📚 Bài tập Luyện Nghe Tiếng Anh trong 5 phút - #9

Study with me – I’m Mary

Exercise 1:
If you ask people which animals they hate or fear the most, chances are you will
hear the following; skunks, bats, snakes and rats. But some of these animals are
gaining new respect.
Most people fear the skunks because of their awful smell, for example. But
recently people have begun to rethink their ideas about skunks. "Skunks are very
useful animals", says animal researcher Cherry Briggs, "they catch rats and mice
and beetles. They are great for pest control".
Skunks are very fair. They always warn you before they spray. They raise their
tails and stamp their front feet. It's also good to know that you can spot a skunk
before it sees you. We recognize the skunk by its white stripe. But skunks are very
nearsighted and can't see more than three feet ahead. So if you pay attention to the
skunk's warning signs and move away, you probably won't get sprayed.
Most people would not be too pleased if a skunk moved in under their house, and
here is some advice on how to get rid of the creatures. First of all, skunks hate rap
music, so if you play loud rap music, skunks generally will move away from your
house after a few hours. Also, they love cheese, especially cheddar, so you can just
put some cheese a few feet away from your house. When the skunk leaves to get
the cheese, block the holes so it can't get back in. But mostly, skunks just want to
be left alone to do their work, which is pest control. Some people who got rid of
skunks now actually want them back.
Exercise 2:
Just one hour north of London lies the university city of Cambridge, which, for
seven hundred years, has been one of the world's most important centres of
learning. The academic vitality of the city and its sheer physical beauty combine to
produce the perfect atmosphere in which to study. Like the other students here, you
will enjoy privileges which are unique to the Cambridge way of life.
During your free time, you might like to wander along the "Backs" - the lawns
which slope gently down to the River Cam-or try your hand at "punting" on the
river itself. Equally relaxing is a cycle ride through the town centre: here you can
practise your English in the charming old market place, meet other students in a
traditional English pub or pay a visit to one of the city's world-renowned museums.
Afterwards, if you are still feeling energetic, there are facilities for every kind of
sport.
Although London is only a short journey away, Cambridge will tempt you with
entertainments of its own. You can watch Britain's finest actors and musicians in
performance, see the latest films, or dine in one of Cambridge's excellent
restaurants. In addition, the university social functions provide the perfect chance
to make new friends and improve your English at the same time.
Exercise 3:
Riverdance is not just an expression of self-confidence, a kind of culturally
interesting pop song. It tells the story of a people through song and dance. It tells
the story of the people whose spirit was broken by an event which occurred in the
middle of the last century but continued to affect the society until 1961, the Great
Famine.
What is a famine?
In 1840 the official population of Ireland was 8,000,000. They were largely poor,
and living in the countryside. They were beginning to have an interest in
independence and perhaps had things been different Ireland might have been
independent much earlier, but there was a serious problem in the agricultural
system. All crops were grown to pay the rent of the land, and all that was grown to
eat was the potato. This was fine until the potato crop failed as it did from 1845 to
1848. The stories of what happened in those times live on in the popular culture of
Ireland and I won't tell them here but the result was that 2 million people died or
left the country by 1851. When you realize that the population continued to go
down until 1961 you can realize what a disastrous effect this famine had on the
people.
Compared with China, imagine if the famine of 1960 reduced the population by
1/4 and it kept falling to less than half of its pre-famine figure.
Anybody with ideas left and went to England, America or Australia. The people
left behind were broken by their experiences and, in effect, the famine and its
consequences put an end to all serious development in the country until well into
this century. The Irish in Ireland lost all hope and self-confidence and much of our
modern culture is about the sadness of that time and the sorrow of saying goodbye
to those who left and left well into this century. Ireland has the highest emigration
rate of any country in Europe for the last two centuries. We even have an
expression for this saying goodbye. It is called the "American Wake". It means the
ceremony, like that of a funeral for someone going to America, because you will
never see him or her again.
Do you know why there is Irish music on the film Titanic? It is because most of the
people killed were Irish.
The leaving continued until the 1970's because Independence in 1921 was followed
by a civil war and un economic depression. Almost every family in Ireland has
relatives abroad, and up to the 60's in some places, of a class of 30 graduating from
high school all left. Along the west cost, closed-up houses from that time falling
into ruins are still common.