GT IELTS Collection 1 Reading Test 6

Film Reviews

A. Star Voyage 7

At its heart, Star Voyage 7 delivers an important ethical message about the need to treat others with dignity and respect. The problem is that the film appears to be aimed at teenagers while depending heavily on knowledge of events and popular culture from two decades ago. Many younger viewers will probably fail to understand several of the references. As a result, the valuable message at the centre of the story may not reach its intended audience.

B. The Ashworths

I was doubtful about the decision to remake Clara and Ben, a classic that is still loved by many viewers, and this new version did little to justify its existence. Marina Delacroix is easily the highlight, bringing warmth and personality to a character who might otherwise have seemed rather flat. Unfortunately, the script is so poorly written that even the strongest members of the cast struggle to make their conversations sound natural. A talented cast deserved much better material.

C. Fellcrest

Fellcrest has all the ingredients of an excellent film: a charming story, witty dialogue and breathtaking scenery. Unfortunately, the two leading actors seem badly miscast, as both are far more convincing in thrillers than in this kind of emotional drama. Rowan Aldercott, in particular, fails to make the central character sympathetic. Because the audience never becomes fully invested in his fate, the hero’s successes and disappointments have far less emotional impact than they should.

D. Crimson Comet: The Real Story

I expected this film to rely heavily on the band’s music, with weak dialogue simply filling the gaps between songs, but I was pleasantly surprised. The actors portraying the group are remarkably talented musicians themselves, while the concert scenes feel especially authentic because the audience members were genuine fans of the band. Most moving of all is the storyline in which the other members support lead singer Danny Whitfield through a personal tragedy. It gave the film real emotional depth and completely changed the way I viewed the band.

E. Hearthlight

After the director’s previous two films, I was expecting another slow domestic drama, but Hearthlight turned out to be far more exciting and engaging. There is enough detail in the story to make it worth watching a second time. However, despite being promoted as a family film, it contains several lengthy conversations about relationship problems that children are likely to find tedious. These scenes also contribute very little to the main plot.

Sports events in Australia

A. Wildside Safari Dash

Race through beautiful countryside before crossing the finish line at a wildlife park, cheered on by some very unusual spectators — including lions, tigers, gorillas and giraffes. Whether you are entering your first event or competing at a professional level, you can choose from short, sprint or standard distances. Take part as an individual or gather a team of friends or colleagues for an even more memorable challenge. Teams will also have the opportunity to win $25,000 for a charity of their choice. Get ready for an unforgettable combination of sport, scenery and wildlife!

B. The Alpine Trailblazer

Push your mountain-biking skills to the limit in this thrilling seven-day race through the Southern Alps. Covering more than 500 kilometres, the route links farm tracks, cycle trails, double tracks and demanding single-track sections. As the first event of its kind, it offers riders a unique journey across some of the region’s most varied terrain. Along the way, you will pass dramatic mountain peaks, crystal-clear lakes and breathtaking high-country landscapes. This is the ultimate adventure for cyclists seeking endurance, excitement and spectacular views.

C. Full Throttle Track Day

Experience the excitement of driving a powerful 6000cc racing car around a professional motorsport circuit. Your day begins with an introduction to a team of experienced racing drivers before getting kitted out with your race suit and helmet. Next, take the passenger seat for a demonstration lap and learn about racing lines, braking points and expert driving techniques. Then it is your turn to take control and complete your own high-speed laps around the track. Feel the engine roar and discover what it is really like to be a racing driver!

D. Coastal Ramblers Festival

Explore a stunning coastal peninsula during a festival of guided walks led by enthusiastic local volunteers. Each guide has a genuine passion for the area and will bring its landscapes, history and stories to life. The walks are designed to be relaxed and sociable, giving you plenty of opportunities to chat and meet new people. Along the way, you can enjoy magnificent views while experiencing the unique atmosphere of the region. Put on your walking shoes and discover the coast in excellent company!

Writing a Personal Cover Letter That Will Attract Employers

You are unique. No one shares your particular motivations, and no one else has arrived at this application through quite the same journey. Why is it, then, that a great many cover letters are little more than a repetition of the CV or a standard template with the company name swapped in? They reveal almost nothing about the individual behind the letter. It's almost as if the majority of applicants are afraid to write in their own voice.

