普通高中課程標準實驗教科書英語必修高一下必修3 Unit 5 Canada - The True North-Reading Task

所屬教程:普通高中課程標準實驗教科書英語必修高一下

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IQALUIT-- THE FROZEN TOWN

The reporter, Beth Allen, arrived in a northern community called Iqaluit

in Nunavut

Nunavut was created in 1999 as a special area for Inuit people. Its name means "Our Land" in their language. It is in the farthest northeastern area of Canada, north of the Arctic Circle (北極圈), and is very cold - the average winter temperature in Nunavut is 35 degrees below zero.

Beth said, "I knew it would be cold in January, but not this cold! Maybe there is a dog sled (雪橇) that can take me into town."

The quiet man who had been on the plane with her said, "I'll take you into town, but I don't have a dog sled. Most people only use the dogs for competitions. Why are you visiting Iqaluit?"

Beth answered, "I'm writing a story for my newspaper about Iqaluit - we'd like to advertise it as a holiday place, but I think it's too cold."

The man laughed. "My name is Simon and I am Inuit," he said. "I think it's too far north here for holidays but more and more tourists are coming. They like ice fishing and photographing polar bears. I stay as far away from polar bears as possible. I like my warm office and my warm house."

Beth asked, "What do you do in an office? Don't you hunt animals for a living? I thought you lived in ice houses."

"I'm a business man. My grandfather would live in ice houses when he hunted in winter, but not so many people do that now. The old men used to make one in a few hours. They used to live in skin tents in summer - the tents were easy to move so the people could follow the animals."

A few minutes later they arrived in Iqaluit, a town with a population of 6,000, on Simon's snowmobile. It was two o'clock in the afternoon, but it was already dark, and all the houses shone with bright lights. Beth said, "Why is it so dark? It's the middle of the day!"

Simon replied, "It's dark in the day because we are so far north. You should come in June. The sun shines all night in the north then. That's why it's called 'The Land of the Midnight Sun'." There were people on the streets and snowmobiles everywhere. There were even a few dog teams.