英文阅读加速度 中级(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：周璐珍

出版社：外语教学与研究出版社

格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT

英文阅读加速度 中级试读：

提起加拿大，你首先想到的是什么呢？是地广人稀，是美丽枫叶，是英法双语，是五大湖，还是开放的婚姻制度呢？加拿大是北美洲的一个大国，与美国接壤。如果你还不是很了解这个国家，没有关系，我们给你准备了两篇关于加拿大的地理、历史、文化等各方面的文章，读完之后你就会更了解了。Part 1

The dominion of Canada (1)加拿大自治领（1）

请快速阅读以下文章，回答文章后的问题，核对答案并填写表格。请记下你阅读的开始时间和结束时间。

Canada is a land of climatic and geographical extremes, and has a great diversity of peoples. Canada today is the second largest country in the world, after the Russian Federation. From Newfoundland in the east to British Columbia in the west, the Trans-Canada Highway (高速公路) is about 8,000 km in length; by train it takes four days and five nights to cross from one side of Canada to the other. Despite its huge size, Canada also has one of the lowest population densities of any country in the world; its population of some 30 million people 2means that it has a population density of only 3.5 people per km.

The average daytime temperatures over most of Canada exceeds 24℃ in July — but in winter, nearly the whole of the country is covered in snow, and has temperatures well below freezing point.

Most of Canada's population live in a narrow strip of land on the border with the United States, and almost two-thirds of the population live in Ontario and Quebec. Four-fifths of the gigantic country is uninhabited, so nature-lovers can readily explore vast areas of unspoilt countryside, and go camping where the only neighbours are bears, deer, wolves, and other wild animals. The rivers are full of fishes; the lakes are huge and unspoilt.

The first inhabitants of Canada were the native Canadians — the so-called "Canadian Indians", and the Inuit, who live in the north, and who used to be known as "Eskimos". The first European settlers were the French, who started to settle in the year 1605. British settlement started about five years later, and the two communities soon came into conflict with each other. This conflict ended with the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763, when the French colonies were handed over to the British. Although it thus became part of the former British Empire, Quebec was almost a hundred percent French; in consequence, the British passed the Quebec Act in 1774, recognising the French language, laws and the Roman Catholic religion in French-speaking areas. Since that time, the country has continued to support separate French-and English-speaking cultures.

During the American War of Independence (1775-1783), the future of the British Empire in North America hung in the balance. Some English-speaking Canadians joined the American rebels, but most people in the Canadian colonies remained loyal to the British crown, and the result was at the end of the war, 35,000 loyalist refugees moved northward to live in Canada. From 1815 onwards, the British government encouraged settlers, and over the next 40 years, over a million immigrants took up residence.

After the American Civil War (1861-1865), some fears were expressed that the US might attempt to annex Canadian territory, and in 1867, four of the eastern provinces of Ontario, New Brunswick, Quebec and Nova Scotia became the self-governing dominion of Canada. In 1869, the Northwest Territory, which had belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company, was bought by the government; and other provinces later joined the dominion. In 1999, Canada consisted of ten provinces, and three territories. Canada became an independent country in 1931, but it has kept many political institutions that have British origins. It has a House of Commons, and a Senate, and its leader is prime minister; the Queen remains head of state, but the governor-general is always a Canadian. The days when Canada was a colonial outpost within the empire are long gone, but Canada today remains a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

However, Canada has become extremely ethnically diverse: 28％ of its population is of British origin, 23％ are of French descent, and the rest of the country comes from southern and eastern Europe, many parts of Asia, and Africa. There is a large Chinese community in Canada, such as in Toronto and British Columbia.

测一测

略读后，根据原文，判断下列说法是否正确。正确的请填T，错误的请填F。参考答案详见本单元末。

(　) 1．Canada is the second largest country in the world after China.

(　) 2．Canada is about 8,000 km from east to west.

(　) 3．Much of Canada is very cold in winter, and very hot in summer.

(　) 4．Most Canadians live near the border with the US.

(　) 5．Most of Canada is uninhabited.

(　) 6．The first European settlers came from the US.

(　) 7．The British and French fought against each other in Canada.

(　) 8．Canada fought against England in the American War of Independence.

(　) 9．Canada consists of nine provinces, and three territories.

(　) 10．Canada today is a completely independent country.