Perhaps in a corporate world where everyone feels they must project the same professional image — wearing uniform white shirts and dark suits, for example — the same is subconsciously felt to be true for cover letter writing — the phrasing, formal formulas, and safe statements. But there's a difficulty here: you want your letter to be memorable, and yet at the same time you're afraid of writing anything that might make it memorable? The problem with this thinking is painfully clear. Your letter will be flat, and likely to be skimmed and forgotten by a hiring manager. Surely it is much better to be brave. This isn't about exaggeration or empty flattery: it's about explaining specifically why this role and this company appeal to you, and connecting that to the qualities that drive your success. In short, why you are the right person for the job.

Writing persuasively about oneself can sometimes be difficult. It involves the ability to see yourself from different people’s perspectives. Working with a professional writer or careers adviser is one way to achieve that and to present your motivation convincingly within a letter. Asking a colleague that you trust is also a good way to discover what genuinely makes you stand out.

Try not to use classic cover letter clichés. Everyone opens with 'I am writing to apply for the position of...' or claims to be a 'passionate team player'. This gets ignored by hiring managers. So, instead think carefully about who you are and why this opportunity matters to you, and then try to express that. In that way, you give the reader something original to engage with, something that earns you an interview.

The Value of Being Organised at Work

Being organised is one of the most valuable skills a businessperson can develop. Here are my top tips for bringing order to your digital working life.

Organise Your Computer Files and Contacts

Don’t underestimate the time wasted or the stress created by a chaotic digital environment. To restore order:

Reduce your files to what is genuinely useful. Be ruthless about deleting duplicates, outdated drafts and anything that no longer serves a practical purpose in your day-to-day work. One or two decorative elements, such as a favourite desktop background, are fine, but do not let unnecessary clutter build up.

Create a logical folder structure that makes documents easy to retrieve. Arrange your folders according to the way you actually work — for example, by client, project or year. Transfer files you rarely need to archive folders, and save documents to their proper location once you have finished editing them. That way, they will be exactly where you expect to find them next time.

Keep your desktop clear by placing active documents in clearly labelled folders such as 'In Progress', 'For Action' and 'Completed Projects'. Apply the same discipline to your contacts. Remove duplicates and anything obsolete, use a consistent naming system, and record useful details such as each person's company, role and how you met.

Finally, be honest about what you really need to retain, whether it is a file or a contact. Ask yourself whether there is a legal or tax-related reason to keep it to decide whether it is likely to be useful in the future. Avoid creating a general ‘Miscellaneous’ folder, as it will quickly become a dumping ground whose contents are difficult to remember or retrieve.

Plan Effectively

Plan your work, then work according to your plan. A small amount of time spent preparing can save many hours during execution, and digital calendars and task-management apps make planning easier than ever. Establishing regular planning habits will sharpen your focus and help you stay on track.

Start preparing today for tomorrow. Toward the end of each working day, set aside 10 to 15 minutes to organise your inbox and files, complete minor unfinished tasks and identify your priorities for the following day. Once a week, reserve a 60- to 90-minute appointment and use this uninterrupted time to review upcoming commitments or complete the strategic thinking that is often pushed aside by more immediate demands.

The Impact of the Potato

Jeff Chapman relates the story of history's most important vegetable

The potato was first cultivated in South America between three and seven thousand years ago, though scientists believe wild varieties grew there far earlier. Some researchers suggest that wild potatoes may have flourished in the region for as long as 13,000 years before any human cultivation began. The genetic patterns of potato distribution across the continent reveal valuable clues about the plant's early history and gradual geographical spread. These patterns indicate that the potato probably originated in the mountainous west-central region before spreading slowly to surrounding areas over many centuries.

Early Spanish chroniclers misused the Indian word batata, meaning sweet potato, as the name for the potato while noting its importance to the Incan Empire. The Incas had learned to preserve their crop for long storage by dehydrating and mashing potatoes into a substance they called chuño. This preserved food could be stored in a single room for up to 10 years, providing excellent insurance against possible crop failures during difficult seasons. As well as using the food as a staple crop in daily life, the Incas thought potatoes made childbirth easier and used them to treat injuries.

