—Yao Ming. I think he has a(n)________ for basketball.
“What part of the States do you come from?”
“I’m not American. I’m Canadian.”
This is a mistake that Europeans often make. Many Americans, too, admit that it takes them a while to tell if it's an American talking or a Canadian. This upsets some Canadians, because they want people to recognize them as Canadians. They want everyone to know that Canada is an independent nation with its own special character.
American English was probably brought to Canada by the Loyalists（忠于北方者）who fled there during the Revolutionary War（1776～1783）, for even as late as 1813. 80% of all British Canadians had come from the USA.
From the very first, Canada was a country with two languages, neither of which influenced the other very much, because the French and British spoke to each other so little. Canadian English has always remained very like American English, and the influence of the Indian and Inuit languages was no greater than the influence of French. But there are some important words that have found their way via（通过）Canadian dictionaries into British dictionaries.
My parents got divorced when I was one year old. I've heard from family that it was because my father was 1 ， but I was too little to remember and he was never violent 2I was growing up. My father is an alcoholic. He was 3once when I was a teenager for three years then had another divorce. I'm his4child. My mother has been married and divorced three times, and all of her 5were abusive. I'm the oldest of five half siblings. My first stepfather was 6violent with my mother regularly, they were married when I was 2 and 7when I was 8. My second stepfather never fought with my mother，8was verbally (言语)abusive with my two oldest younger brothers and myself and also 9me when I was 17. They were married when I was 11 and 10divorce proceedings last year when I was 22. The divorce was just finalized last month. I'm sure I don't have to 11detail about the emotional influences of growing up in this12. I do find that it has made it difficult for me to 13the pattern for my own life. I find myself using escapism(逃避现实) when 14gets too hard, just like my mother did. I find myself latching(锁定) on to 15men with a codependent loyal. My father's drug and alcohol use has also 16my decisions. All of the people I have been in a 17relationship with have a drug addiction of some sort. I've never been 18to drugs, though. Only people. In spite of all of this, I am committed to 19these generational problems that have been a part of my family history 20since my great grandparents.
to protect pandas. Otherwise, they are certain to die out.
The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ecological disaster area. Nauru's heartbreaking story could have one good consequence—other countries might learn from its mistakes.
For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived on the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization. The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798. He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship. He called the island Pleasant Island.
However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first. Then whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol. These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island. A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from l, 400 to 900.
Nauru's real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate(磷酸盐) on the island. In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which is a very important fertilizer for farming. The company began mining the phosphate.
A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip mine(露天矿). When a company strip-mines, it removes the top layer of soil. Then it takes away the material it wants. Strip-mining totally destroys the land. Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon.
In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world. Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate.
Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars. In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses. Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem—their phosphate was running out. Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing. By 2000, Nauru was almost financially ruined. Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen.
