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Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers tried to conquer（征服） Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.
In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes, was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage （短缺） of work, forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.
For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.
The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly. Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”. Since independence, Ireland has revived （复兴） its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish songs which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.
1. What does the author tell us in Paragraph 1?
A. How the Irish fought against the English.
B. How Ireland gained independence.
C. How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland.
D. How two “Irelands” came into being.
2. We learn from the text that in Ireland ______.
A. food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population
B. people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside
C. it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker
D. different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments
3. The last paragraph is mainly about ______.
A. the Irish character
B. Irish culture
C. Irish musical instruments
D. a famous Irish writer
4. What can be the best title for the text?
A. Life in Ireland
B. A Very Difficult History
C. Ireland, Past and Present
D. The Independence of Ireland
conquer v . 征服，攻克
fight against 与……做斗争；反对
be forced to 被迫……
independence n . 独立
result n . 结果
affect v . 影响
disease n . 疾病
shortage n . 短缺，不足
as a result of 作为……的结果
majority n . 大多数
revive v . 复兴
literature n . 文学
instrument n . 乐器
1. This, and a shortage of work , forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada.
and a shortage of work是插入语，阅读时可以先跳过不看，这样就比较好理解了。
（参考译文） 这一事实以及工作岗位的短缺迫使很多人离开爱尔兰去了美国、英国、澳大利亚和加拿大。
2. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.
where things move at a quieter and slower pace是非限制性定语从句，修饰countryside。
（参考译文） 城市的生活与乡村的生活有很大的不同。在乡村，生活的节奏更安静、更舒缓。