Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English ruler tried to conquer 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 will 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 Creeks". 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.
小题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.小题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小题3:The last paragraph is mainly about________.
A．the Irish character
B．Irish culture
C．Irish musical instruments
D．a famous Irish writer小题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
