最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit10-Part1（在线收听）

[00:07.54]UNIT10

[00:14.11]Canada Becomes a Nation

[00:17.39]Before Canada became a nation 

[00:22.75]in 1867, the area of North America 

[00:26.80]that now composes Canada was 

[00:29.09]a large expanse of widely 

[00:31.50]scattered communities of 

[00:33.36]British and French origins. 

[00:35.33]It was an area with diverse landscapes 

[00:39.16]that physically divided them

[00:41.13]from the north of the United States. 

[00:43.54]There was little connection 

[00:46.71]among communities politically or economically. 

[00:49.34]These colonies of British North America 

[00:53.49]traditionally traded with Britain 

[00:55.68]and with the United States, 

[00:57.32]very little among themselves. 

[00:59.51]These colonies even had 

[01:02.68]customs duties that, to some extent,

[01:05.64]restricted such trade. 

[01:07.17]In the mid 1800s, important events 

[01:11.55]and changes took place.

[01:13.95]Britain repealed the Corn Laws 

[01:17.56]and Navigations Acts, which had been 

[01:21.06]economically beneficial to the colonies 

[01:23.80]for generations. Britain began 

[01:27.08]imposing taxes on the colonies 

[01:29.27]at the same rate it applied 

[01:31.57]to all other trading countries, 

[01:33.64]a situation to which 

[01:35.18]the colonies had never been accustomed.

[01:38.35]From 1861 to 1864, 

[01:42.18]Americans were involved in 

[01:46.44]a major civil war. 

[01:47.86]Britain had traditional economic ties 

[01:50.38]with the southern part 

[01:52.46]of the United States that 

[01:54.54]provided cotton to British markets. 

[01:56.62]In the meantime, since the war 

[01:59.90]was essentially between 

[02:01.22]the North and the South, 

[02:02.96]the North resented Britain’s 

[02:04.82]connection with the South. 

[02:07.01]In addition, during the last year (1864)

[02:10.08]of the American Civil War, 

[02:13.80]the American Government of

[02:15.77]the dominant and ultimately victorious North, 

[02:19.05]refused to renew a tenyear 

[02:21.56]free trade agreement with United Canada, 

[02:24.41]the large British colony 

[02:27.03]in the central part 

[02:30.54]of British North America. 

[02:30.99]These arbitrary events brought 

[02:34.38]concern and even fear

[02:36.13]to these colonies.

[02:37.77]With the loss of traditional 

[02:40.07]trading arrangements and the end 

[02:42.69]of the civil war, 

[02:43.90]the North being victorious, 

[02:45.65]the colonists feared that 

[02:47.73]the Americans might turn on

[02:49.26]the British colonies in retaliation 

[02:51.34]for Britain’s moral support for the South.