【英语趣味课堂】爱尔兰的家-Irish Roots

Jessica: Kate, where are you from?

 

Kate: I'm from London in England.

 

Jessica: OK, and your heritage¹ is..?

 

Kate: My heritage is Irish. My grandparents were Irish, both sets of grandparents.

 

Jessica: Oh, wow. What part of Ireland were they from?

 

Kate: They're from Galway City.

 

Jessica: Where is that?

 

Kate: That's on the west coast of Ireland. It's really beautiful there. Absolutely gorgeous².

 

Jessica: Great, and do they move to England?

 

Kate: Yeah, my grandfather actually came over to become a priest³, but obviously⁴ he didn't. So yeah, then, he met my grandmother who also come over from England and then they got married. So, yeah, my name is an Irish name. Kate's an Irish name and Kenny as well, my surname⁵. It's a very Irish name.

 

Jessica: Wow, so now what was it like having Irish grandparents in England?

 

Kate: I think initially⁶ for them it was difficult when they first came over because there weren't many jobs for the Irish and there as quite a lot of prejudice against the Irish, but it's wonderful having Irish heritage because there's such funny warm kind people. Really interesting. They can tell a good story so it was great to have that.

 

Jessica: Yeah, so have you been to Ireland?

 

Kate: Oh, yeah. Many times. Yeah.

Jessica: Did you go and see where they grew up and...yeah

 

Jessica: Cool.

 

Kate: It's a beautiful place. I've been there lots of times. I want to go back. Definitely⁷. Really lovely country and the people are so friendly. It's so beautiful there.

 

学习内容：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

heritage

 

My heritage is Irish.

 

Your 'heritage' is something that has been handed down from your ancestors, like culture or tradition.  Notice the following:

 

His heritage is very important to him.

There is a heritage festival here in November.

set of grandparents

 

Both sets of my grandparents were Irish.

 

A 'set of grandparents' is both a grandmother and grandfather.  Many people have two set, your mother's parents and your father's parents. Notice the following:

 

Both sets of grandparents came to my graduation.

One set of grandparents still lives in South Africa.

absolutely gorgeous

 

Galway City in Ireland is absolutely gorgeous.

 

If something is 'absolutely gorgeous' it is very, very, very beautiful.  Notice the following:

 

The sunset tonight was absolutely gorgeous.

Your wedding dress is absolutely gorgeous.

came over

 

My grandfather came over to become a priest.

 

We use 'come over' in this context⁸ to show that someone is traveling to a new country, to stay for a long time or forever. Notice the following:

 

Many Irish came over in the beginning of the 1900s.

He came over here to find a better life.

prejudice

 

There was quite a lot of prejudice against the Irish.

 

A 'prejudice' is a certain opinion or idea, usually about a group of people, that you believe to be true for all members of that group. Prejudices are usually bad. Notice the following:

 

Prejudice exists as much today as it did in the past.

Many people form prejudices because of media.

1 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。

2 gorgeous   

adj.华丽的，灿烂的，美丽的，宜人的，棒的

参考例句：

• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。
• What a gorgeous day it is today!今天天气多好啊！

3 priest   

n.神父，牧师，司铎，司祭，领导者，神甫；vt.使成为神职人员

参考例句：

• He confessed to a priest that he had sinned.他向神父忏悔他犯了罪。
• The priest visited all the old people in the parish.牧师探望了教区里的所有老人。

4 obviously   

adv.显然；明白地

参考例句：

• Obviously they were putting him to a severe test.显然他们是在给他以严峻的考验。
• Obviously he was lying.显然他是在撒谎。

5 surname   

n.姓；vt.冠姓

参考例句：

• Her first name is Sheila and her surname is Kane.她姓凯恩，名叫希拉。
• Wang is a very common Chinese surname.王是一个很常见的中国姓。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

8 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。