英语小常识：英语中短语结构很多，通常短语的含义大致等同于其组成成分基本词义的组合，但是有些英语短语结构的含义与我们从字面含义的理解不一样， 因为这些短语常常可能带有某些特定的文化色彩。

 　　high school ≠高等学校 (high school (美国)中学(英国的中学叫 secondary school)
　　black tea 红茶
　　strong [weak] tea 浓[淡]茶]
　　a white Christmas 有雪的圣诞节
　　a white day 吉日
　　a white night 不眠的一夜
　　whole milk 全脂乳
　　service station≠服务站
　　service station (给汽车加油及进行简单维修的地方)
　　Rest room ≠休息室
　　在美国英语中，rest room是浴室、厕所的委婉说法
　　汉语中的“休息室”应译为英语中的sitting room 或 lobby。

　　副词(adv.)

　　副词是修饰动词，形容词或其他副词的一类词。如：
　　He is very strong. (修饰形容词)
　　I love you very much. (修饰动词)
　　He has finished the work completely well.(修饰副词)
　　注意：very作为副词使用时修饰形容词(e.g. very strong)和副词(very much)， 另外，very还可以用作形容词： e.g. The car exploded before my very eyes.(very作为形容词时是起强调的作用，可以翻译成“就是那个，正是那个，甚至”)
　　Much 通常修饰动词：e.g. Things haven’t changed much; 修饰过去分词： e.g. He is much loved by his family. 修饰形容词/副词的比较级：e.g. The exam is much easier than expected. 修饰形容词/副词的最高级：e.g. The film is much the best thing he has played in.
　　有一些特别的副词在考试中出现的频率也是较高的：pretty(作副词是“相当”), dead(作副词是“完全地”), still(还作形容词“静止的，平静的”)

　　在英语文章中作为基本词汇的副词出现的频率较高，如下文：

 　　Why is the Native Language Learnt So Well *(文章难度B，C级)
　　How(疑问副词) does it happen that children learn their mother tongue so(程度副词) well(描述性副词)? When (连词)we compare them with adults learning a foreign language, we often(频度副词)find this interesting fact. A little child without knowledge or experience often(频度副词)succeeds in a complete mastery of the language. A grown-up person with fully¹ (程度副词)developed mental powers, in most case, may end up (副词)with a faulty and inexact command. What accounts for this difference?
　　Despite other explanations, the real answer in my opinion lies partly(程度副词)in the child himself, partly(程度副词) in the behavior of the people around him. In the first place, the time of learning the mother tongue is the most (程度副词)favorable of all, namely, the first years of life. A child hears it spoken from morning till night and, what is more (程度副词)important, always (频度副词)in its genuine form, with the right pronunciation, right intonation², right use of words and right structure. He drinks in all the words and expressions, which come to him in a flash, ever-bubbling spring. There is no resistance: there is perfect assimilation.

　　形容词/副词的比较级结构和最高级结构：

　　比较级：more important/ more frequently
　　最高级：most favorable/ most economically
　　同级比较：as..as../the same..as.. /not so...as
　　e.g. This apple is as big as that one.
　　e.g. They work as hard as ever.
　　e.g. I study at the same school as she (does).
　　e.g. The idea is not so silly(愚蠢的) as it sounds.
　　比较级：more..(than)..
　　e.g. He always thinks that he is more important than we (are).
　　e.g. This kind of accident happens more frequently than that kind (does).
　　提示：than是起比较作用的连词，其后面的省略结构中出现代词的时候要注意根据比较对象来确定是主格还是宾格，以及所省略的助动词的形式。
　　比较：
　　e.g. I know you better than he. 我比他更了解你。
　　e.g. I know you better than him. 同他相比较， 我更了解你。
　　最高级：
　　e.g. a most carefully prepared report
　　e.g. a most important city