Lawrence MacEwen's island legacy

四川 李 梅

勞倫斯·麥克尤恩致力于保護夢克小島的原始魅力，促進社區團結，維持自給自足的生活方式，確保島嶼的可持續發展。

主題語境：環境保護 篇幅：329詞 建議用時：6分鐘

1 As soon as spring arrived, the young Lawrence MacEwen took off his shoes.Barefoot, he went to school down the only road on Muck.Barefoot, he climbed to the top of Beinn Aircin, the highest hill, to look out to Knoydart and the Cuillin His.Barefoot, he stood for hours on the beach below his house, so mesmerized by these that he would not move away until his mother called him in for tea.

2 Muck was a tiny place, the smallest of the Small Isles off Scotland's west coast.Lawrence's family bought it in 1896 and made a decent living from it.Yet it was also left behind by the world.Most residents had moved away to softer places in the 19th century.By the late 1960s, the MacEwens, too, were wondering whether or not to stay.Lawrence's elder brother was set on going to the mainland and making Muck a summer-only place.But Lawrence knew he could never leave, being rooted there.

3 So he took Muck on, at 27, and for the next 50 years he directed its future.He did not want to change it much.He worried about television, cars, and crowds of noisy tourists.On the other hand, visitors meant income.Under his protection, there was only one tiny hotel.There was still no pub, post office, or general shop.Nor, still, was there an easy harbor, because to build on the best site would have damaged the beautiful view of the island.And the population, for decades, remained around 40 souls.

4 But Lawrence was sure that 40 souls could keep Muck going, if they worked hard enough and pulled together.What the island needed was nothing sudden, but a spirit of community.He encouraged the islanders to plant trees.

5 He took over deserted gardens and set up poly tunnels (塑料大棚), so that everyone could grow vegetables.For a while his cows produced free milk for the whole island.

Reading Check

Vocabulary1.What does the underlined word“ mesmerized” in paragraph 1 mean?

A.Frustrated.B.Covered.C.Attracted.D.Disturbed.

Detail2.What decision did Lawrence make in the late 1960s?

A.He took over the island of Muck.

B.He bought an island for his family.

C.He persuaded his brother to leave Muck.

D.He made Muck a summer holiday center.

Detail3.Why was Lawrence unwilling to build an easy harbor for Muck?

A.He thought it was useless for so few islanders.

B.He was afraid that visitors wouldn't like it.

C.He failed to find a suitable location for it.

D.He wanted to keep the view as it was.

Inference4.What can be inferred about Lawrence from the last paragraph?

A.He encouraged self-sufficiency.

B.He spoke highly of eco-tourism.

C.He made Muck world famous.

D.He was strict with the islanders.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentence in the text

Nor, still, was there an easy harbor, because to build on the best site would have damaged the beautiful view of the island.同樣，那里也依然沒有一個方便的港口，因為在最佳位置建造港口會破壞島上美麗的景色。

【點石成金】當nor/neither 放在句首時，句子常使用半倒裝的語序，故主句中的was放在了句首；because引導的是一個原因狀語從句。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

take off 脫下

make a decent living 過著體面的生活

leave...behind 拋棄

take on 接管

worry about 擔心

on the other hand 另一方面

work hard enough and pull together 足夠努力并共同努力

spirit of community 社區精神

take over 接管

set up 搭建