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15
篇文章贯通大学英语四级
CET4
词汇第
10
篇
Canada Becomes a Nation
Before
Canada
became
a
nation
in
1867,
the
area
of
North
America
that
now
composes
Canada was a large expanse of widely
scattered communities of British and French
origins. It was
an area with diverse
landscapes that physically divided them from the
north of the United States.
There
was
little
connection
among
communities
politically
or
economically.
These
colonies
of
British
North
America
traditionally
traded
with
Britain
and
with
the
United
States,
very
little
among themselves.
These colonies even had customs duties that, to
some extent, restricted such
trade. In
the mid 1800s, important events and changes took
place.
Britain
repealed(
废除
,
撤销
)
the
Corn
Laws
and
Navigations
Acts,
which
had
been
economically beneficial to the colonies
at the same rate it applied to all other trading
countries, a
situation to which the
colonies had never been accustomed.
From
1861to
1864,
Americans
were
involved
in
a
major
civil
war.
Britain
had
traditional
economic ties
with the southern part of the United States that
provided cotton to British markets.
In
the
meantime,
since
the
war
was
essentially
between
the
North
and
the
South,
the
North
resented
Britain’s
connection
with
the
South.
In
addition,
during
the
last
year
(1864)
of
the
American Civil War, the American
Government of the dominant and ultimately
victorious North,
refused to renew a
ten-year free trade agreement with United Canada,
the large British colony in
the central
part of British North America. These arbitrary
events brought concern and even fear
to
these colonies. With the loss of traditional
trading arrangements and the end of the civil war,
the
North
being
victorious,
the
colonists
feared
that
the
Americans
might
turn
on
the
British
colonies in retaliat
ion(
报复
,
报仇
< br>) for Britain
’
s moral
support for the South.
The need for new markets, and a solid
defense system from potential invasion by the
United
States, brought an acute
awareness to these diverse colonies that they
should look to each other
for
resolutions to these problems. They felt uneasy
trying to cope against these adversities(
逆境
,
苦难
) on their
own. Sir John A. Macdonald from United Canada, the
dominant personality at this
time, also
saw the acceleration of American settlers moving
north and spreading throughout the
flat
prairie
(
大草原
)
lands
to
the
west.
This
would
potentially(
潜在的
)
put
a
wall
between
the
colonies in the
East and the lonely western British colony in what
is today part of British Columbia
on
the west coast of North America. Macdonald felt
that the situation was urgent.
In
the
summer
of
1864,
the
maritime
colonies
of
Nova
Scotia,
Prince
Edward
Island,
and
New found land scheduled
a meeting to discuss the possibility of a customs
union or free trade
area
to
compensate
for
the
latest
setbac
ks(
挫折
,
失败
)
in
trade
relations
with
Britain
and
the
United States. Macdonald managed to get
permission for some delegates from United Canada
to
attend as observers. For a number of
years, United Canada was experiencing problems of
political
deadlock
(
僵局
).
Canada
West
was <
/p>
predominantly(
主要地
)
English-speaking
Canada
East
was
predominantly French-speaking. A
central government, set up in 1841, required a
majority from
both Canada West and
Canada East for all legislation to become law. It
was very difficult to pass
significant
legislation
when
two
opposing
views
were
constantly
being
debated
and
legislative
bills
were
constantly
being
defeated.
The
Canadians
saw
a
new,
wider
union,
a
potential
new
national institution or central
government, as a possible solution for breaking
out of this constant
political
disorder.
The
Canadian delegates sailed on board a cruise ship
down the St. Lawrence River, into the
Gulf
of
St.
Lawrence,
to
Charlottetown
on
Prince
Edward
Island.
This
convention
expanded
to
discussions of the
possibility of all the British colonies uniting
into one nation.
After much complicated debate at
another convention in Quebec City that same year,
the
delegate submitted a draft of an
agreement for the formation of the dominion of
Canada. The
bulk of the work had been
done by a group of men of seemingly high virtue,
who became know
in
history
as
“
the
Fathers
of
Confed
eration(
联邦
)
”
.
United
Canada
was
divided
into
the
provinces
of
Ontario
and
Quebec.
Some
allowances
were
given
to
Quebec
because
it
was
a
predominantly French-
speaking Catholic province and had special needs,
unlike other provinces.
The colony of
Nova Scotia was divided into Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick. These four provinces
formed
the original new nation. A flexible approach, in
later years, persuaded other colonies to
join.
A federal system, with
powers distributed between the central and
provincial governments, was
created.
The provinces were assigned powers to have their
own governments to deal with more
local
or
provincial
issues,
the
federal
system
would
promote
harmony
among
provinces,
with
different
perspectives
on
nationhood.
This
was
a
compromise,
so
that
the
bigger
provinces
of
Ontario and Quebec wouldn’t
complet
ely dominate the smaller
provinces. The country was to be
called
the Dominion of Canada, but would still remain
loyal to Britain as a member of the British
Empire.
The new legislation that created Canada
was a British act of Parliament called
“
The British
North America Acts of
1867
”
. Canada officially
became a nation on July 1st, 1867. This would be
the
anniversary
occasion
each
year,
for
joyous
celebration
of
a
national
holiday
commemoration(
纪念
,
庆祝
) the birth of Canada.
The development of the
country, as we know it today, was an evolutionary(
进化的
,
演变的
)
process
over
more
than
eight
decades.