The Spanish conquistadors first encountered the potato when they arrived in Peru in 1532, having come to the region in search of gold. They noted Inca miners eating chuño deep in the mines, but failed to realise that the potato represented a treasure more valuable than silver or gold. Over time, however, they gradually began to use potatoes as basic rations aboard their ships during the long voyages back to Europe. After the arrival of the potato in Spain in 1570, a few farmers began to cultivate it on a small scale, mainly as livestock fodder.

Throughout Europe, potatoes were regarded with suspicion, distaste and fear by most people who considered them unfit for human consumption at the time. People used the tubers only as animal fodder and sustenance for the starving, and in northern Europe they grew mainly as an exotic botanical novelty. Even peasants refused to eat from a plant that produced ugly, misshapen tubers, especially since it came from a heathen civilization across the seas. Some felt that the potato plant's resemblance to plants in the nightshade family hinted it was the creation of witches or devils.

In meat-loving England, farmers and urban workers regarded potatoes with extreme distaste, despite the Royal Society recommending cultivation of the tuber to the government in 1662. However, this official recommendation had little impact on public opinion until food shortages associated with the Revolutionary Wars finally made potatoes a staple. During this period, the English government began to officially encourage potato cultivation across the country to help feed the growing urban population. In 1795, the Board of Agriculture issued a pamphlet entitled "Hints Respecting the Culture and Use of Potatoes", followed shortly by recipes in The Times.

A similar pattern emerged across the English Channel in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, where the potato slowly gained ground in eastern regions. It often remained the only crop after marauding soldiers plundered wheat fields and vineyards, though it did not achieve widespread acceptance until the late 1700s. The peasants remained suspicious despite a 1771 paper from the Faculté de Paris testifying that the potato was not harmful but actually beneficial for health. Public attitudes finally shifted once the plant received the royal seal of approval, with Louis XVI sporting a potato flower in his buttonhole at court. Marie-Antoinette also wore a purple potato blossom in her hair as a fashionable accessory, helping to popularise the plant among aristocrats.

Frederick the Great of Prussia saw the potato's potential to help feed his nation and lower the price of bread for ordinary people. However, he faced the considerable challenge of overcoming his subjects' prejudice against a plant they had never trusted as proper food. In 1774, he issued an order for his subjects to grow potatoes as protection against famine, but the response was far from enthusiastic. The town of Kolberg replied that the things had neither smell nor taste, and that not even the dogs would eat them. Frederick soon realised that direct orders alone would never convince his deeply suspicious subjects to accept this strange new crop.

Frederick therefore decided to try a less direct approach, using a bit of reverse psychology to change his subjects' attitudes towards the new crop. He planted a royal field of potato plants on his own private land and stationed a heavy guard to protect it from any potential thieves. Nearby peasants naturally assumed that anything worth guarding so closely must be worth stealing, so they soon began sneaking into the field. They snatched the plants for their home gardens under cover of darkness, which was, of course, entirely in line with Frederick's original wishes.

Historians continue to debate whether the potato was primarily a cause or an effect of the huge population boom in industrial-era England and Wales. Prior to 1800, the English diet had consisted primarily of meat, supplemented by bread, butter and cheese in most households of the period. Few vegetables were consumed because most were regarded as nutritionally worthless, and some people even believed that vegetables could be potentially harmful to health. This long-standing view began to change gradually in the late 1700s for a variety of social, economic and agricultural reasons.

The Industrial Revolution drew an ever-increasing percentage of the populace into crowded cities, where only the richest could afford homes with proper ovens or coal storage rooms. Most workers lived in cramped lodgings with very limited cooking facilities, and they worked 12 to 16-hour days in the new factories. Such long shifts left them with little time or energy to prepare proper meals at home for themselves or for their growing families. High-yielding, easily prepared potato crops were the obvious solution to England's food problems, since the tuber could be cooked quickly without special equipment.

Most of England's neighbours regarded the potato with suspicion when it first arrived, and they had to be persuaded to use it by their upper classes. However, the Irish peasantry embraced the tuber more passionately than anyone since the Incas had cultivated it thousands of years earlier in South America. The potato was well suited to the Irish soil and climate from the very beginning, and its high yield addressed farmers' most important concern. They simply wanted to feed their growing families with enough nutritious food throughout the year, which the new crop could reliably provide.

The most dramatic example of the potato's potential to alter population patterns occurred in Ireland, where it had become a staple food by 1800. Between 1780 and 1841, the Irish population doubled to eight million without any significant expansion of industry or reform of agricultural techniques. The widespread cultivation of the potato was therefore the main factor behind this remarkable demographic change in such a relatively short period. Few other agricultural developments contributed to the population boom in any meaningful way during these decades of rapid Irish growth.

