15篇文章贯通六级词汇Unit04-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 1 precariously 2.

[00:15.96]From there, stopping periodically

[00:19.68]to eat some edible 3 berries,

[00:21.32]we struggled behind our cousins

[00:23.51]through the heavily brush and

[00:25.26]shrub covered footpaths 5 to

[00:27.34]Black Duck Cove 4 to visit

[00:29.53]the cemetery 6 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 7 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 8 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 9 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 10 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 11 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 12 degeneration of

[03:12.17]the communities. Today, the area

[03:15.01]is notorious for smuggling 13.

[03:18.07]However, our mission was invaluable 14

[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 15 at our emotions

[03:36.13]at every turn. The people

[03:38.97]of Newfoundland, especially those

[03:41.38]of genetic 16 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 17 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.