56.08]our mother's childhood home. [01:57.94]At that time, Ireland's Eye [02:01.33]was a vibrant, quaint [02:03.52]fishing village hugging the [02:05.38]rocky shore of a small, [02:06.80]enclosed harbour. There was [02:09.21]no electricity. There were no roads, [02:12.28]no automobiles, and few signs [02:15.22]of automation of any type. [02:18.07]There were oil lamps and [02:20.96]wood stoves in the homes [02:22.49]and mere sootpaths between [02:23.80]the aggregate of small communities [02:26.32]on the hilly island, [02:28.18]also named Ireland's Eye. [02:30.26]We can still see and [02:33.76]hear the inboard motorboats, [02:35.29]putt putting (sound of engines) [02:38.35]into the harbour, hauling [02:40.21]their day's catch of fish. [02:41.75]The image of hardy fishermen [02:44.70]with pitchforks hoisting and [02:46.45]tossing the codfish up to [02:47.77]the stilted platforms from [02:51.92]the bowels of the boats [02:53.56]is still quite vivid. [02:54.87]The aroma of salted, [02:56.84]drying codfish, lingers still. [02:59.58]What I remember best, [03:02.97]of almost half a century ago, [03:05.92] was going out with [03:07.46]my Uncle Fred in his boat [03:08.99]to fish. That particular day, [03:11.94]we were huddled together [03:13.80]and lashed to other boats, [03:15.56]just outside of the harbour. [03:17.31]I can still hear [03:20.15]the lively gossip between [03:21.68]my uncle and the other fishermen, [03:23.87]above the rippling and splashing [03:26.06]of the waves against [03:27.37]the hulls of the boats. [03:29.45]I remember the boats [03:32.29]heaving periodically, on the [03:34.48]huge gently rolling waves. [03:37.21]My Uncle Fred had only [03:39.51]one arm, but amazingly, [03:41.04]he could do everything [03:42.58]as if he had two hands. [03:44.65]He could even roll [03:46.08]a cigarette and light it. [03:48.26]These are my memories [03:50.89]of the quaint Newfoundland [03:52.42]glory days gone by. [03:55.05]It was a very hard life [03:56.69]in those out ports, [03:58.33]but a life romantically cherished [04:00.52]by most of those who lived it. [04:03.69]Our mother was not feeling up [04:05.88]to the trip at the time [04:07.74]we were ready to leave, [04:09.05]but insisted that my brother [04:11.35]and I go on this odyssey. [04:13.65]We would later provide [04:16.05]her with pictures, a written account, [04:18.35]and videotape of the trip. [04:20.87]Although we toured other parts [04:24.48]of Newfoundland, including an overnight [04:26.99]stay on the French Islands [04:28.96]of St. Pierre and Miquilon, [04:30.72]just off the south coast [04:33.02]of Newfoundland, our main objective [04:35.53]was to visit Ireland's Eye. [04:37.28]This necessitated finding water transportation. [04:42.64]We managed to arrange [04:44.39]for a boat to take [04:45.49]us on the half hour [04:46.36]trip to the island. [04:48.33]As it turned out, [04:50.08]the married couple who [04:51.61]ferried us over to the island [04:53.25]was actually a couple of [04:54.56]our distant cousins, whom [04:56.64]we had never met. [04:58.39]We had intended to [05:00.91]have our cousins drop us off [05:02.88]on the island and pick [05:04.41]us up a few hours later. [05:06.93]However, either because we were [05:09.23]newly found cousins, or they were [05:12.29]typically hospitable Newfoundlanders, [05:14.26]or they thought that [05:16.12]my brother and I would [05:17.43]get lost, they wanted [05:18.85]to stay with us. [05:20.50]Probably all three factors [05:22.25]influenced their decision. [05:24.22]They were absolutely fabulous. [05:28.04]They got caught up in [05:30.45]what my brother and I [05:31.87] were trying to do. [05:33.29]They were very knowledgeable about [05:35.27]the island and the people [05:37.23]who had once lived there. [05:39.64]Clutching a narrative of the island, [05:41.93]written by another of our cousins, [05:44.01]the forgotten history of that [05:46.20]special place became more coherent [05:48.72]to the four of us. [05:50.80]As we entered Ireland's [05:53.10]Eye's small harbour, which was guarded, [05:56.59]by a family of hawks [05:58.02]in a nest high on a rocky point, [06:00.20]a weird sensation came over us. [06:03.71]There, in front of us, [06:05.79]was the place we visited [06:07.32]fifty years before, and about [06:09.61]which we had heard and read [06:11.58]so much throughout our adult lives. [06:14.76]We thought, what an [06:16.73]aesthetically breathtaking sight! [06:19.79]The glittering sun, on that day, [06:22.09]gave everything a picturepostcard image. [06:24.61]This was indeed a slice of paradise. [06:28.87]The ruins of a few [06:31.06]remaining buildings that dotted [06:33.58]the hillsides and shoreline [06:35.55]and the once dominant [06:37.19]St. Georges Church on the hill [06:39.26]at the end of the harbour, [06:40.79]aroused in us an exciting sense [06:42.98]of history and of our heritage. [06:46.27]Looking out over the harbour [06:48.56]from the hill by the church [06:50.20]at the extinct community, [06:51.41]revived memories of fifty years before. |
| 课程名称 | 老师 | 课时 | 试听 | 报名 | 学费 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 大学英语四级精讲班 | 严邵阳 | 56 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥200 |
| 四级425速成--听力 | 欧 文 | 8 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥80 |
| 四级425速成--阅读 | 欧 文 | 14 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥90 |
| 四级425速成--综合 | 欧 文 | 13 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥80 |
| 四级425速成--写作 | 欧 文 | 16 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥90 |
| 四级经典历年真题 | 欧 文 | 10 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥80 |
| 大学英语六级听力 | 齐方炜 | 7 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥100 |
| 大学英语六级阅读 | 齐方炜 | 7 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥100 |
| 大学英语六级写作 | 欧 文 | 14 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥100 |
| 大学英语六级新题型 | 欧 文 | 15 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥100 |
| 大学英语六级词汇 | 欧 文 | 15 | 试听 | 报名 | ￥100 |
| 大学英语六级模拟题 | 欧 文 | 5(赠) | 无 | 报名 | ￥50 |
| 热门资料下载： |
| 英语四六级考试论坛热贴: |
【责任编辑：育路编辑 纠错】 |
|
|
