Question

Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers fried 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 (復興) 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 two “Irelands” came into being.

D. How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland.

2.The last paragraph is mainly about____.

A. the Irish character                B. Irish culture

C. Irish musical instruments          D. a famous Irish writer

3.We learn from the text that in Ireland _____.

A. different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments

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. food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A. Life in Ireland

B. Ireland, Past and Present

C. A Very Difficult History

D. The Independence of Ireland

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文從地理狀況、人口發展、經濟情況以及社會生活等方面介紹了愛爾蘭共和國，讓我們對這個美麗的國家有更進一步的了解。

1.推斷題：通讀第一段可知，本段介紹了愛爾蘭共和國（The Republic of Ireland），及北愛爾蘭(Northern Ireland)的由來，故選C。

2.推斷題：文章末段從愛爾蘭民族習性、音樂、語言及文學等方面介紹了愛爾蘭民族文化，故B項正確。A、C、D各項雖都提及，但都是細節，只有B項囊括了全部，故選B。

3.細節題：通讀第二段可知，十九世紀四十年代，由于主要農作物土豆受病害影響及本國工作機會缺乏，大量愛爾蘭人移往其它國家，使愛爾蘭人口下降，故D項正確。B項中人們移往城市并非是由于農村缺少工作機會；C項在文章中并沒有對比城市和鄉村生活的難易；A項錯誤在于all，并非全部的愛爾蘭歌謠都使用樂器。故選D。

4.總結題：通讀全文可知，本文從地理狀況、人口發展、經濟情況以及社會生活等方面介紹了愛爾蘭共和國的過去及現在，故B項最為全面，故選B。

考點：考查地理歷史類閱讀