Quora问答——你所不知道的异国（加拿大）
“加拿大的城市非常干净和安全。犯罪、无家可归、贫困从不会成为重大社会问题，虽然我们对此很重视，但是其中哪个真的都不多。”
“加拿大很大而且很空。大多数加拿大人居住在美国边境150公里范围之内，只要你愿意，你可以转几天都见不着一个人类。”
“最后，对于贾斯汀·比伯，我们表示非常抱歉。请原谅我们，好嘛？”
除了枫叶，加拿大还有什么？和小编一起看看你所不知道的加拿大吧！
Q: What do you think every foreigner should know about your country?
Please state your country, and feel free to add details related to any field, which you want people to know about your country.
Answered by Tom Curran
Canada:
Yes, we do apologize if you bump into us.
Yes, it’s cold. Not all year, but when it’s cold, it’s COLD.
Yes, we love hockey. Pretty well more than anything else.
Yes, we smoke more marijuana than just about anywhere else on earth.
bump into: 无意中遇到、碰到
hockey: n. 曲棍球；冰球
marijuana: n. 大麻；大麻毒品
Yes, we have extraordinarily clean and safe cities.
Yes, the country is both huge and empty. Most of us live within 150 km of the US border. Yes, you can, if you want, go for days without seeing another human.
Yes, we occasionally have bears, moose, and such wandering around in major cities.
Yes, the Canadian is the one who keeps saying “eh?”.
extraordinarily: adv. 非常；格外地；非凡地
moose: n. [脊椎] 驼鹿；麋
and such: 等等；诸如此类
On the other hand…
We make amazingly good wines.
We are among the most urban and cosmopolitan populations in the world.
Our major social issues have never been crime, homelessness, or poverty (although we take them all seriously). We just don’t have enough of any of them.
Sure, we are sometimes mistaken for Americans. We honestly don’t mind, even though we pretend to be offended. The reality is that apart from their tendency to shoot each other, we kinda like Americans and America.
cosmopolitan: adj. 世界性的；世界主义的，四海一家的 n. 四海为家者；世界主义者；世界各地都有的东西
mistaken for: v. 把…错认为
tendency: n. 倾向，趋势；癖好
We don’t really have a military. It was turned into a government job-creation program forty years ago, and never quite got back on track. Nobody has ever noticed we don’t have an army, because we haven’t needed one.
We don’t have a history, either. We decided that national histories are pretty divisive, what with all the wars and the winners and losers and long-standing grudges, and since we keep inviting more and more immigrants into the country, it’s easier and friendlier not to bother remembering what we used to be. We are what we are, and tomorrow we’ll probably be something else.
We claim responsibility for poutine and butter tarts.
divisive: adj. 分裂的；区分的；造成不和的
grudge: vt. 怀恨；吝惜；妒忌；不情愿做 n. 怨恨；恶意；妒忌
claim responsibility for: 宣称对某事负责
poutine: 蘸奶酪西红柿酱的薯条
butter tart: 黄油甜果馅饼
You should know that…
What you hear on the CBC has little to do with the way most Canadians think. It’s a limited, downtown-Toronto viewpoint which is as representative of the average Canadian as Manhattan is of the U.S., or the City is of England.
You can’t get there today. It takes about 10, 8-hour days to drive from St John’s, Newfoundland to Victoria, B.C.
We don’t all speak French. In fact, fewer than a quarter of us do.
We have a huge national inferiority complex. We are so convinced that our country really sucks that we go nuts every time another U.N. poll says that ours is the best country in the world in which to live. We’ll love you if you tell us how great you think Canada is. We won’t really believe you, but we’ll love you.
CBC: abbr. 加拿大广播公司（Canadian Broadcasting Corporation）
downtown: adv. 往闹市区；在市区 adj. 市中心的 n. 市中心区；三分线以外
Toronto: n. 多伦多（加拿大城市）
St John’s: 圣约翰斯(加拿大纽芬兰省港市、省会)
Newfoundland: n. 纽芬兰（加拿大东部岛亦为加拿大省）；纽芬兰犬（体大、力强、毛厚而光滑，原产于纽芬兰）
inferiority complex: 自卑情结；自卑感
go nuts: 发疯；失去理智
U.N.: abbr. 联合国（United Nation）
And we did make a mess of our relationship with our aboriginals. We’re really sorry about that. But do you know how hard it is to make it up to someone who insists on being allowed to hunt and fish for a living AND have all the benefits of the modern world? We don’t know how this one’s ever gonna get resolved. But we know it, OK? We don’t like being told that our human rights record is comparable to Zimbabwe or China. Because it’s not. Our national anthem has a pretty good tune, but please, don’t listen to the words. In either language. They’re just silly. And finally, we’re sorry about Justin Bieber. Please forgive us, eh?
aboriginal: adj. 土著的；原始的 n. 土著居民；土生生物
be comparable to: 比得上……的；与……可比较的
Zimbabwe: n. 津巴布韦（国家名，位于非洲）
anthem: n. 赞美诗；圣歌 vt. 唱圣歌庆祝；唱赞歌
tune: n. 曲调；和谐；心情 vt. 调整；使一致；为…调音 vi. [电子][通信] 调谐；协调
Justin Bieber: 贾斯汀·比伯，加拿大歌手
“加拿大很大而且很空。大多数加拿大人居住在美国边境150公里范围之内，只要你愿意，你可以转几天都见不着一个人类。”
“最后，对于贾斯汀·比伯，我们表示非常抱歉。请原谅我们，好嘛？”
除了枫叶，加拿大还有什么？和小编一起看看你所不知道的加拿大吧！
Q: What do you think every foreigner should know about your country?
