Ireland has had a very difficult history.

题目内容：

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

正确答案：

小题1:D

小题2:A

小题3:B

小题4:C

答案解析：

文章介绍了爱尔兰的过去与现在，文化与历史。它的形成，以及在历史上受到的苦难和它的文化。

小题1:段落大意题。第一段正是告诉我们两个爱尔兰是如何形成的。选D。

小题2:细节题。根据第2段第1行In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes ,was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of bunger.可知在19世纪的食品短缺导致人口下降。选A。

小题3:段落大意题。通读全段和句子：Ireland has revived (复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing.可知文章最后一段是关于爱尔兰的文化。选B。

小题4:主旨大意题。通读全文可知文章介绍了爱尔兰的过去与现在。它的形成，以及在历史上受到的苦难和它的文化。选C

考点核心：

什么是历史文化类阅读：

本类题型常用的方式是夹叙夹议。叙述的目的是为了议，所以要把握其议才是主要方面。阅读这类文章，先弄清其引入的话题，再弄清里面人物对其不同的看法，然后理解作者本身对话题的观点看法或思考。