填表说明：

1．实际（阅读）速度=文章长度（字数）÷阅读时间（分钟）

2．正确率＝正确题数÷总题数（10）

3．如果你已经达到了每分钟阅读100词的水平，在下面的练习中，你可以将目标定的更高一些。

再读一读

现在请再读一遍文章，可参照扩展词汇，充分理解文意。

扩展词汇

dominion 领土；自治领

extreme 极端

diversity 多样性

gigantic 巨大的

inhabitant 居民

loyal 忠诚的

refugee 难民

residence 住所；居住

territory 领土

descent 血统；下降

climatic 气候的

geographical 地理的

used to 过去常常

hand over 移交

belong to 属于

take up (residence) = settle down 定居

consist of 由……组成

come into

conflict with 与……发生冲突

小贴士

dominion, the Commonwealth of Nations：自治领、领地，相当于现在的英联邦国家，主要有加拿大、澳大利亚、新西兰等等，这些国家可以以国家的名义与别国签订国家协议，地位也是平等的。

Inuit：因纽特人，也称爱斯基摩人。生活在北极地区，分布在从西伯利亚、阿拉斯加到格陵兰岛的北极圈内外。

the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763：七年战争，这场战争由欧洲列强之间的冲突所驱动，以英国和法国为首的两大交战集团在贸易与殖民地上相互竞争，冲突不断。

英国的政治制度：英国是君主立宪制国家，议院分为上院和下院，上院主要由贵族构成，下院主要是平民。首相是内阁首领，主管国家事务，但名义上的国家元首仍旧是英国皇室，英国的国家元首现在是伊丽莎白女王二世。加拿大作为英国的领地，虽然其立法机构的名称（参议院和众议院）与英国不同，但体系如出一辙，并且也以女王为国家元首。Part 2

The dominion of Canada (2)加拿大自治领（2）

请快速阅读以下文章，回答文章后的问题，核对答案并填写表格。请记下你阅读的开始时间和结束时间。

Perhaps partly because of its cultural and ethnic diversity, Canada has always played its full part in international affairs. Large numbers of Canadian servicemen and service women took part in both world wars in the twentieth century. In addition, Canadian forces have taken part in numerous missions of United Nations peace-keeping forces, including in Cyprus, and the Middle East. Canada is one of the G7 group of countries — the group of seven leading industrial countries that became G8 when Russia joined them in 2000.

Less than 5％ of Canadians are native Canadians; the far north of Canada is inhabited mainly by the Inuit. The Inuit are scattered across a huge area of some 2.6 million hectares: they speak some 50 different languages belonging to 11 distinct linguistic families. The Canadian government has always attempted to deal with native Canadians — not always successively. However, they avoided the costly and brutal Indian wars that took place in the US in the 19th century. In 1976, They began a long process of political change involving the Inuit, which eventually led to the Nunavut Act of 1993.

According to this new act, a new territory, by the name of Nunavut, "our land" in the Inuit language, was created in 1999. This land has been set aside for the use of the Inuit and although a small number of non-Inuits also live there; most of the inhabitants are Inuit. Nunavut was formed from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories, and was officially named as Canada's third territory.

The three territories owned by Canada — Northwest Territory, Yukon Territory, and Nunavut — have unknown mineral resources, but Canada's ten provinces have plenty of such resources. Canada produces 6 percent of the world's wheat, many high-quality cattle, and much fruit; Canada is also the world's largest exporter of wood products and paper. Fishing is also of great importance, although government banned 5 certain species in the North Atlantic because of over-fishing.

Canada's mineral wealth ranges from asbestos to zinc; the most valuable are oil, natural gas, coal and iron ore. Alberta produces 90 percent of the country's oil, and nearly half the coal, total of 70 million tonnes per year. Other minerals include nickel, gold, copper, silver and titanium. Electricity has usually been generated from hydro-electric power stations. However, sites for new dams are in the remote north, and Canada now has seven nuclear power stations.

Canada also manufactures many goods including cars, aircraft, electronic goods, textiles, chemicals and many other products. Most of its trade is with the United States, and in 1994, Canada joined Mexico and the US in NAFTA — the North American Free Trade Agreement.

At times, Canada has some difficulty in living beside its huge neighbour—today, the US owns some 30％ of Canada's manufacturing industries. In 1961, President Kennedy of the United States told the Canadian parliament: "Geography has made us neighbours; history has made us friends; economics has made us partners; and necessity has made us allies." Many Canadians feel that the United States' warm embrace of friendship feels too much like the hug of a bear now and then.

Canada has a thriving tourist trade, and most of its foreign visitors are from the US. Tourism is now one of Canada's highest foreign exchange (外汇) earners. Tourists get a great deal for their money: vast open spaces attract hunting, fishing and hiking enthusiasts, and the mountains, national parks, rivers, forests and lakes are very beautiful. The city of Quebec and old Montreal are treasure-stores of history, and Canadians are famously good-humoured and welcoming.