Although Irish landholding practices were primitive in comparison with those of England, the potato's high yields allowed even the poorest farmers to thrive on their small plots. They could produce more than enough healthy food for their families with scarcely any investment or hard labour required on their part. Even children could easily plant, harvest and cook potatoes, since the crop required no threshing, curing or grinding before being eaten. The abundance provided by potatoes greatly decreased infant mortality among Irish families and encouraged early marriage among the rural population at the time.

The Impact of the Potato

Jeff Chapman relates the story of history's most important vegetable

The potato was first cultivated in South America between three and seven thousand years ago, though scientists believe wild varieties grew there far earlier. Some researchers suggest that wild potatoes may have flourished in the region for as long as 13,000 years before any human cultivation began. The genetic patterns of potato distribution across the continent reveal valuable clues about the plant's early history and gradual geographical spread. These patterns indicate that the potato probably originated in the mountainous west-central region before spreading slowly to surrounding areas over many centuries.

Early Spanish chroniclers misused the Indian word batata, meaning sweet potato, as the name for the potato while noting its importance to the Incan Empire. The Incas had learned to preserve their crop for long storage by dehydrating and mashing potatoes into a substance they called chuño. This preserved food could be stored in a single room for up to 10 years, providing excellent insurance against possible crop failures during difficult seasons. As well as using the food as a staple crop in daily life, the Incas thought potatoes made childbirth easier and used them to treat injuries.

The Spanish conquistadors first encountered the potato when they arrived in Peru in 1532, having come to the region in search of gold. They noted Inca miners eating chuño deep in the mines, but failed to realise that the potato represented a treasure more valuable than silver or gold. Over time, however, they gradually began to use potatoes as basic rations aboard their ships during the long voyages back to Europe. After the arrival of the potato in Spain in 1570, a few farmers began to cultivate it on a small scale, mainly as livestock fodder.

Throughout Europe, potatoes were regarded with suspicion, distaste and fear by most people who considered them unfit for human consumption at the time. People used the tubers only as animal fodder and sustenance for the starving, and in northern Europe they grew mainly as an exotic botanical novelty. Even peasants refused to eat from a plant that produced ugly, misshapen tubers, especially since it came from a heathen civilization across the seas. Some felt that the potato plant's resemblance to plants in the nightshade family hinted it was the creation of witches or devils.

In meat-loving England, farmers and urban workers regarded potatoes with extreme distaste, despite the Royal Society recommending cultivation of the tuber to the government in 1662. However, this official recommendation had little impact on public opinion until food shortages associated with the Revolutionary Wars finally made potatoes a staple. During this period, the English government began to officially encourage potato cultivation across the country to help feed the growing urban population. In 1795, the Board of Agriculture issued a pamphlet entitled "Hints Respecting the Culture and Use of Potatoes", followed shortly by recipes in The Times.

A similar pattern emerged across the English Channel in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, where the potato slowly gained ground in eastern regions. It often remained the only crop after marauding soldiers plundered wheat fields and vineyards, though it did not achieve widespread acceptance until the late 1700s. The peasants remained suspicious despite a 1771 paper from the Faculté de Paris testifying that the potato was not harmful but actually beneficial for health. Public attitudes finally shifted once the plant received the royal seal of approval, with Louis XVI sporting a potato flower in his buttonhole at court. Marie-Antoinette also wore a purple potato blossom in her hair as a fashionable accessory, helping to popularise the plant among aristocrats.

Frederick the Great of Prussia saw the potato's potential to help feed his nation and lower the price of bread for ordinary people. However, he faced the considerable challenge of overcoming his subjects' prejudice against a plant they had never trusted as proper food. In 1774, he issued an order for his subjects to grow potatoes as protection against famine, but the response was far from enthusiastic. The town of Kolberg replied that the things had neither smell nor taste, and that not even the dogs would eat them. Frederick soon realised that direct orders alone would never convince his deeply suspicious subjects to accept this strange new crop.

