REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

R E P U B L I C    O F    I R E L A N D

       Ireland  also known as the Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin.

         The country's three main international airports at Dublin, Shannon and Cork serve many European and intercontinental routes with scheduled and chartered flights. Ryanair is the country's largest airline.

        Ireland has made a significant contribution to world literature in both the English and Irish languages. Modern Irish fiction began with the publishing of the 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.  Bram Stoker is best known as the author of the 1897 novel Dracula. James Joyce (1882–1941) published his most famous work Ulysses in 1922, which is an interpretation of the Odyssey set in Dublin. Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin. In 1925, George Bernard Shaw was the Literature Nobel  Prize Laureate as well as Samuel Beckett in 1969.

         Popular everyday beverages among the Irish include tea and coffee. Alcoholic drinks associated with Ireland include Poitín and the world famous Guinness, which is a dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate in Dublin.

         The shamrock, a type of clover, has been a national symbol of Ireland since the 17th century when it became customary to wear it as a symbol on St. Patrick's Day. 

         The most populous cities in Ireland are Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

       

       

                       T E X T     C  O M P R E H E N S I O N

01-Shannon is a ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­______________

a)novel       b)drink        c)tree        d)plant      e)city

02-Choose the correct sentence according to the text:

a)Guinness and Poitín are alcoholic beverages

b)Ryanair is the only Irish airline

c)Oscar Wilde published the Odyssey

d)Cork is the most populous city in  Ireland

e)there are only three international airports in the Republic of Ireland

03-The national symbol of Ireland is_________.

a)coffee      b)Guinness       c)shamrock       d)tea            e)poitín

04-_______________________ was a novelist.

a)Gulliver    b)Patrick        c)Arthur Guinness      d)Jonathan Swift    e)Ulysses

05-_________________ was an Irish brewer.

a)Ulysses     b)Bernard Shaw    c)Bram Stoker     d)Samuel Beckett   e)Arthur Guinness