英语听力精选进阶版 6161

Celebrating Irish Culture 庆祝爱尔兰文化的节日

All of the countries in the British Isles² have a patron saint’s day but the biggest celebrations are always held on March 17th, Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day.

For people who live in Ireland and Northern Ireland it is a national holiday, but in the wider world it is seen as an opportunity to explore one of the most emblematic³ aspects of Irish culture – getting boozed up.

The preferred tipple⁴ for most people on St Patrick’s Day is a pint⁵ of Irish stout⁶, a heavy, black beer, although others may plump for a glass of Irish whiskey.

Like the Chinese, the Irish have a long history of economic migration⁷, and have settled in many countries around the world, particularly in the USA.

Because of their large populations of people of Irish descent, cities like New York and Boston have enormous St Patrick’s Day parades, where hundreds of thousands of marchers and millions of spectators parade through the city.

The colour green is predominant on St Patrick’s Day as that is the national colour of Ireland, which is sometimes called the Emerald Isle¹.

As any traveller knows, Ireland is a very green, rural country, thanks to the amount of rainfall, with some areas seeing rain for 225 days in a year.

This year even the President of the United States joined in the fun by adding green dye to the fountains in the White House gardens.

But the American city of Chicago goes even further; since 1961 the Chicago River has been dyed green on St Patrick’s Day.

The tradition began by accident after a plumber⁸, who was using dye to detect leaks into the river, discovered his orange dye turned green when mixed with water.

City officials decided⁹ to add dye to the river to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, however during the first attempt they used too much dye and turned the river bright green for a week.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

patron saint’s day 守护神日

emblematic aspects 象征方面

boozed up 狂欢纵饮

tipple 酒

pint 品脱

Irish stout 爱尔兰黑啤

plump for 选择

economic migration 商业移民

settled 定居

Irish descent 爱尔兰祖籍

parades 庆祝游行

marchers 游行者

spectators 旁观者，观众

predominant 占据主导位置

Emerald Isle 绿宝石岛

rural 农村的

green dye 绿色染料

fountains 喷泉

plumber 水管工

leaks 泄漏

1 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。

2 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

3 emblematic   

adj.象征的，可当标志的；象征性

参考例句：

• The violence is emblematic of what is happening in our inner cities. 这种暴力行为正标示了我们市中心贫民区的状况。
• Whiteness is emblematic of purity. 白色是纯洁的象征。 来自辞典例句

4 tipple   

n.常喝的酒；v.不断喝，饮烈酒

参考例句：

• My favourite tipple is a glass of port.我最喜欢喝的酒是波尔图葡萄酒。
• Scotch drinkers around the world tend to associate their favourite tipple with success and achievement.世界各地喝苏格兰威士忌的人，往往把他们最喜欢的这种烈酒，与成功和成就联系在一起。

5 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

6 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

7 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

8 plumber   

n.(装修水管的)管子工

参考例句：

• Have you asked the plumber to come and look at the leaking pipe?你叫管道工来检查漏水的管子了吗？
• The plumber screwed up the tap by means of a spanner.管子工用板手把龙头旋紧。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。