Frederick therefore decided to try a less direct approach, using a bit of reverse psychology to change his subjects' attitudes towards the new crop. He planted a royal field of potato plants on his own private land and stationed a heavy guard to protect it from any potential thieves. Nearby peasants naturally assumed that anything worth guarding so closely must be worth stealing, so they soon began sneaking into the field. They snatched the plants for their home gardens under cover of darkness, which was, of course, entirely in line with Frederick's original wishes.

Historians continue to debate whether the potato was primarily a cause or an effect of the huge population boom in industrial-era England and Wales. Prior to 1800, the English diet had consisted primarily of meat, supplemented by bread, butter and cheese in most households of the period. Few vegetables were consumed because most were regarded as nutritionally worthless, and some people even believed that vegetables could be potentially harmful to health. This long-standing view began to change gradually in the late 1700s for a variety of social, economic and agricultural reasons.

The Industrial Revolution drew an ever-increasing percentage of the populace into crowded cities, where only the richest could afford homes with proper ovens or coal storage rooms. Most workers lived in cramped lodgings with very limited cooking facilities, and they worked 12 to 16-hour days in the new factories. Such long shifts left them with little time or energy to prepare proper meals at home for themselves or for their growing families. High-yielding, easily prepared potato crops were the obvious solution to England's food problems, since the tuber could be cooked quickly without special equipment.

Most of England's neighbours regarded the potato with suspicion when it first arrived, and they had to be persuaded to use it by their upper classes. However, the Irish peasantry embraced the tuber more passionately than anyone since the Incas had cultivated it thousands of years earlier in South America. The potato was well suited to the Irish soil and climate from the very beginning, and its high yield addressed farmers' most important concern. They simply wanted to feed their growing families with enough nutritious food throughout the year, which the new crop could reliably provide.

The most dramatic example of the potato's potential to alter population patterns occurred in Ireland, where it had become a staple food by 1800. Between 1780 and 1841, the Irish population doubled to eight million without any significant expansion of industry or reform of agricultural techniques. The widespread cultivation of the potato was therefore the main factor behind this remarkable demographic change in such a relatively short period. Few other agricultural developments contributed to the population boom in any meaningful way during these decades of rapid Irish growth.

Although Irish landholding practices were primitive in comparison with those of England, the potato's high yields allowed even the poorest farmers to thrive on their small plots. They could produce more than enough healthy food for their families with scarcely any investment or hard labour required on their part. Even children could easily plant, harvest and cook potatoes, since the crop required no threshing, curing or grinding before being eaten. The abundance provided by potatoes greatly decreased infant mortality among Irish families and encouraged early marriage among the rural population at the time.

The Impact of the Potato

Jeff Chapman relates the story of history's most important vegetable

The potato was first cultivated in South America between three and seven thousand years ago, though scientists believe wild varieties grew there far earlier. Some researchers suggest that wild potatoes may have flourished in the region for as long as 13,000 years before any human cultivation began. The genetic patterns of potato distribution across the continent reveal valuable clues about the plant's early history and gradual geographical spread. These patterns indicate that the potato probably originated in the mountainous west-central region before spreading slowly to surrounding areas over many centuries.

Early Spanish chroniclers misused the Indian word batata, meaning sweet potato, as the name for the potato while noting its importance to the Incan Empire. The Incas had learned to preserve their crop for long storage by dehydrating and mashing potatoes into a substance they called chuño. This preserved food could be stored in a single room for up to 10 years, providing excellent insurance against possible crop failures during difficult seasons. As well as using the food as a staple crop in daily life, the Incas thought potatoes made childbirth easier and used them to treat injuries.

The Spanish conquistadors first encountered the potato when they arrived in Peru in 1532, having come to the region in search of gold. They noted Inca miners eating chuño deep in the mines, but failed to realise that the potato represented a treasure more valuable than silver or gold. Over time, however, they gradually began to use potatoes as basic rations aboard their ships during the long voyages back to Europe. After the arrival of the potato in Spain in 1570, a few farmers began to cultivate it on a small scale, mainly as livestock fodder.

Throughout Europe, potatoes were regarded with suspicion, distaste and fear by most people who considered them unfit for human consumption at the time. People used the tubers only as animal fodder and sustenance for the starving, and in northern Europe they grew mainly as an exotic botanical novelty. Even peasants refused to eat from a plant that produced ugly, misshapen tubers, especially since it came from a heathen civilization across the seas. Some felt that the potato plant's resemblance to plants in the nightshade family hinted it was the creation of witches or devils.

