Word: il
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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That backward and poverty-stricken bottom half of the Italian boot, Il Mezzogiorno, was long considered a good place to be from and a hard place to get to. Economically and physically isolated, a separate and underdeveloped land within a developed nation, the south stood in harsh contrast to Italy's industrialized north. Now all the old ideas about the south may have to be revised. Last week, with flying banners and ecclesiastical pomp, the Italians opened the last stretch of the 468-mile Milan-to-Salerno Autostrada del Sole, the first modern highway link between north and south...
...lane expressway that avoids all cities and villages on its course, will move steadily southward and eventually connect with Sicily at the Strait of Messina, serving as a vital economic life line for the entire region. It is only the latest of Italy's ambitious efforts to help Il Mezzogiorno (which means midday) move, in one great leap, from a medieval society directly into the age of automation...
...private enterprise have combined to bring about this transformation. The Italian government has poured in about $9 billion for roads, power, schools and housing since 1950, has also persuaded the U.S., the World Bank and other international agencies to help out with massive loans. With its Cassa per il Mezzogiorno-Fund for the South-the government has lured industry through tax incentives, custom-free importation of plant equipment, easy credit, cash grants, free building sites and worker training programs. Such state-owned enterprises as the holding company I.R.I. and the petroleum company E.N.I. are required to channel their major investments...
...throughout Italy pour in beseeching the Vatican's Sacred Congregation of Rites to start proceedings for the beatification of Pope John XXIII. As the first step toward canonization, beatification requires lengthy investigations (lasting 40 to 60 years) and proof of two miracles; but the villagers of tiny Sotto il Monte, where John was born, are confident that one day he will be "Blessed John." Already, the parish priest says, he has heard of a girl recovering her eyesight and an aged man regaining his health through prayers to the late Pope for his intercession with...
Aznavour can also deliver the mild stomping songs "Il faut savoir" and "Formidable," which brought cheers from the partisans of his recordings. But the real Aznavour sings of a middle-aged entertainer waiting to go on stage; reviewing his unfulfilled dreams of glory and without looking down, he knots his necktie perfectly on the first try. In that moment Aznavour captures the great sadnesses and small joys of life...