A2
Literature
Country Profile
Profile on the Republic of Ireland Warm up
1 Guess if the statements below are true or false. Then compare your answers with your classmates and if necessary, check them on the Internet. True
False
1 The capital of Ireland is Cork. 2 The official languages of Ireland are English and Irish. 3 Its currency is the Irish dollar. 4 The Irish flag consists of three stripes; one green, one white and one red. 5 Ireland is also known as the Emerald Isle because of the green grass and plants that cover the island. 6 The national symbols of Ireland are the shamrock, the harp, the Celtic cross and Guinness beer. 7 Eire is the Irish name for Ireland.
Fill the gaps 2 Fill the gaps with the missing words. novel
➜ Did you know...? The Irish writer George Bernard Shaw is the only person to receive both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar in Literature. His Oscar was for the film Pygmalion.
wife
famous
prison
Oscar Wilde is one of Ireland’s most (1) . . . . . . . . . . and popular writers. He wrote poetry, plays, short stories and one (2) .......... , The Picture of Dorian Grey. He is also famous for his witty* sayings. He was born in Dublin in 1854. In 1895 he was sent to prison for two years. After he left (3) . . . . . . . . . . he went to Europe. He died in France in 1900 in poverty. Wilde wrote about his terrible experience of prison life in his most famous poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol. This poem is a protest against the (4) .......... penalty and the prison system. The central event of the poem is the execution of a soldier who murdered his (5) ........ . . . The most famous line from this poem is Yet each man kills the thing he loves.
Listening
1
3 Below is the first verse of The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Listen to the poem and number the lines in the correct order.
a b c
1
death
And blood and wine were on his hands The poor dead woman whom he loved When they found him with the dead,
d e
He did not wear his scarlet coat, And murdered in her bed.
f
For blood and wine are red,