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 standing¹ precariously².

From there, stopping periodically

to eat some edible³ berries,

we struggled behind our cousins

through the heavily brush and

shrub⁴ covered footpaths⁶ to

Black Duck Cove⁵ to visit

the cemetery⁷ where our grandmother,

whom we never knew, was buried.

This sacred ground was

in very bad condition,

with many badly corroded⁸ gravestones

buried under brush and long grass.

After searching for a few minutes

in the midst of tangled⁹ 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 descended¹⁰ 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

remains¹¹ 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 spotted¹² 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 agonizing¹³ 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 chronic¹⁴ degeneration of

the communities. Today, the area

is notorious for smuggling¹⁵.

However, our mission was invaluable¹⁶

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 tugged¹⁷ at our emotions

at every turn. The people

of Newfoundland, especially those

of genetic¹⁸ 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 reassuring¹⁹ to see that

the Newfoundland charm has

transcended²⁰ 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.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 precariously   

adv.不安全地；危险地；碰机会地；不稳定地

参考例句：

• The hotel was perched precariously on a steep hillside. 旅馆危险地坐落在陡峭的山坡上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The phone was perched precariously on the window ledge. 电话放在窗台上，摇摇欲坠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

4 shrub   

n.灌木，灌木丛

参考例句：

• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。
• Moving a shrub is best done in early spring.移植灌木最好是在初春的时候。

5 cove   

n.小海湾，小峡谷

参考例句：

• The shore line is wooded,olive-green,a pristine cove.岸边一带林木蓊郁，嫩绿一片，好一个山外的小海湾。
• I saw two children were playing in a cove.我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。

6 footpaths   

人行小径，人行道( footpath的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are a lot of winding footpaths in the col. 山坳里尽是些曲曲弯弯的羊肠小道。
• There are many footpaths that wind through the village. 有许多小径穿过村子。

7 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

8 corroded   

已被腐蚀的

参考例句：

• Rust has corroded the steel rails. 锈侵蚀了钢轨。
• Jealousy corroded his character. 嫉妒损伤了他的人格。

9 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

10 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

13 agonizing   

adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)

参考例句：

• I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。
• his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死

14 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

15 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

16 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

17 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

19 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

20 transcended   

超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的过去式和过去分词 )； 优于或胜过…

参考例句：

• He wanted assurance that he had transcended what was inherently ambiguous. 他要证明，他已经超越了本来就是混淆不清的事情。
• It transcended site to speak to universal human concerns. 它超越了场所的局限，表达了人类共同的心声。