June 27
[ 2007-06-19 08:39 ]
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| President Kennedy made
an emotional visit to his ancestral
homeland |
| 1963: Warm welcome for JFK in
Ireland |
England have
The US President John F Kennedy has received a rapturous welcome on an
emotional visit to his ancestral homeland in County Wexford, Ireland.
On the second day of his four-day trip to Ireland, the president
travelled by helicopter this morning to County Wexford.
Hundreds of wellwishers cheered and waved flags on his arrival at
Wexford town and a choir of 300 boys greeted him singing "The Boys of
Wexford", a ballad about an insurrection in 1798.
The president left his bodyguards to join them in the second chorus,
prompting one American photographer to burst into tears.
Once the singing was over, Mr Kennedy shook hands with as many
schoolchildren as he could reach.
He was then driven to the nearby port of New Ross from where Patrick
Kennedy, his great-grandfather, had set sail for a better life in America
back in 1848 during the potato famine.
In a speech at the quayside he said: "When my great-grandfather left
here to become a cooper in East Boston he carried nothing with him except
two things - a strong religious faith and a strong desire for liberty.
"I am glad to say that all of his grandchildren have valued that
inheritance."
'Welcome home, Mr President'
At Dunganstown, five miles (8kms) south of New Ross, President Kennedy
visited his ancestral homestead, a small croft building and farm.
The president and two of his sisters who accompanied him on this trip
met 15 of their cousins, including the current owner of the homestead, Mary Ryan who welcomed
him with a kiss on the cheek.
Tea had been laid out on trestle tables in the yard and a banner
declared "Welcome home, Mr President".
America's first Catholic president spent about an hour chatting with
his Irish family, cut a large cake and with teacup in hand said: "I want
to drink a cup of tea to all those Kennedys who went and all those
Kennedys who stayed."
He was then driven to Wexford town where he made much of Ireland's
subjugation and religious
persecution by the British. |
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| This smoker said the
findings "didn't frighten him at all" |
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1957: Smoking 'causes lung
cancer' | Artificially 1969:
The The link
between smoking and lung cancer is one of 'direct cause and effect', a
special report by the Medical Research Council has found.
The report, published today, studied the dramatic increase in deaths
from lung cancer over the past 25 years and concluded the main cause was
smoking.
But tobacco firms have rejected the findings saying they are merely a
'matter of opinion'.
The government has indicated that an educational campaign to raise
awareness on the dangers of smoking will be launched via local health
authorities.
Shares unaffected
The report states that in 1945 the mortality rate from lung cancer was
188 deaths in every million. Ten years later the figure had almost doubled
to 388 in every million.
The report, which looked at evidence from 21 investigations in six
countries, found cigarette smoking to be the predominant cause for this
rise.
Mr Vaughan-Morgan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health
said: "The government feels that it is right to ensure that this latest
authoritative opinion is brought effectively to public notice, so that
everyone may know the risks involved."
But he made it clear that people, armed with the facts, would be able
to make up their own minds and smoking would not be banned.
The prohibition of smoking in theatres, cinemas and public transport is
not on the agenda, he added.
It is estimated that between ?00m and ?20m in revenue is generated by
the sale of cigarettes.
The Conservatives have questioned what alternative taxes the government
would introduce to cover that figure should cigarette smoking now be
eliminated.
Members of the general public, asked by the BBC for their reaction to
the findings, appeared unphased.
One smoker said that, although he was not considering giving up smoking
himself, he thought the younger generation would be well advised not to
start.
Another man said he was "not frightened at all" by the findings and may
even consider increasing the number of cigarettes he smokes each day.
These views were reflected on the stock market where shares in leading
tobacco companies remained largely unaffected by the
news. |
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| Vocabulary:
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homestead: a house, especially a farmhouse, with
adjoining buildings and land（家園，田產(chǎn)）
subjugation :
forced submission to control by
others（鎮(zhèn)壓；平息）
shelling: the heavy fire of
artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific
target（炮擊）
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