申論題

     Situated in the center of Sun Moon Lake is a small island named Lalu, once a holy site for the indigenous Thao tribe. Today, Lalu is only a fraction of its former size, after most of the island, __61__ a pavilion that was the venue for many weddings, sank into the nearby waters during a __62__ earthquake that struck the region in September 1999. The island had been given many different names over the years. During the Japanese colonial era, it was known as Jade Island. When KMT’s nationalist government reclaimed Taiwan from the Japanese in 1945, it was named Guang Hua Isalnd. In the modern era, its original Thao name Lalu has been __63__.

      The Thao believed that Lalu island is where the spirits of the ancestors reside. According to Thao legend, a giant red cedar by the shore of their island held special __64__ powers that kept the tribe safe. As the story goes, the red cedar was the real reason why the tribe was initially able to defend against the __65__ of the Han settlers and retain control over the fertile agricultural land in the Sun Moon Lake area. When Han settlers __66__ this mystical protection, they attempted to chop the tree down. 

     Try__67__ they might, yet, the Han invaders could not destroy the cedar. __68__ hard they brought down the axe, the tree would recover to pristine condition the next day. Finally, the leader of the Han army used a “fanged monster” to saw down the tree. With the __69__ of their guardian, the Thao people were forced out of the area. After the 1999 earthquake, the government decided to return the island to its original owners and restore its original Thao name of Lalu. Today, Lalu remains hallowed ground for the Thao tribe. In deference to the tribe’s tradition, visitors don’t have __70__ to the island; however, visitors may still enjoy boat rides around the tiny island.