1. Unit 2 The United Kingdom 教材背景链接名言佳句 Work is worth doing of worth doing well. —Thomas Carlyle ， British historian 一件事如果值得做好，就值得去做。 —— 英国历史学家 卡莱尔 ·T Rules and modesty destroy genius and art. —William Hazlitt ， British essayist

2. 规则与谦逊会毁掉天才和艺术。 —— 英国散文家 哈兹里特 ·W And gladly would learn ， and gladly teach. —Chaucer ， British poet 勤于学习的人才能乐意施教。 —— 英国诗人 乔叟

3. 素有 “ 翡翠岛国 ” 之称的爱尔兰历史悠久、风景如画。现 在就让我们一起走进这个美丽的国度。 Ireland ： the island in the west The island of Ireland lies west of Britain and is the westernmost island of the British Isles.Although a small country ， it has an amazing history of over 5,000 years.Few places on the planet are as packed with history as Ireland.Everywhere you look there are castles and historical places.In Ireland the past is part of the present ， part of the people and part of its culture.类文欣赏

5. For much of its history ， Ireland lay hidden behind its bigger neighbour ， Great Britain.In fact ， Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for many centuries until the 1920s.In 1921 ， the southern part of Ireland became independent and the Republic of Ireland was founded.It is a state that covers more than 70,000 square kilometres ， or five  sixths of the island of Ireland.It has four provinces ， which altogether consist of 26 counties and 6 urban areas.Northern Ireland is part of the UK.The Republic of Ireland is a member of the European Union ， and uses the euro( 欧元 ) ．

6. Ireland has a mild sea climate.The coldest months are January and February with air temperatures between 4 to 7 ℃ during the day.The warmest months are July and August ， when it is a quite cool 14 ℃ to 16 ℃.The sunniest months are May and June ， with about five to seven hours of sunshine per day.As Ireland is surrounded by water ， it comes as no surprise that it rains quite a lot ， just as in England and Wales.

7. The population of the Republic of Ireland is thought to be about four million.Of those ， over one million live in Dublin.Ireland has a young population ， with 44% of the population under the age of 25.

8. There are two official languages in Ireland ： Irish ， which is the national language ， and English ， which is the language of the majority of the population.Until the early nineteenth century ， almost everyone in Ireland spoke Irish.The change to English happened quickly.By 1891 more than 85% of the population spoke English.Since Ireland became independent ， the Irish government has recognised that if nothing is done ， this part of Irish culture will disappear.A growing number of schools teach in the Irish language and radio and TV programmes have helped nearly 20% of the Irish people to develop language skills in both languages.

9. Read the passage and tell the following statements true(T)or false(F) ． 1 ． The island of Ireland that lies west of Britain is a small country ， but it has an amazing history of over 5,000 years.( ) 2 ． The Republic of Ireland founded in 1921 now belongs to the European Union.( ) 3 ． In Ireland ， English is the national language and Irish is the language of the majority of the population.( ) Keys ： 1.T 2.T 3.F