测一测

略读后，根据原文，判断下列说法是否正确。正确的请填T，错误的请填F。参考答案详见本单元末。

(　) 1．Canada plays its full part in international affairs.

(　) 2．Less than five percent of Canadians are native Canadian.

(　) 3．Canada was involved in many costly and brutal wars against the Indians.

(　) 4．Canada began a process of political change that ended with the Nunavut Act of 1993.

(　) 5．The Nunavut Act of 1993 gave the whole of the Northwest Territories to the Inuit.

(　) 6．Nunavut is inhabited only by Inuit people.

(　) 7．Canada is very rich in timber, agriculture and mineral resources.

(　) 8．Canada also manufactures many goods.

(　) 9．In 1994, Canada joined the North American Free Trade Agreement.

(　) 10．Canada is now beginning to develop a growing tourist industry.

再读一读

现在请再读一遍文章，可参照扩展词汇，充分理解文意。

扩展词汇

resource 资源

nickel 镍

textile 纺织品

necessity 需要；必要性

embrace 拥抱

thriving 蓬勃发展的

enthusiast 狂热者

play one's part in 在……中扮演角色；在……方面起作用

take part in 参加

deal with 处理

lead to 导致

set aside 留下，拨出

depend on 依靠

range from... to... 在……到……范围内

join in 参加

have difficulty in 做……有困难

一些国际组织和协议：

小贴士

一些国际组织和协议：

United Nations peace-keeping forces：联合国维和部队，是根据有关联合国决议建立的一支跨国界的特种部队，成立于1956年苏伊士危机之际。它受联合国大会或安全理事会的委派，活跃于国际上有冲突的地区。

G7：七国集团首脑会议（G-7 Summit），简称G7，是七个工业化最先进的国家（美国、日本、德国、英国、法国、意大利和加拿大）的国家元首或政府首脑就共同关心的重大问题进行磋商的机制，现在已经发展为G8。

NAFTAC (the North American Free Trade Agreement)：北美自由贸易协议，是美国、加拿大及墨西哥在1992年8月12日签署的关于三国间全面贸易的协议，1994年1月1日正式生效。

产业（industry）：产业可以分为第一产业（the primary industry）、第二产业（the secondary industry）和第三产业（the tertiary industry）。第一产业主要是农业（agriculture）、林业（forestry）、牧业（husbandry）和渔业（fishery），第二产业主要是制造业（manufacturing），第三产业主要是轻工业和服务业（service industry）。扩展阅读

请快速阅读以下文章，回答文章后的问题，核对答案并填写表格。请记下你阅读的开始时间和结束时间。

Canada seeks to lose its image as a crime haven

Edward Alden reports

Recent arrests have drawn attention to the country's attraction as a basis for criminal operations.

At the neighbourhood of Russian delicatessens (熟食店) in north Toronto, they still speak fondly of Vyacheslav Sliva. "He is remembered as a gentle man and an intellectual," says Boris Nusenbaum, publisher of Russian Info-Trade, Canada's main Russian language newspaper.

But Mr Sliva has not been seen in Toronto for some time. In July 1997, he was deported to Russia after Canadian police alleged he was running a vast crime empire from Canada. The authorities say that he was the most important Russian organised crime (犯罪集团) leader in north America after his brother in-law, Vyacheslav Ivankov, who is serving a ten-year jail term in New York for extortion.

Pre-dawn raids

In the crackdown (镇压，摧毁) on organised crime, Canadian police launched a huge series of pre-dawn raids last month, arresting and charging more than 45 people thought to be connected with Mr Sliva's group. The charges include drug trafficking, counterfeiting (伪造), credit card fraud, extortion, and, in a handful of cases, armed robbery and murder.

Superintendent Ben Soave, who heads the special enforcement unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the raids formed one of the most significant crackdowns on east European organised crime anywhere in the western world since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

A haven for criminals

The scale of the arrests has drawn attention to Canada's growing attractiveness as a base for international crime operations. Since the early 1990s the country has become "a haven for organised criminals," said Supt. Soave.

Lax immigration ruses

The appeal is evident. Canada has one of the loosest immigration regimes of any advanced country, making it easier for criminals to settle, establish local operations, and coordinate their activities globally. It has the longest undefended border with the world's largest drug market, the US.

Weak rules on money-laundering also help criminals to use Canadian banks and companies. to hide the proceeds from crime in a legitimate business.

Organised Crime

Canada for example has the largest banking presence of any foreign country in the Caribbean, where secrecy laws have made many of the islands a haven for money-laundering operations.

Finally, the size and variety of ethnic communities make it easy for criminals to blend into the broad population and avoid detection.

