1. Generally, the weather in Britain is neither too cold in winter nor too hot in summer. 一般来说，不列颠的天气，冬季既不太冷，夏季也不太热。
neithernor是一个连词词组，用来连接两个相同的成分，表示两者都不的意思。如： They neither smoke nor drink.他们既不抽烟也不喝酒。如果连接的是两个并列主语时，谓语动词必须要和后面的主语一致，如：Neither you nor she is wrong. 你和她都没错。Neither you nor I was in yesterday. 你和我昨天都不在家。
2．The larger of the two islands is Britain. 两个岛屿中较大的一个是不列颠。
表示两者间较时,常用the + 比较级+ of the two来表示,如：Tom is the shorter of the twins. Tom是这对双胞胎中较矮的那个。 Which is the more interesting of the two novels? 这两本小说哪本更有趣些？
1. Im puzzled! 我给弄糊涂了！
puzzle vt. 使迷惑不解: This problem puzzled me very much 这道题真让人不知道该怎么办才好。puzzled puzzling 分词结构常作形容词用。通常指人时，用过去分词形式；而指物，表示令人困惑的时，用的是现在分词形式。如：I was puzzled by the puzzling question. 我被这令人困惑的问题弄得十分困惑。
2. The larger of the two islands is Britain, which lies to the east of Ireland. 两个岛屿中较大的一个是不列颠，它位于爱尔兰的东面。
英语中表示方位的介词总共有三个：in; on；to。当我们强调两地的接壤时，我们用介词on。如：Korea is on the east of China. 朝鲜接邻于我国的东部。Guangdong lies on the south of Hunan. 广东接邻于湖南以南。（因为广东是紧挨湖南省的，所以我们还是用介词 on）介词 to 表示范围之外，不强调接壤，如：Guangdong lies to the south of Hunan. 广东位于湖北以南。(因为它中间隔着湖南，只是说明一个方向问题)。介词 in 表示范围之内：France lies in western Europe. 法国位于西欧。
3. Scotland has many lakes and mountains, and is famous for its beautiful countryside. 苏格兰湖泊和山脉众多，以美丽的乡村而闻名。be famous for 著名的/有名的，如：China is famous for its long history. 中国以历史悠久而闻名。注意对比： Mr. Wang is famous as a Chinese teacher in our city. 王老师作为语文老师在我们市很有名。
4. There used to be a lot of coal mines in the south, but many of them have been closed, or are about to be closed. 南部过去曾有许多煤矿。但是其中许多已被关闭或者将要关闭。
be about to ...是一种将来时的表达方法。如：I was about to go to bed when the telephone rang. 我正要睡觉，电话铃响了。注意：be about to 这个句型是不与表示将来的时间状语连用的。如果你要表达还有十分钟我就要出门。就该用be going to 表达：I am going to go out in 10 minutes.
5. London lies on the River Thames and has a population of seven million. 伦敦毗邻泰晤士河，有700万人口。
介词on有位于河畔的意思。如：Jingjiang lies on the Yangtze River. 靖江位于长江之滨。My hometown lies on the Shanghai-Nanjing railway. 我家乡位于沪宁铁路线旁。
6. In the north, Northern Ireland, with its capital Belfast, is part of the United Kingdom. 北部的北爱尔兰是联合王国的一部分，其首府为贝尔法斯特。对比下一句中的with结构：The southern part of the island is a separate country, called the Republic of Ireland with Dublin as its capital. 该岛的南部是个独立的国家，叫爱尔兰共和国，以都柏林为其首都。又如：她有一只小狗，名字叫Timmy。She has a little dog, with its name Timmy. She has a little dog, with Timmy as its name.
7. Snow falls in Scotland every winter. Falls of snow in Ireland are most unusual. 苏格兰每年冬天都下雪。爱尔兰下雪极为罕见。
注意fall的词性：Prices are falling. 价格在下跌。There was a fall in the price of vegetables last week. 蔬菜的价格上周跌了。
8. Around 1850, a terrible disease hit the potato crop, and potatoes went bad in the soil. 大约1850年，一场可怕的病害袭击了马铃薯，因而马铃薯在地里变坏了。成千上万的人死于饥饿。
掌握这里hit的用法：袭击；遭受，如：A powerful earthquake hit the city. 一次强烈地震袭击了这个城市。The area was often hit by flood. 这地区经常遭受水灾。
9. Although many families became separated, people still kept in touch with each other. 虽然许多家庭妻离子散了，但是人们仍然互相保持联系。
掌握separate的用法：①形容词各自的、分开的，如：The children sleep in separate beds. 孩子们都睡在各自的床上。This word has three separate meanings. 这个单词有三种不同的意思。②动词，表示分割开来，通常后面会跟上from：He separated the big eggs from the small ones.他把大蛋和小蛋区分开来。This patient should be separated from the others. 这个病人应该隔离。注意：separate 侧重指把原来连在一起或靠近的人或物分开，divide 侧重于把一整体分成若干部分。
10. Most Irish people go to church every Sunday and the church plays an important part in peoples lives. 大多数爱尔兰人每个星期天都去做礼拜。教堂在人们的生活中起到重要的作用。go to church 的意思是做礼拜。
11. They also get together to read their own poems to each other. 他们还聚在一起，互相朗诵自己写的诗歌。词组get together 聚首、欢聚：Lets get together for lunch next Sunday. 我们下周聚会吃顿午餐吧。又：We had a little get-together to celebrate his birthday. 我们为庆祝他的生日开了一个小型联欢会。