Please state your country, and feel free to add details related to any field, which you want people to know about your country.
Answered by Tom Curran
Canada:
Yes, we do apologize if you bump into us.
Yes, it’s cold. Not all year, but when it’s cold, it’s COLD.
Yes, we love hockey. Pretty well more than anything else.
Yes, we smoke more marijuana than just about anywhere else on earth.
bump into: 无意中遇到、碰到
hockey: n. 曲棍球；冰球
marijuana: n. 大麻；大麻毒品
Yes, we have extraordinarily clean and safe cities.
Yes, the country is both huge and empty. Most of us live within 150 km of the US border. Yes, you can, if you want, go for days without seeing another human.
Yes, we occasionally have bears, moose, and such wandering around in major cities.
Yes, the Canadian is the one who keeps saying “eh?”.
extraordinarily: adv. 非常；格外地；非凡地
moose: n. [脊椎] 驼鹿；麋
and such: 等等；诸如此类
On the other hand…
We make amazingly good wines.
We are among the most urban and cosmopolitan populations in the world.
Our major social issues have never been crime, homelessness, or poverty (although we take them all seriously). We just don’t have enough of any of them.
Sure, we are sometimes mistaken for Americans. We honestly don’t mind, even though we pretend to be offended. The reality is that apart from their tendency to shoot each other, we kinda like Americans and America.
cosmopolitan: adj. 世界性的；世界主义的，四海一家的 n. 四海为家者；世界主义者；世界各地都有的东西
mistaken for: v. 把…错认为
tendency: n. 倾向，趋势；癖好
We don’t really have a military. It was turned into a government job-creation program forty years ago, and never quite got back on track. Nobody has ever noticed we don’t have an army, because we haven’t needed one.
We don’t have a history, either. We decided that national histories are pretty divisive, what with all the wars and the winners and losers and long-standing grudges, and since we keep inviting more and more immigrants into the country, it’s easier and friendlier not to bother remembering what we used to be. We are what we are, and tomorrow we’ll probably be something else.
We claim responsibility for poutine and butter tarts.
divisive: adj. 分裂的；区分的；造成不和的
grudge: vt. 怀恨；吝惜；妒忌；不情愿做 n. 怨恨；恶意；妒忌
claim responsibility for: 宣称对某事负责
poutine: 蘸奶酪西红柿酱的薯条
butter tart: 黄油甜果馅饼
You should know that…
What you hear on the CBC has little to do with the way most Canadians think. It’s a limited, downtown-Toronto viewpoint which is as representative of the average Canadian as Manhattan is of the U.S., or the City is of England.
You can’t get there today. It takes about 10, 8-hour days to drive from St John’s, Newfoundland to Victoria, B.C.
We don’t all speak French. In fact, fewer than a quarter of us do.
We have a huge national inferiority complex. We are so convinced that our country really sucks that we go nuts every time another U.N. poll says that ours is the best country in the world in which to live. We’ll love you if you tell us how great you think Canada is. We won’t really believe you, but we’ll love you.
CBC: abbr. 加拿大广播公司（Canadian Broadcasting Corporation）
downtown: adv. 往闹市区；在市区 adj. 市中心的 n. 市中心区；三分线以外
Toronto: n. 多伦多（加拿大城市）
St John’s: 圣约翰斯(加拿大纽芬兰省港市、省会)
Newfoundland: n. 纽芬兰（加拿大东部岛亦为加拿大省）；纽芬兰犬（体大、力强、毛厚而光滑，原产于纽芬兰）
inferiority complex: 自卑情结；自卑感
go nuts: 发疯；失去理智
U.N.: abbr. 联合国（United Nation）
And we did make a mess of our relationship with our aboriginals. We’re really sorry about that. But do you know how hard it is to make it up to someone who insists on being allowed to hunt and fish for a living AND have all the benefits of the modern world? We don’t know how this one’s ever gonna get resolved. But we know it, OK? We don’t like being told that our human rights record is comparable to Zimbabwe or China. Because it’s not. Our national anthem has a pretty good tune, but please, don’t listen to the words. In either language. They’re just silly. And finally, we’re sorry about Justin Bieber. Please forgive us, eh?
aboriginal: adj. 土著的；原始的 n. 土著居民；土生生物
be comparable to: 比得上……的；与……可比较的
Zimbabwe: n. 津巴布韦（国家名，位于非洲）
anthem: n. 赞美诗；圣歌 vt. 唱圣歌庆祝；唱赞歌
tune: n. 曲调；和谐；心情 vt. 调整；使一致；为…调音 vi. [电子][通信] 调谐；协调
Justin Bieber: 贾斯汀·比伯，加拿大歌手