With immigrants from more than 100 different countries, Toronto is among the most ethnically diverse cities in the world: While city has a justly deserved reputation for tolerance among those groups, police say that many of those communities are difficult for the police to penetrate, allowing organised crime to operate without harassment.

"This problem is particularly acute among the roughly 90,000 Toronto residents who come from the Soviet Union because they are refugees, and most Russians and east Europeans in Canada think that the police are their enemy," says Supt. Soave.

Even if they trusted the police, anyone acting as an informant (告密者) risks harm not only to themselves, but to friends and family back home. Police say that Mr Sliva was particularly good at concealing his activities, and had tried to keep his head low for at least three years — enough time to gain Canadian citizenship and eliminate the risk of deportation.

Permissive legal system

Many immigrants are further puzzled by Canada's relatively permissive legal system. More than half those arrested last month, for instance, were released immediately on bail.

"People are laughing," says Mr Nussbaum. "It doesn't look serious. This system causes big confusion, because in the Soviet Union people were detained for much less serious crimes."

Police fighting back

Supt. Soave admits that many criminals "think the Canadian legal system is a cakewalk, particularly for drug offences." But as he says, police are fighting back. Last year, they arrested many of the top figures in two Sicilian crime families based in Canada who were involved in massive heroin and cocaine smuggling operations in the US and Europe.

A recent federal law has made it illegal to be a member of an organised crime group, much as US rack-eteering laws do. Ottawa has also promised to enact a money-laundering statute that will require banks to report all cash deposits of more than C$10,000.

"Until recently, most organised criminals in Canada have felt invincible," says Supt. Soave.

"They thought they could do whatever they wanted and get away with it. But their belief that they are immune is disappearing", he promises.

"We've been in the shadow of organised crime in the last century. For the next century, we're going to be in their face."

测一测

为下列各题选择最佳答案。参考答案详见本单元末。

1．Vyacheslav Sliva is_________

A．a gentleman and an intellectual.

B．an illegal immigrant.

C．a leader of organised crime.

2．What happened to Mr Sliva?

A．He was put in jail.

B．He was sent back to Russia.

C．He has taken up residence in Toronto.

3．The police raids proved that_________

A．the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are very efficient.

B．Sliva was guilty.

C．Canada has become very attractive to international criminals.

4．How have Canada's banks assisted criminals?

A．They have very weak rules on money-laundering.

B．They have strong secrecy laws.

C．They have many branches in the Caribbean.

5．The immigrants from the Soviet Union_________

A．fear that the police may harm friends and family back home.

B．have always regarded the police as their enemy.

C．think the Canadian police are always harassing them.

6．It seems that the laws in Canada_________

A．are too weak.

B．are very oppressive.

C．are too strict.练习答案及参考译文

Part 1

测一测

1．F　2．T　3．F　4．T　5．T　6．F　7．T　8．F　9．F　10．T

参考译文

加拿大自治领（1）

加拿大的气候和地理环境的内部差异极为悬殊，国民所属民族也极具多样性。加拿大的国土面积目前居世界第二位，仅次于俄罗斯。从东部的纽芬兰到西部的不列颠哥伦比亚，横穿加拿大的高速公路长度约为8,000千米。坐火车从加拿大的一端抵达另一端需要4天5夜的时间。尽管幅员辽阔，加拿大却是世界上人口密度最低的国家之一。三千多万的人口意味着它的人口密度仅为每平方公里3.5人。

7月份加拿大大部分地区白天平均温度超过24摄氏度，而在冬季几乎全国都被白雪覆盖，温度降至冰点以下。

加拿大的大部分人口居住在与美国接壤的一条狭长地带上，近三分之二的人口居住在安大略和魁北克两省。五分之四的大片疆土无人居住，自然爱好者可轻易地考察大片未受破坏的处女地，或去只有熊、鹿、狼及其他野生动物出没的地方露营。河流中鱼儿成群，湖泊大而无污染。

加拿大最初的居民是土著加拿大人——即所谓的“加拿大印第安人”，以及居住在北部地区、曾被称为爱斯基摩人的因纽特人。最早的欧洲移民是法国人，于1605年开始定居于此。英国人的殖民开拓比法国人晚5年，两大群体很快起了争端，从而引发了1756-1763年间的“七年战争”，并最终以英国殖民者占领法国殖民地而收场。尽管这片土地成为前大英帝国的一部分，但魁北克却几乎是百分之百的法国特色；后来英国人于1774年通过了《魁北克法案》，承认法语区法语、法律及罗马天主教的地位。从那时起，这个国家就继续保持着法语区和英语区各自的文化。

