MM Readers, 2005. — 55 pages plus Worksheet.
Contents:
Maps.
Used in Evidence.
The Emperor.
There are No Snakes in Ireland.
The stories in this book take place in four countries. Used
in Evidence takes place in Dublin, in the Republic of
Ireland. There Are No Snakes in Ireland takes place in Bangor
and Belfast, in Northern Ireland and - for a few pages - in
the city of Bombay, in India. The Emperor takes place on the
island of Mauritius.
The island of Ireland is to the west of Great Britain. The
island is divided into two countries. The larger one, the
Republic of Ireland, is in the south. It is often called Eire,
which is its Irish name. Eire was once part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. But Eire is now an
independent country. Dublin is its capital city.
The other country on the island is Northern Ireland,
which is often called Ulster. Ulster is part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Belfast is
the capital city and Bangor is a town near Belfast.
For many years, there was fighting in Northern Ireland.
The fighting was between people who wanted Northern
Ireland to join the Republic and people who wanted the
country to remain part of the United Kingdom. There are
famous universities in both Dublin and Belfast.
There is a strange thing about Ireland - no snakes live
there. There are snakes in England and Scotland and Wales,
the countries of Great Britain. But there are no snakes on the
island of Ireland. There is a very old story about this. Long
ago - in about the year 400 AD - a holy man came to
Ireland. He was Saint Patrick. He came to teach the people
about Christianity. At that time, there were many snakes in
Ireland. Saint Patrick quickly destroyed all the snakes except
one. The saint could not catch this clever old snake. So
Patrick made a beautiful box and he showed it to the old
snake. He invited the snake to look inside the box. The
snake got into the box and Saint Patrick quickly shut the lid.
Then he threw the box and the snake into the sea. So now
people say that there are no snakes in Ireland because Saint
Patrick killed all of them.
Bombay is a great city on the west coast of India. It is
India’s largest city and it is an important sea-port. About
twelve million people live there. In 1995, the city was given
a new name. It is now called Mumbai.
Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean. It is to the
east of Madagascar, the large island on the south-eastern
side of Africa. The people of Mauritius speak English, French
and Creole - a language with very many French words.
Mauritius has a tropical climate and many beautiful beaches.
There are coral reefs round the island.
Many tourists visit Mauritius. And many of them enjoy
water-sports and sea-fishing. Some people like to go out in
boats and catch fish such as sharks, marlins, tuna, bonitos
and dorados. This is called game-fishing. The big fish in the
story, The Emperor, is a marlin. Marlins are very large fish,
sometimes 2.5m long. They have strong tails, tall fins on
their backs and long, sharp spikes on their heads.