2022届高三英语培优外刊阅读学案：跨洲铁路话题

高三英语培优外刊阅读 班级：____________学号：____________姓名：____________ 外刊精选｜150年前，一群华人用血汗筑成了美国奇迹 第一条横贯大陆铁路（原称“太平洋铁路”，Pacific Railroad）于1869年建成，首次实现了以铁路连接美国的大西洋海岸与太平洋海岸。这条铁路全长3000英里，使纽约到旧金山的行程从数月缩短为7天，为西部经济发展和美国社会一体化作出巨大贡献。中国移民在这一伟业中的贡献卓越，功不可没。美国当地时间5月10日，犹他州的普罗蒙特里举行了为期三天的纪念太平洋铁路竣工150周年的活动，包括华人华侨在内的上万人参加了这一活动。 Remember the Chinese immigrants who built America's first transcontinental railroad The nation’ s first transcontinental railroad, completed 150 years ago, connected the vast United States and brought America into the modern age. Chinese immigrants contributed mightily to this feat, but the historical accounts that followed often marginalized their role. Between 1863 and 1869, as many as 20,000 Chinese workers helped build the treacherous western portion of the railroad, a winding ribbon of track known as the Central Pacific. The Chinese workers cut through dense forests, filled deep ravines and built enormous retaining walls — some of which remain intact today. All work was done by hand using carts, shovels and picks but no machinery. Progress came at great cost: An estimated 1,200 Chinese laborers died along the Central Pacific route. The transcontinental railroad’s completion allowed travelers to journey across the country in a week — a trip that had previously taken more than a month. Politicians pointed to the achievement as they declared the United States the leading nation of the world. The transcontinental railroad has been viewed in a nationalistic way ever since. But Chinese workers were often left out of the official story because their alienage and suffering did not fit well with celebration. And attitudes toward them soon soured, with anti-Chinese riots sweeping the country. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States. Federal immigration law prohibited Chinese citizens from becoming Americans until 1943. 【词汇过关】 请写出下面文单词在文章中的中文意思。 1.immigrant [ˈɪmɪɡrənt] n. __________________________ 2.transcontinental [ˌtrænskɒn