在1775-1783年间的美国独立战争期间，大英帝国在北美的未来也安危未定。一些说英语的加拿大人加入了美国反英起义者的行列，但大部分加拿大殖民地的人仍继续对英国国王效忠，战争结束时，35,000名美国亲英分子向北迁移定居于加拿大。从1815年起，英国政府鼓励移民。在随后的40年间，有一百多万人移居此地。

美国内战（1861-1865年）结束后，一些人担心美国会图谋兼并加拿大领土，因此1867 年四个东部省——安大略、新不伦瑞克、魁北克和新斯科舍成为自我管辖的加拿大自治领。1869年隶属于哈得逊湾公司的西北地区被政府收购；其他省随后也加入了自治领。到1999年，加拿大共有十个省、三个地区。加拿大于1931年成为独立国家，但它仍保留着许多源自英国的政治机构。它有众议院和参议院，国家领导人是总理；英国女王仍为国家元首，但总督一职始终由加拿大人担任。加拿大作为大英帝国殖民基地的日子早已一去不复返，但它现在依然是英联邦的成员。

不过，加拿大已发展成为种族极其多样化的国家。其28％的人口为英国血统，23％为法国后裔，其余的来自南欧、东欧、亚洲各地和非洲。加拿大还有许多中国人聚居区，如在多伦多市和不列颠哥伦比亚省。

Part 2

测一测

1．T　2．T　3．F　4．T　5．F　6．F　7．T　8．T　9．T　10．F

参考译文

加拿大自治领（2）

也许部分缘于它的文化和种族多样性，加拿大一直在国际事务中充分发挥着自己的作用。相当数量的加拿大男女军人参加了20世纪的两次世界大战。此外，加拿大军队还参加了诸多的联合国维和行动，包括在塞浦路斯及中东的维和行动。加拿大是七国集团成员之一，这个由七大主要工业国组成的集团在2000年俄罗斯加入后变成了八国集团。

加拿大不到5％的人口是土著加拿大人；加拿大极北端主要居住着因纽特人：他们散居在约260万公顷的大片土地上，使用约50种不同的语言，分属11个不同的语族。加拿大政府始终努力公平对待土著加拿大人——虽然并不总是成功。然而，他们避免了19世纪美国发生的对印第安人代价惨重的野蛮战争。1976年，他们开始了涉及因纽特人的漫长的政治改革进程，最终导致了1993年《努纳武特法案》的制定。

据新法案，以努纳武特（因纽特语意为“我们的土地”）命名的一个新区于1999年成立。这片土地已划拨给因纽特人使用。尽管有少量非因纽特人也居住于此，但大部分居民为因纽特人。努纳武特由西北地区东部的土地组成，并被正式成为加拿大第三个地区。

加拿大的三个地区——西北地区、育空地区及努纳武特地区——蕴藏着鲜为人知的矿产资源；加拿大十省的矿产资源亦很丰富。加拿大小麦产量占世界的6％，盛产品种优良的牛和各种水果。加拿大还是世界上最大的木材制品及纸的出口国。渔业也是重要产业，尽管因过度捕捞政府禁止了在北大西洋对五类鱼种的捕捞。

加拿大拥有丰富的从石棉到锌的矿产资源，最有价值的当属石油、天然气、煤炭和铁矿。阿尔伯塔省石油产量占全国的90％，煤炭产量近乎占全国每年7，000万吨总产量的一半。其他矿产有：镍、金、铜、银和钛。加拿大通常靠水力发电。但新水坝的坝址位于遥远的北部；此外加拿大现有7座核电站。

加拿大还生产制造许多产品，如：汽车、飞机、电子产品、纺织品、化工产品及许多其他产品。加拿大的主要贸易国是美国，1994年它与墨西哥、美国一起签订的北美自由贸易协定生效。

有时加拿大在与其庞大邻居的相处方面感到有些棘手——目前，美国拥有加拿大近30％的制造业。1961年，美国总统肯尼迪对加拿大国会发表讲话说：“地理使我们成为邻居，历史使我们成为朋友，经济使我们成为伙伴，需求使我们成为盟友。”许多加拿大人感到美国充满友谊的热烈拥抱有时极像大熊的搂抱！

加拿大旅游业蒸蒸日上，大部分海外游客来自美国。旅游业目前是加拿大创外汇最高的产业之一。旅游者花钱大开眼界：大片的空地吸引着打猎、捕鱼和徒步旅行爱好者，群山、国家公园、河流、森林和湖泊都是那样美丽。魁北克市、蒙特利尔旧城的历史古迹繁多。加拿大人更以幽默、好客而闻名。

Part 3

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