星火英语15篇文章贯通5-6级词汇 Unit4-Part2

[00:00.00]With a greater clarity
[00:02.40]of the knowledge of the area,
[00:04.04]we walked from the church
[00:05.57]a little farther inland 
[00:07.21]to what used to be
[00:08.41]the post office and
[00:09.72]the school that our mother attended,
[00:12.13]the skeletal shells of
[00:13.77]which were still standing precariously.
[00:15.96]From there, stopping periodically
[00:19.68]to eat some edible berries,
[00:21.32]we struggled behind our cousins
[00:23.51]through the heavily brush and
[00:25.26]shrub covered footpaths to
[00:27.34]Black Duck Cove to visit
[00:29.53]the cemetery where our grandmother,
[00:32.59]whom we never knew, was buried.
[00:34.89]This sacred ground was
[00:38.50]in very bad condition,
[00:40.36]with many badly corroded gravestones
[00:43.20]buried under brush and long grass.
[00:45.29]After searching for a few minutes
[00:48.68]in the midst of tangled vegetation,
[00:51.08]we found our grandmother's
[00:53.38]resting place beside which
[00:55.46]we paid our respects.
[00:57.65]It was a good thing that
[00:59.73]our cousins stayed with us,
[01:01.69]as the footpaths that traversed
[01:03.56]the island, were overgrown with brush.
[01:07.05]It would have been
[01:08.70]virtually impossible for my brother
[01:10.34]and me, to walk to
[01:12.08]the other communities on the island.
[01:14.93]We made our way back
[01:17.01]to the church on the hill
[01:18.43]and descended to the boat
[01:19.64]for a half hour boat ride
[01:22.15]to the other side of the island.
[01:24.23]Sailing through a number of islets,
[01:27.08]we arrived at what
[01:28.82]remains of the small village
[01:30.36]of Traytown, where our grandparents
[01:32.65]had lived. There, we met
[01:34.52]some more long lost relatives
[01:37.36]at a small cottage.
[01:38.89]One, a bit of an eccentric,
[01:41.74]who now lives in Toronto
[01:43.81]but takes summer refuge in Traytown,
[01:46.11]showed us the remnants of what
[01:47.97]had once been our grandparents'house.
[01:50.38]Beside these ruins, was
[01:54.49]the still flourishing cluster
[01:55.81]of wild rose bushes, planted
[01:57.77]there many years ago
[01:59.63]by our step grandmother.
[02:02.04]A lot of people, many whom
[02:04.34]were more lost cousins,
[02:05.76]continually dropped in or
[02:07.51]gathered on the porch outside.
[02:09.92]After a cup of tea and
[02:13.42]some more chitchat (small talk)
[02:14.95]and some comic relief,
[02:17.35]we made our departure
[02:18.88]for the mainland. On the way,
[02:21.73]we passed other inlets with
[02:23.92]ghost communities on Ireland's Eye.
[02:27.97]To add to the excitement
[02:29.94]of that special day,
[02:31.36]my brother spotted a humpback
[02:33.22]whale quite close, between
[02:35.84]the boat and the island.
[02:38.26]Our visit to Ireland's Eye
[02:40.88]was a bittersweet experience for us.
[02:44.60]On the one hand, there was
[02:46.78]a sense of being at
[02:48.32]the very place where our relatives
[02:50.40]and ancestors had lived,
[02:52.59]worked and played.
[02:54.00]On the other hand, there was
[02:56.41]a sense of agonizing loss
[02:58.16]of what were once thriving
[03:00.79]communities on the island.
[03:03.64]It was difficult to reconcile
[03:05.82]the past with the present,
[03:07.57]after a gap of fifty years
[03:09.98]of chronic degeneration of
[03:12.17]the communities. Today, the area
[03:15.01]is notorious for smuggling.
[03:18.07]However, our mission was invaluable
[03:20.92]in that we were able to
[03:22.89]find out more about ourselves.
[03:24.53]The entire expedition to
[03:29.02]Newfoundland was a major highlight
[03:31.42]in each of our lives.
[03:33.39]It tugged at our emotions
[03:36.13]at every turn. The people
[03:38.97]of Newfoundland, especially those
[03:41.38]of genetic connection, couldn't do
[03:44.11]enough for us. It was
[03:46.63]really like coming home,
[03:48.39]but then, that has always been
[03:50.90]the nature of Newfoundland courtesy,
[03:53.63]even to non-Newfoundlanders.
[03:56.15]It was reassuring to see that
[04:00.09]the Newfoundland charm has
[04:01.73]transcended time. It has
[04:04.36]endured so many changes
[04:06.21]since Confederation in 1949.
[04:10.04]My brother and I, eternally,
[04:12.02]will be Newfoundlanders and hope
[04:15.62]to go down home more often
[04:17.60]in the years to come.