1、Verrazano, an Italian about whom little is known, sailed into New York Harbour in 1524 and named

it Angouleme.

sailed into... 是句子的主干

about whom(whom 指代 Italian)

2、He described it as 'a very agreeable situation located within two small hills in the midst of

which flowed a great river.'

describe something as… 把某物描述成…

-- I should describe the attempt as a failure. 我把这次尝试描述成失败。

后面可以加 as 的动词：see, view, look upon, recognize, regard, treat, accept

-- His mother regards him as genius. (genius n.天才, 天赋)

-- I accepted his words as truth. 我对他的话信以为真。

Located 过去分词做定语修饰 situation

-- I like the village located within two small hills.

=I like the village which is located within two small hills.

in the midst of which...

-- A great river flowed in the middle of the two hills.

In the midst of=in the middle of

In the middle of 不仅可以表示方位上的中间, 还可以表示时间上的中间。