最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit10-Part4

[00:00.00]The development of the country,
[00:02.83]as we know it today,
[00:04.47]was an evolutionary¹ process
[00:05.89]over more than eight decades.
[00:08.63]Manitoba became a province
[00:11.69]after some controversial events
[00:13.88]involving the federal government
[00:15.63]and the Metis,French speaking descendants
[00:18.91]of French fur traders
[00:20.66]who married American Indian girls.
[00:23.29]This ethnic² group settled
[00:26.02]near Fort Gary, the city of Winnipeg,
[00:28.65]Manitoba what is called today.
[00:31.39]John A. Macdonald, the new
[00:35.80]and first Prime Minister
[00:37.67]of the new nation,
[00:38.98]made a deal with the western
[00:40.84]most colony in Vancouver guaranteeing
[00:42.81]on the building of a railroad
[00:45.43]from the east to the west
[00:47.84]if that colony would
[00:49.48]join Canadian Confederation.
[00:51.78]The property of the Metis, to which
[00:56.37]the latter felt legally entitled,
[00:58.56]was in the path
[00:59.98]of the new railway.
[01:01.19]The federal government essentially³
[01:04.47]took the land. The  Metis 
[01:07.43]were compelled to move further west,
[01:09.72]but not without a fight.
[01:11.04](The Metis and the federal government
[01:14.43] were on an inevitable⁴ collision course.
[01:16.50]Twice, Metis revolts tested
[01:19.46]the might of the federal government
[01:21.97]and relationship between
[01:23.51]French and Englishspeaking Canada).
[01:26.03]The federal government was able
[01:29.63]to defeat the Metis in both clashes.
[01:32.04]Louis Riel, the leader of
[01:35.55]the Metis was hanged for
[01:37.30]treason in 1885 for his leading role
[01:40.79] in resisting the federal government.
[01:43.31]He became a martyr⁵ to
[01:45.06]FrenchCanadians. His death
[01:48.23]only added fuel to
[01:49.55]the growing discontent between
[01:51.29]French and English Canada.
[01:53.37]Throughout this whole period,
[01:56.44]1869 to 1885, the federal
[02:00.81](or central) government ignored the appeals
[02:04.53]of the Metis. It appeared that,
[02:06.83]according to Macdonald and his followers⁶,
[02:09.79]the creation of the new nation
[02:11.87]was more important than
[02:13.61]relieving the plight⁷ of
[02:15.36]a relatively⁸ small minority group.
[02:17.44]The Metis probably deserved
[02:21.06]much better of the federal goverment.
[02:23.02]Different versions of these events
[02:26.75]are still debated
[02:28.17]in Canadian classrooms today.
[02:30.24]Macdonald was also criticized
[02:33.20]for concealing⁹ the fact that
[02:35.39]he took some money illegally
[02:37.25]to complete the railway.
[02:39.21]In 1873 as “The Pacific Scandal”
[02:42.93]became known, the construction
[02:46.21]of the railway suspended temporarily.
[02:49.07]The determined¹⁰ Macdonald and
[02:51.79]his government, obsessed¹¹ by the possibility
[02:54.64]of the Americans moving in
[02:56.50]and taking over the west,
[02:58.91]boldly pushed railway
[03:00.66]construction to completion.
[03:02.08]Manitoba became a province
[03:05.91]in 1870, British Columbia in 1871,
[03:09.41]Prince Edward Island in 1873,
[03:12.47]Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905.
[03:15.43]The admission of Newfoundland
[03:21.88]into Confederation in 1949
[03:24.07]completed the Canadian Confederation
[03:27.03]of ten provinces from sea to sea,
[03:29.54]as they exist today. The railway,
[03:33.70]the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR)
[03:36.10]was completed before the agreed deadline

1 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

5 martyr   

n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲

参考例句：

• The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
• The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

6 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

7 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 concealing   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Despite his outward display of friendliness, I sensed he was concealing something. 尽管他表现得友善，我还是感觉到他有所隐瞒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• SHE WAS BREAKING THE COMPACT, AND CONCEALING IT FROM HIM. 她违反了他们之间的约定，还把他蒙在鼓里。 来自英汉文学 - 三万元遗产

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

11 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。