文章二
The Old Canada Road is a long-lost trail between the Canadian province of Quebec and Maine, in the northeast comer of the United States.
旧加拿大路是加拿大魁北克省与美国东北角的缅因州之间的一条长久被遗忘的铁路。
Yes, it really was lost, and finding it again was a complex process that involved state-of-the-art technology.
是的,它的确被遗忘了,人们历经复杂的过程才再次找到它,其中还用到了最先进的科学技术。
How the location of the road was pinpointed was very interesting,
定位到这条路确切位置的过程非常有趣,
and I'll return to it as soon as I've given you a little background information.
我会在给你们介绍一些背景信息后尽快回到这个话题。
The road was begun in 1817, a few years before Maine even became a state.
这条路在1817年开始使用,也就是缅因成为一个州的前几年。
At the time, Quebec was a major market for livestock, crops, and fish,
那时,魁北克是一个牲畜、谷物和鱼类的主要市场,
so a road to Quebec was seen by officials in Maine as necessary for trade.
因此,在缅因的官员们看来一条通往魁北克的通道对于贸易而言是必要的。
For about 20 years, the movement of people and goods was mostly from Maine to Quebec,
20年来,人口和商品的流动大部分都是从缅因到魁北克,
but then the trend reversed as thousands of Canadians immigrated to Maine to escape poor crops, lack of jobs, and the threat of disease.
但是这一趋势却逆转了,成千上万的加拿大人为逃避玉米歉收,失业和疾病移民到缅因。
I think it was a cholera epidemic.
我想那时的流行疾病是霍乱。
Besides these negative reasons,
除了这些消极的原因,
major building projects in Maine also made the state very attractive for the Canadians who needed work.
另一方面,缅因的大型建筑工程项目对于那些需要工作的加拿大人来说极具吸引力。
I should stress, though, that immigration during that period went in both directions.
尽管这样,我仍要强调那个时期的移民是双方向的。
In fact, the flow of people and goods went completely unhindered.
事实上,人口与商品的流动甚至完全不受到限制的。
There wasn't even a border post until around 1850.
直到1850年,美加边境甚至没有一个边防哨所。
The people of the time saw Maine and Quebec as a single region,
当时的人们把缅因州和魁北克看做是一个地区,
mainly because of the strong French influence, which is still evident in Maine today.
主要是因为两个地区都说法语,在现在的缅因州人们仍然说法语。
Eventually, the road fell into disuse as a major railway was completed;
后来,魁北克和缅因之间的主干铁路建成,这条路就废弃不用了,
finally, people simply forgot about it and that's how it came to be lost.
最后,人们轻易地忘记了它,这就是这条路是如何被遗失的。
This brings me back to the original topic.
这也解释了我最初谈到的话题。
Questions 13 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
问题13至问题15是基于你刚刚听到的这篇短文的
Question 13. What is needed to find the lost Quebec-Maine trail?
问题13 要找到魁北克到缅因州的铁路,需要什么?
Question 14. Why was the Quebec-Maine road built?
问题14 魁北克到缅因州的铁路修建的原因是什么?
Question 15. What is not the reason why people began to move from Quebec to Maine?
问题15 以下哪个不是人们从魁北克搬到缅因州的原因?
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