A forest made out of signs “路標”森林

許春曉

Located about 10 miles north of the US?Canadian border， sits the Signpost Forest thats unlike other forests on the planet. Here tens of thousands of signposts sit casually on top of the other. At last count， the Forest in Watson Lake contains 91，000 signs from spots near and far， including Berlin， Moscow， Dublin and Hawaii. While many of the locations are easily recognizable， therere others that are less known. So how did these signs get there in the first place？

According to the Watson Lake Visitors Center， a US soldier named Carl K. Lindley was the first person to place a sign there in 1942 while he was helping construct the Alaska Highway. Built of planks（木板） he nailed together and painted red and white， the handmade sign proudly announced “Danville， Illinois， 2，835 miles”， showing how far the homesick soldier was from his hometown. Little did Lindley know that years later travelers from near and far would follow in his footsteps and place signposts from their own hometowns.

“Its one of those things that really took off，” says Lelah Bruce， supervisor of the Watson Lake Visitors Center. “Therere signs from everyone. A lot of these are personal signs people make to literally say theyre here， and we also have many familial signs where， say， a grandpa will put up a sign and then years later family will come back and try to find it.”

To help anyone interested in creating a sign， the visitor center has wood and paints on hand for decorating. However， many people choose to bring their own signs， though illegally， by snatching a metal sign from their hometown and nailing it to one of the wood posts.

The forest has grown so vast that the visitor center doesnt keep any sort of inventory（清單） of which signs make up the collection， although Bruce does recall some that stand out from the rest. “People have used anything to make a sign， including hard hats， toilet seats and license plates，” she says. “I once posted a license plate from the prime minister of Prince Edward Island upon his request.”

[閱讀檢測]

1. What does the first paragraph focus on？

A. The particular characteristics of the Signpost Forest.

B. The location of the Signpost Forest.

C. The plants of the Signpost Forest.

D. The confusion about the Signpost Forest.

2. What is the first signpost of the forest about？

A. The position. B. The direction.

C. The injuries. ? ? ? D. The distance.

3. To introduce the origin of the Signpost Forest， the author _____.

A. uses Lelah Bruces view of points

B. lists four areas of different countries

C. mentions an American soldiers story

D. explains the construction of a highway

4. What can we know about the signposts of the forest according to the text？

A. They are from soldiers all over the world.

B. They are left here for different reasons.

C. They are made by tourists themselves.

D. They tend to be decorated beautifully.

5. What makes it impossible to make a written list of the signposts in the forest？

A. Various materials for signs. B. The too many types of signs.

C. The large size of the forest. D. The large number of tourists.

[語言學習]

難句分析

The forest has grown so vast that the visitor center doesnt keep any sort of inventory of which signs make up the collection， although Bruce does recall some that stand out from the rest.這個森林已經(jīng)變得如此巨大，以至于游客中心沒有任何關(guān)于這些標志的清單，盡管布魯斯確實回憶起了一些與眾不同的標志。

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