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Practice dictation & shadowing on the daily life story: Ireland
Ireland
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Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the Atlantic Ocean just West of Britain.
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For much of its history, it has been an advantage to Ireland to be far from the mainland.
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The Romans or the other early empires never conquered Ireland.
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It was the remoteness of Ireland that helped preserve much of Christian and classical culture.
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After the fall of the Roman Empire, wandering tribes destroyed much of what remained on the continent.
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Finally, it was Ireland's turn to be invaded.
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First the Norsemen, or Vikings, attacked during the eight hundreds and nine hundreds.
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Then, in the 1100s, the English invaded Ireland.
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Since that time there has always been an English presence in Ireland.
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The conflict between the English and the Irish grew worse in the 1500s.
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Then the English became Protestant and the Irish remained Catholic.
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In the 1600s Oliver Cromwell tried to make Ireland Protestant by driving out the Catholics and bringing in Protestant settlers.
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In the centuries following, Irish Catholics had very few rights in their own country.
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The Catholic Irish were not allowed to vote until 1829.
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Since Irish Catholics were not allowed to own land, they were poor tenant farmers.
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They paid rent to the English landlords.
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The main food crop in the 1840s was potatoes.
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When these became infected by blight, thousands of Irishmen starved.
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Many others were evicted from their dwellings because they couldn't pay the rent.
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Hundreds of thousands of Irish took ship for North America.
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The Catholic Irish preferred to go to the United States because Canada was under British influence.
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However, many Protestant Irish went to Canada.
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The influence of the Irish on North American culture has been very great in many areas.
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Prominent Irish Americans include Presidents John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
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Meanwhile, in Ireland itself, a strong independence movement developed.
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A rebellion against England in 1916 began A struggle that resulted in independence for most of Ireland.
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Some Protestant areas in Northern Ireland preferred to stay with England.
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Republican groups such as the Irish Republican Army wanted to liberate the North from British rule.
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Nowadays, conflict between Protestants and Catholics is limited to these northern counties.
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Constant attempts are being made to bring the conflict there to an end.
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Meanwhile, the Irish Republic of Air has become prosperous again.
(33)
It can sell its agricultural products to the European Common Market.
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Irish beer and whiskey are sold all over the world.
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Ireland is also becoming known for its hightech industries.
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Because of this relative prosperity, the population is increasing again after a century and a half of decline.
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The Irish differ from other people because the vast majority of Irishmen live away from their homeland.
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However, this exodus from Ireland has helped to spread Irish music, culture and products around the world.
(39)
On Saint Patrick's Day, March 17th, nearly everyone becomes Irish for the day.
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Then there is a great party with Celtic music, Irish dancing, green beer and the wearing of the green.