星火英语15篇文章背完大学英语六级词汇：Unit4-Part2

With a greater clarity



of the knowledge of the area,



we walked from the church



a little farther inland 



to what used to be



the post office and



the school that our mother attended,



the skeletal shells of



which were still standing 1 precariously 2.



From there, stopping periodically



to eat some edible 3 berries,



we struggled behind our cousins



through the heavily brush and



shrub 4 covered footpaths 6 to



Black Duck Cove 5 to visit



the cemetery 7 where our grandmother,



whom we never knew, was buried.



This sacred ground was



in very bad condition,



with many badly corroded 8 gravestones



buried under brush and long grass.



After searching for a few minutes



in the midst of tangled 9 vegetation,



we found our grandmother's



resting place beside which



we paid our respects.



It was a good thing that



our cousins stayed with us,



as the footpaths that traversed



the island, were overgrown with brush.



It would have been



virtually impossible for my brother



and me, to walk to



the other communities on the island.



We made our way back



to the church on the hill



and descended 10 to the boat



for a half hour boat ride



to the other side of the island.



Sailing through a number of islets,



we arrived at what



remains 11 of the small village



of Traytown, where our grandparents



had lived. There, we met



some more long lost relatives



at a small cottage.



One, a bit of an eccentric,



who now lives in Toronto



but takes summer refuge in Traytown,



showed us the remnants of what



had once been our grandparents'house.



Beside these ruins, was



the still flourishing cluster



of wild rose bushes, planted



there many years ago



by our step grandmother.



A lot of people, many whom



were more lost cousins,



continually dropped in or



gathered on the porch outside.



After a cup of tea and



some more chitchat (small talk)



and some comic relief,



we made our departure



for the mainland. On the way,



we passed other inlets with



ghost communities on Ireland's Eye.



To add to the excitement



of that special day,



my brother spotted 12 a humpback



whale quite close, between



the boat and the island.



Our visit to Ireland's Eye



was a bittersweet experience for us.



On the one hand, there was



a sense of being at



the very place where our relatives



and ancestors had lived,



worked and played.



On the other hand, there was



a sense of agonizing 13 loss



of what were once thriving



communities on the island.



It was difficult to reconcile



the past with the present,



after a gap of fifty years



of chronic 14 degeneration of



the communities. Today, the area



is notorious for smuggling 15.



However, our mission was invaluable 16



in that we were able to



find out more about ourselves.



The entire expedition to



Newfoundland was a major highlight



in each of our lives.



It tugged 17 at our emotions



at every turn. The people



of Newfoundland, especially those



of genetic 18 connection, couldn't do



enough for us. It was



really like coming home,



but then, that has always been



the nature of Newfoundland courtesy,



even to non-Newfoundlanders.



It was reassuring 19 to see that



the Newfoundland charm has



transcended 20 time. It has



endured so many changes



since Confederation in 1949.



My brother and I, eternally,



will be Newfoundlanders and hope



to go down home more often



in the years to come.