Listening for ielts 7 Unit 1

Unit 6
: Listening Activity No. 8 
Riverdance is an expression of modem Irish culture, but it is based on a culture, which had its golden era 
from the 6th to the 9th century. Before that period, Irish culture was oral and based on a love of 

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Listening for IELTS
complicated stories and poetic styles. But in the 6th century something wonderful happened - writing 
was introduced by missionaries. From then on, the culture of Ireland began to develop in ways 
impossible before and had considerable influence in northern Europe in the period up till the 9th 
century. 
With the invasions which began in the 9th century this golden age collapsed and there never was any 
real recovery. There were no wealthy kings to sponsor the poets and scholars so the traditions survived 
only in a form which the peasants liked. The love of story and song did not die but no real attempt was 
made to find a distinctive Irish style until the end of the 19th century when Irish Nationalism began to 
influence writers in English called Anglo-Irish Literature. There are many famous writers from that 
period.
There is also William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and Samuel Becket, all of whom have 
received the Nobel Prize for Literature. In all, Ireland has received the Nobel Literature Prize four times. 
When you consider we have only a population half the size of Beijing you see how unusual that is. 
Now, let me talk about the music. 
The Irish love of music has succeeded in surviving the change from Irish, the native language, to the 
language of the invader and has once more begun to blossom and become influential outside the 
country.
Irish music was reduced to being the language of the country people and was dying out as people 
moved to the cities. Young city people did not want to listen to "peasant music" although we were all 
told it was important. Some efforts were made to make it attractive to city people, but largely without 
success. More recently, this has begun to change and since the 1980's has taken off. But modem Ireland 
has been looking for more than just a revival of traditional music. Many of the most famous popular 
singers in the world are Irish - U2, Enya, the Cranberries, and many others. There are 10,000 people 
employed in Ireland in the music industry. Riverdance is an expression of that new interest in the old 
and that ability to understand the new.