In meat-loving England, farmers and urban workers regarded potatoes with extreme distaste, despite the Royal Society recommending cultivation of the tuber to the government in 1662. However, this official recommendation had little impact on public opinion until food shortages associated with the Revolutionary Wars finally made potatoes a staple. During this period, the English government began to officially encourage potato cultivation across the country to help feed the growing urban population. In 1795, the Board of Agriculture issued a pamphlet entitled "Hints Respecting the Culture and Use of Potatoes", followed shortly by recipes in The Times.

A similar pattern emerged across the English Channel in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, where the potato slowly gained ground in eastern regions. It often remained the only crop after marauding soldiers plundered wheat fields and vineyards, though it did not achieve widespread acceptance until the late 1700s. The peasants remained suspicious despite a 1771 paper from the Faculté de Paris testifying that the potato was not harmful but actually beneficial for health. Public attitudes finally shifted once the plant received the royal seal of approval, with Louis XVI sporting a potato flower in his buttonhole at court. Marie-Antoinette also wore a purple potato blossom in her hair as a fashionable accessory, helping to popularise the plant among aristocrats.

Frederick the Great of Prussia saw the potato's potential to help feed his nation and lower the price of bread for ordinary people. However, he faced the considerable challenge of overcoming his subjects' prejudice against a plant they had never trusted as proper food. In 1774, he issued an order for his subjects to grow potatoes as protection against famine, but the response was far from enthusiastic. The town of Kolberg replied that the things had neither smell nor taste, and that not even the dogs would eat them. Frederick soon realised that direct orders alone would never convince his deeply suspicious subjects to accept this strange new crop.

Frederick therefore decided to try a less direct approach, using a bit of reverse psychology to change his subjects' attitudes towards the new crop. He planted a royal field of potato plants on his own private land and stationed a heavy guard to protect it from any potential thieves. Nearby peasants naturally assumed that anything worth guarding so closely must be worth stealing, so they soon began sneaking into the field. They snatched the plants for their home gardens under cover of darkness, which was, of course, entirely in line with Frederick's original wishes.

Historians continue to debate whether the potato was primarily a cause or an effect of the huge population boom in industrial-era England and Wales. Prior to 1800, the English diet had consisted primarily of meat, supplemented by bread, butter and cheese in most households of the period. Few vegetables were consumed because most were regarded as nutritionally worthless, and some people even believed that vegetables could be potentially harmful to health. This long-standing view began to change gradually in the late 1700s for a variety of social, economic and agricultural reasons.

The Industrial Revolution drew an ever-increasing percentage of the populace into crowded cities, where only the richest could afford homes with proper ovens or coal storage rooms. Most workers lived in cramped lodgings with very limited cooking facilities, and they worked 12 to 16-hour days in the new factories. Such long shifts left them with little time or energy to prepare proper meals at home for themselves or for their growing families. High-yielding, easily prepared potato crops were the obvious solution to England's food problems, since the tuber could be cooked quickly without special equipment.

Most of England's neighbours regarded the potato with suspicion when it first arrived, and they had to be persuaded to use it by their upper classes. However, the Irish peasantry embraced the tuber more passionately than anyone since the Incas had cultivated it thousands of years earlier in South America. The potato was well suited to the Irish soil and climate from the very beginning, and its high yield addressed farmers' most important concern. They simply wanted to feed their growing families with enough nutritious food throughout the year, which the new crop could reliably provide.

The most dramatic example of the potato's potential to alter population patterns occurred in Ireland, where it had become a staple food by 1800. Between 1780 and 1841, the Irish population doubled to eight million without any significant expansion of industry or reform of agricultural techniques. The widespread cultivation of the potato was therefore the main factor behind this remarkable demographic change in such a relatively short period. Few other agricultural developments contributed to the population boom in any meaningful way during these decades of rapid Irish growth.

Although Irish landholding practices were primitive in comparison with those of England, the potato's high yields allowed even the poorest farmers to thrive on their small plots. They could produce more than enough healthy food for their families with scarcely any investment or hard labour required on their part. Even children could easily plant, harvest and cook potatoes, since the crop required no threshing, curing or grinding before being eaten. The abundance provided by potatoes greatly decreased infant mortality among Irish families and encouraged early marriage among the rural population at the time.