Read_On_03_2023_Test

4 March 2023 Read On
How the red continent got a little greener
AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
St Patrick’s Day is a big celebration down under.
mit Audiodatei und
By Franziska Lange
1 IF YOUcome to Australia on
March 17, you might think you’ve
accidentally been dropped off in
Ireland. St Patrick’s Day is not an
official holiday, but everywhere
you look, people are celebrating
Ireland’s patron saint: shamrocks
are all over the place, parades are
going by, everyone is wearing
green, and Irish pubs are full of
revellers.
2 These shenanigans in a country
so far away from Ireland
might seem surprising, but it all
makes sense when you look at
Australia’s history.
3 In 1788, the British founded
a penal colony in Australia: New
South Wales in the southeast of
the continent. It was settled with
convicts from England, Ireland,
Scotland and Wales. The Irish
Übungsmaterial
convicts brought St Patrick’s Day
with them when they came to the
red continent: records show that
alcohol flowed so freely on March
17, 1795, that prison cells were full
of Irishmen who had had a few
glasses too many.
4 Descendants of those Irish
convicts and Irish immigrants
would go on to make
the Irish a big part of the
Australian population. Today,
around 30 per cent of Australians
say they have Irish ancestry. And
Irish or not, everyone seems to
celebrate St Patrick’s Day down
under now. But the holiday has
been celebrated in different ways
over the years.
5 Beginning in the late 1820s,
while the lower classes met in
pubs, the leading politicians
of the colony held formal dinners
on the day. One of the most
popular forms of celebrating St
Patrick’s Day in the 19th century,
both for the higher and the lower
classes, was having a picnic with
Irish music and dancing as well as
sports and games. In the evening,
there were balls, banquets, concerts
or theatre performances.
| Image: Pixabay
Sometimes, the day included all
of these forms of celebration.
March 17 also became a day for
boating regattas and horse races.
6 In the 1880s, the picnics became
more political, with speeches
in favour of home rule, Irish
independence from Britain, and
there were street marches too.
At that time, Australia was still
a British colony, so many people
didn’t like this Irish nationalism.
Sydney’s Cardinal Moran
also thought these loud activities
might make people more prejudiced
against the Irish. That’s
why he took control of the celebrations
in 1895 and turned the
day into a religious holiday.
7 These days, St Patrick’s Day
in Australia is about Irish culture
and no longer political.
Those with Irish roots (and
many without) raise a glass on
the day, just like the Irish did all
those years ago. Only now, they
aren’t all behind bars.
Gibt's auch
digital!
0 – 1 CELEBRATION Feier — accidentally aus
Versehen — to be dropped off in gebracht werden
nach; h.: landen — holiday Feiertag — to celebrate
feiern — patron saint Nationalheilige(r) —
shamrock Kleeblatt — all over the place (fig)
überall — reveller Feierlustige(r)
2 – 4 shenanigans (coll) Schabernack; Unfug —
to seem erscheinen — to make sense (fig) Sinn
ergeben — to found gründen — penal colony
Strafkolonie — to settle besiedeln — convict
Strafgefangene(r) — records Aufzeichnungen —
to flow freely reichlich fließen — descendant
Nachfahr(in) — population Bevölkerung — ancestry
Vorfahren; h.: Wurzeln
5 – 6 politician Politiker(in) — to hold a dinner
ein Abendessen veranstalten — banquet Bankett,
Festessen — boating regatta Bootsregatta —
speech Rede — to be in favour of s.th. etw. befürworten
— home rule Selbstverwaltung — independence
Unabhängigkeit — march Marsch — to
make s.o. prejudiced für Vorurteile bei jdm. sorgen
— to turn s.th. into s.th. etw. zu etw. machen
7 root Wurzel — to raise a glass sein Glas erheben
— behind bars (fig) hinter Gittern
www.sprachzeitungen.de
Funny-sounding
Irish words
By Siobhan Bruns
language corner
1 THE ARTICLEon this page
uses the funny-sounding word
shenanigans to describe the St
Patrick’s Day celebrations. Shenanigans
means mischief or
deceit but is also often used to
describe high-spirited behaviour.
Most people think it’s an
Irish word, and many Irish pubs
have that name. However, it’s not
clear if it really is Irish. But here
are some other funny-sounding
words that are.
2 There is blarney, as in “That’s
a whole bunch of blarney.” It
means nonsense or flattering
or deceptive talk. It comes from
Blarney Castle in County Cork,
home to Blarney Stone. Kiss the
stone, and you’ll be given the “gift
of the gab”. At least that’s what
the legend says.
3 Then there is gob, which is
another word for mouth. But it’s
almost always used in a negative
way, as in “You’d better keep your
gob shut”. Smithereens sounds
funny, too. It means “small, broken
pieces”.
4 One funny-sounding Irish
word which is now often used in
a joking way in English but has
very much kept its original meaning
when used in German is hooligan:
a person who fights or causes
damage in public places.
0 – 1 FUNNY-SOUNDINGkomisch klingend — celebrations Feierlichkeiten
— mischief Schabernack — deceit Täuschung; Ablenkung — high-spirited
fröhlich und ausgelassen — behaviour Verhalten; h.: Stimmung
2 – 4 bunch Haufen — flattering einschmeichelnd — deceptive trügerisch
— county Grafschaft — gift of the gab (fig) Gabe der Beredsamkeit — that’s
what the legend says das besagt die Legende — smithereens Scherben —
joking scherzendt — to cause damage Schaden anrichten — public place
öffentlicher Ort
Across
1 (Together with 13 Across)
A sporting event on the water
3 A place where you can sit with others
and have a drink
9 A meal eaten outside
11 A plant that has three round leaves
on each stem
13 See 1 Across
crossword puzzle: St Patrick’s Day in Australia
All of the words for this crossword are in the article on this page. If you put the letters in the
orange squares in the correct order, you can find the answer below. Answers on page 8.
14 The colour associated with Ireland
This funny-sounding
word means mischief:
— — — — — — — — — — —
Down
2 Where you go to see a play, musical, or other
stage performance
4 A large meal for many people
5 See 10 Down
6 Belonging to Ireland
7 A line of people or vehicles that moves through a
public place as a way of celebrating an occasion
8 Moving your body, usually to music
10 (Together with 5 Down) An equestrian sport
12 A formal dance
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9
11 12
14
10
13