Manitoba
became
a
province
after
some
controversial
events
involving the federal government and the Metis,
French-speaking descendants of French
fur
traders
who
married
American
Indian
girls.
This
ethnic(
人种的
,
种族的
)
group
settled
near
Fort Gary, the city of
Winnipeg, Manitoba what is called today.
John A.
Macdonald, the new and first Prime Minister of the
new nation, made a deal with
the
western-most colony in Vancouver guaranteeing on
the building of a railroad from the east to
the west if that colony would join
Canadian Confederation. The property of the Metis,
to which
the
letter
felt
legally
entitled,
was
in
the
path
of
the
new
railway.
The
federal
government
essentially
took
the
land.
The
Metis
were
compelled
to
move
further
west,
but
not
without
a
fight. (The Metis and the federal
government were on an
inevitable(
无法避免的
) collision
course.
Twice,
Metis
revolts
rested
the
might(
权力
,
威力
)
of
the
federal
government
and
relationship
between French-
and English-speaking in Canada). The federal
government was able to defeat the
Metis
in both clashes. Louis Riel, the leader of the
Metis was hanged for treason(
叛国
< br>,
谋反
) in
1885
for
his
leading
role
in
resisting
the
federal
government.
He
became
a
martyr
to
French-Canadians. His
death only added fuel to the growing
discontent(
不满意
) between
French
and English Canada.
Throughout
this
whole
period,
1869
to
1885,
the federal (or
central)
government
ignored
the
appeals
of
the
Metis.
It
appeared
that,
according
to
Macdonald
and
his
followers,
the
creation
of
the
new
nation
was
more
important
than
relieving
the
plight(
困境
)
of
a
relatively
small
minority
group.
The
Metis
probably
deserved
much
better
of
the
federal
government.
Different
versions of these events are still debated in
Canadian classrooms today.
Macdonald was also criticized for
concealing the fact that he took some money
illegally to
complete the railway. In
1873 as
“
The Pacific
Scandal
”
became
known, the construction of the
railway
suspended temporarily. The determined Macdonald
and his government, obsessed(
担心
< br>,
困扰
)
by
the
possibility
of
the
Americans
moving
in
and
taking
over
the
west,
boldly
pushed
railway construction
to completion.
Manitoba
became
a
province
in
1870,
British
Columbia
in
1871,
Prince
Edward
Island
in
1873, Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905.
The admission of Newfoundland into Confederation
in
1948 completed the Canadian
Confederation of ten provinces from sea to sea, as
they exist today.
The railway, the
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was completed
before the agreed deadline.
Canada
’
s
becoming
a
nation
was
not
an
easy
road.
Canada
’
s
remaining
a
nation
has
perhaps
been
an
even
harder
road.
There
were
many
challenges
facing
it
over
the
first
one
hundred
or more years. The most serious challenge has
been, and still is, staying together as a
country. Relations between French-
speaking and English-speaking Canada have been
difficult to
improve. This
persistent(
持续存在的
) theme in
Canadian history began with the defeat of New
France by Britain during the Seven
Years War from 1756to 1763 (or the French-Indian
War, as it
was known in North America).
In the last twenty years,
referenda(
普通投票
) held in
Quebec for
possible separation from
Canada, were narrowly defeated. This challenge
still lies ahead.
So
far,
the
country
has
remained
strong,
and
has
traditionally
played
a
significant
role
in
international affairs. Canada has much
promise for the 21st century. It will need to find
creative
diplomatic
strategies
to
keep
the
internal
rumblings(
摩擦声
,
隆隆声
)
beneath
the
surface from
exploding into
self-
destruction. It will need to find
a way to fulfill the dreams of “the Fathers of
Confederation”
of
so
many
years
ago.
A
good
guess
is
that
the
odds
are
in
favor
of
Canada
achieving those
dreams and truly becoming the nation that was
originally intended.
15
篇文章贯通大学英语四级
CET4
词汇第
9
篇
A Preface to
Murder
Sometimes truth is stranger than
fiction. Sometimes life deals a bad hand.
Sometimes it
is hard to go on.
Sometimes evil triumphs over good.
Nancy sighed heavily as she
pulled her daughter
’
s diary
from the drawer. She leaned
forward to
examine the familiar writing. A postcard with a
colored sketch fell onto the floor from
the book the drawing was a picture of a
long curved sandy beach on a tropical island; of
course it
would be Montserrat. She felt
clumsy as she knelt to retrieve(
取回
,
收回
) the picture.
Under no
circumstances could she
forgive or forget the criminals who tortured her
beautiful Megan. It was
difficult not
to feel bitter about the events of the preceding
year. She had shed so many tears in
the
past
year
since
her
daughter’s
murder.
Nancy
recognized
that
she
was
suffering
from
psychological
problems
and
had
really
become
indifferent
to
the
events
in
her
daily
life.
She
began to shake and then
to weep. When would there be an answer to this
damn nightmare?
Megan
had
attended
secondary
school
at
a
private
girls
’
school
five
hundred
kilometers from
home. In junior school she had been a straight A
student. Now in high school she
continued to study hard, play sports,
join the school orchestra, plus a variety of
school clubs. As a
joke,
her
friends
labeled
her
a
genius,
often
just
to
make
her
angry.
As
well
as
being
a
high
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