1、Unit 2The United Kingdom,教材背景链接素有“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 westThe 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
2、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.,For much of its history，Ireland lay hidden behind its bigger neighbour，Great Britain.In fact，Ireland was part of the Unite
3、d 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 fivesixths of the island of Ireland.It has four provinces，which al
4、together 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),Ireland has a mild sea climate.The coldest months are January and February with air temperatures between 4 to 7 during the day.The warm
5、est 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.,The population of the Republic of
6、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.,There are two official languages in Ireland：Irish，which is the national language，and English，which is the language of the majority of th
7、e 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 recognized that if nothing is done，this part of Irish cultur
8、e 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.,新课导入爱尔兰是一个西欧国家，西临大西洋东靠爱尔兰海(Muir ireann)，与英国隔海相望，爱尔兰为北美通向欧洲的通道。爱尔兰人属于凯尔特人，是欧洲大陆第一代居民的子嗣。它有5000多年历史，是一个有着悠久历史的国家。该国的风景非常美丽迷人。尽管爱尔,兰也有自己的语言盖尔语(Gaeilge)，但它却是欧洲除英国之外唯一一个英语国家。爱尔兰共和国于1921年从英国殖民统治下独立出来，也是个和平宁静的国家。爱尔兰北部被称为北爱尔兰，至今仍属于英国。,
