VOA标准英语2011--St. Patrick's Day Recalls Irish Immigran

Thursday, March 17, is Saint Patrick's Day, a time when native-born Irish and Irish-Americans will parade and pipe their way up Manhattan's famed Fifth Avenue. The 2011 event, which is expected to include well over 150,000 thousand marchers, will be the 250th annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade to be held in New York.
There was a foretaste of Saint Patrick's Day revelry at a dinner dance held last Saturday in a vast Queens New York catering¹ hall. More than 500 Irish-Americans who trace their roots to County Mayo celebrated² with visitors and well wishers who had come from County Mayo itself to join in the fun. County Mayo is just one of the 26 Irish counties represented in this year's parade.
Among the luminaries³ gaily⁴ holding their own among the dancers was Mary Higgins Clark, 83. The renowned⁵ author will be the Grand Marshall of this year's Saint Patrick's Day Parade. Clark says she is delighted to be celebrating her Celtic roots with her fellow Irish Americans, and adds that many of two million or so New Yorkers lining⁶ Thursday's parade route will be Irish in a certain sense, too.
"There is no question the sense of pride is the same. The people watching the parade, they are thinking of their own ancestors. They came over the same way. They came over in steerage," says Clark. "They were listed as laborers⁸ and they built themselves from the ground up. So I think, in a sense, everybody is Irish because everybody, or so many, are the children of immigrants, and they are seeing or watching the story they heard themselves."
An unflattering political cartoon from 1871 titled 'The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things,' by Thomas Nast.
Hard times
The story of the first great wave of Irish immigration to New York is not a happy one. Millions of Irish arrived here during the 19th century. Many were seeking refuge from political or religious persecution⁹. Others were fleeing the Great Famine of 1845 to 1852, when more than a million Irish died of starvation and disease.
The immigrants met further hardship when they reached New York.
"There was tremendous discrimination against them. Signs went up all over New York and Boston [that said] ‘No Irish Need Apply.' And they were always lampooned¹⁰ regularly in the press as idiots, as garbage. And so they need to get together," says Brian O'Dwyer, chairman of the non-profit Emerald Isle¹¹ Immigration Center.
Making their mark
That experience sparked a deep involvement in local politics that continues to this day.
"We learned very quickly that the only way we could combat oppression is by being in and of ourselves, become part of the politics and making sure we took part in the American democracy," says O'Dwyer. "And that developed a whole brand new way of thinking by the Irish - as opposed to any other immigrant group before or since - that you needed to organize, that you needed to be part of the fabric¹² of American society quickly so you could make your mark in America."
Indeed, Irish-Americans have made their mark in areas as diverse as labor⁷ unions, popular culture, law enforcement, journalism¹³ and finance. Famous Americans of Irish descent include John F. Kennedy and eight other U.S. presidents, the writers F. Scott Fitzgerald and Flannery O'Connor, industrialist¹⁴ Henry Ford¹⁵, and boxing champions Jack¹⁶ Dempsey and Yankee Sullivan.
New wave
Tighter U.S. visa restrictions¹⁷ and citizenship¹⁸ requirements introduced during the 1960s, as well as an improved economy in Ireland over the past decade, slowed the rate of Irish immigration from its 20th century peak.
But the recent economic downturn has led to a new wave of Irish coming to New York, hoping to settle here. Emerald Isle Immigration Center chairman O'Dwyer says his organization helps thousands of Irish immigrants and would-be immigrants every year.
"America is different from Ireland with different customs, and different ways, and they are away from home for the first time and it's our job to make sure that they are welcomed and that the transition is easy for them," he says. "We tell them that no matter what anyone has told you, people in New York love the Irish and as long as you work hard, the sky is the limit as it has been for many, many generations before."

1 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 luminaries   

n.杰出人物，名人（luminary的复数形式）

参考例句：

• In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 亚14:6那日、必没有光．三光必退缩。 来自互联网
• Includes household filament light bulbs & luminaries. 包括家用的白炙灯泡和光源。 来自互联网

4 gaily   

adv.欢乐地，高兴地

参考例句：

• The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
• She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。

5 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

6 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

9 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

10 lampooned   

v.冷嘲热讽，奚落( lampoon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His cartoons mercilessly lampooned the politicians of his time. 他的漫画毫不留情地嘲讽了他那个年代的政治人物。
• He was lampooned for his political views. 他的政治观点使他成了受奚落的对象。 来自辞典例句

11 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

12 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

13 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

14 industrialist   

n.工业家，实业家

参考例句：

• The industrialist's son was kidnapped.这名实业家的儿子被绑架了。
• Mr.Smith was a wealthy industrialist,but he was not satisfied with life.史密斯先生是位富有的企业家，可他对生活感到不满意。

15 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

16 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

17 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

18 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。