Teachers, Please help me read this article! ♥.♥

Question

Below is an article with the title “A river runs through it” and the subtitle “ Fly-fishing is compatible with social distancing- and a lesson in American strengths and strains” from “The economist”. The following is the first three paragraphs of the article and I don’t know what the topic is yet!

THE NORTHERN CENTRAL RAILROAD, running up from Baltimore, has long been synonymous with great deeds. It was a route for escaped slaves, heading for Pennsylvania. It carried Abraham Lincoln to Gettysburg in 1863, and bore his body, 17 months later, (1)on a leg of its journey home to Illinois. It is a hiking trail now, shaded by sycamore and willow. But for the pen-and-brush duo behind this column, the old railroad remains auspicious, as (2)the access-point to a deep pool of the Gunpowder river, where trout lie.

(3)It is not the best fishing spot on the Gunpowder. That is a couple of miles upstream, near the reservoir which, thanks to a decades-old agreement between the local anglers and city of Baltimore, releases a steady flow of water into the river. But any fish caught in that stretch must be put back. And the dispensation for angling in Maryland’s coronavirus lockdown rules applies only to fishing for food. So that is what Lexington, his nine-year-old son, and “Kal”, this newspaper’s cartoonist-in-chief, were set upon, one glorious recent afternoon, with an eagerness whetted by days cooped up.

They kept 12 feet apart, (4)mind, while chatting and scrambling down the riverbank. This seemed not only sensible but representative of what fly-fishing is. It is a solo activity. Yet the technical demands of casting a long line to deliver a feathered hook to the water with, ideally, the delicacy of an insect alighting make its practitioners prone to lively exchanges of information: on rods, water, flies and so forth. An American master angler, Lee Wulff, called fly-fishing “the most social of all the solitary sports”. Pondering this, your columnist took his place on a sandbar dotted with beaver tracks, (5)and began casting across the bottom of the pool, to where a jumble of rocks rose promisingly from its gravelly depths.

(1)

At first, I thought “on a leg of” would be an idiom but couldn’t get any search results. So I concluded myself “a leg” in the sentence was used figuratively meaning “a route, way, means”! Is it right? ?

(2)

I didn’t know what “the access-point” was and googled it, and it explained an access point is “a device that creates a wireless local area network,” which doesn’t match the context. So I guess “the access-point” was used literally meaning “the point where a person’s access is allowed (to a certain place)” in this sentence! Is it correct? ?

(3)

I’m not sure if I got this paragraph right! In my understanding, the writer mentioned two spots on the Gunpowder river here. One, green-colored, which he chose as that day’s fly-fishing place and the other, orange-colored, which is considered the best place for fly-fishing on the Gunpowder. Do I interpret it correctly? ?

(4)

I don’t know what “mind” means in this sentence T.T Could I rewrite the sentence like “They were chatting and scrambling down the riverbank minding they kept 12 feet apart”?

(5)

I tried to imagine the scene the writer is describing by this clause but failed. Why did he insert the phrase “the bottom of” in it? Doesn’t the clause mean “he threw his fly under water” with the phrase “the bottom of”? That is not possible, is it? T.T

Thank you so much teachers for reading my questions! I know I have so many questions in a post and if I could get a comment I would be so happy ?.?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

ANNE202 The following is the first three paragraphs of the article and I don’t know what the topic is yet!

It is about scenic and historic places where someone who wants to go fly-fishing can go. Do you know what fly-fishing is? It is a great sport. Aficionados tie their own flies.

ANNE202(1)At first, I thought “on a leg of” would be an idiom

Leg = a segment of a long trip.

Long bike races are divided into legs (stages.)

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/leg?q=leg_1 See definition ( C).

ANNE202(2) So I guess “the access-point” was used literally meaning “the point where a person’s access is allowed (to a certain place)” in this sentence! Is it correct? ?

An access point is an entrance to be able to reach (access) a place that otherwise is inaccessible. An access point may have a few places for cars to park. There is a path leading to the fishing spot on the river, or a walking tail in the forest.

Anonymous · Answer

ANNE202At first, I thought “on a leg of” would be an idiom but couldn’t get any search results. So I concluded myself “a leg” in the sentence was used figuratively meaning “a route, way, means”! Is it right? ?

No. When I drive to Tampa, Florida, I do it in three days. Day one ends at Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Day two ends at Savannah, Georgia. Day three I'm there. Each day is a leg of the journey.

ANNE202I didn’t know what “the access-point” was and googled it, and it explained an access point is “a device that creates a wireless local area network,” which doesn’t match the context. So I guess “the access-point” was used literally meaning “the point where a person’s access is allowed (to a certain place)” in this sentence! Is it correct? ?

Right.

ANNE202I’m not sure if I got this paragraph right! In my understanding, the writer mentioned two spots on the Gunpowder river here. One, green-colored, which he chose as that day’s fly-fishing place and the other, orange-colored, which is considered the best place for fly-fishing on the Gunpowder. Do I interpret it correctly? ?

Yes.

ANNE202I don’t know what “mind” means in this sentence T.T Could I rewrite the sentence like “They were chatting and scrambling down the riverbank minding they kept 12 feet apart”?

It's funny how much one little word can say sometimes. This "mind" means "bear (it) in mind", and the inmplication is that they were careful to stay apart, and that we readers should not fear that they did not.

ANNE202I tried to imagine the scene the writer is describing by this clause but failed. Why did he insert the phrase “the bottom of” in it? Doesn’t the clause mean “he threw his fly under water” with the phrase “the bottom of”? That is not possible, is it? T.T

No. The bottom of the pool is the downstream end, a rather unfortunate choice of words for the English learner because it is also, well, the bottom, but perfectly understandable with no problem for me partly because of the impossibility you mention. The other end of the pool is the top. It makes sense when you think about it because water flows downhill. But you could call the more distant part of any smallish body of water the bottom, as in sailing to the bottom of the bay. I can't help remarking that when the British speak of the bottom of the garden it sounds odd to me, but that is what they mean, and it does not sound odd to me here.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

ANNE202(3)I’m not sure if I got this paragraph right! In my understanding, the writer mentioned two spots on the Gunpowder river here. One, green-colored, which he chose as that day’s fly-fishing place

Yes, but he did not mention any color of the river.

Here is the old railroad bridge. People can walk along the tracks to access the river.

The best place is about 2 miles upstream, near the reservoir.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

ANNE202They kept 12 feet apart, (4)mind, while chatting and scrambling down the riverbank.

"Mind" is a literary device. It is an imperative to the reader to take notice of the difficulty of keeping 12 feet (4 meters) apart while scrambling and chatting.

ANNE202 Doesn’t the clause mean “he threw his fly under water”

ANNE202(5)and began casting across the bottom of the pool, to where a jumble of rocks rose promisingly from its gravelly depths.

The idea of fly fishing is that the lure at the end of the line looks and acts like a flying insect, so the trout will snap at it and be caught on a hook.

The fisherman has to throw his line simulating the flight of an insect. The fly and hook is weighted. It is heavier than water, so it will sink down into the river. The fisherman then pulls the line back and casts it again.

Here are some hand-tied lures.

Here are some videos of fly-fishing.

Teachers, Please help me read this article! ♥.♥

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