1 . The Silk Road is the name of different roads that long ago connected(连接) Europe, Africa and Asia. People got to these different places along these roads. Scientists believe people began to travel the Silk Road about 3,000 years ago. By the time the Chinese silk trade(贸易) became important in the world, the Silk Road was almost 6,500 kilometres. It was from Rome to China, which is from the West to the Far East.

Businessmen travelling along the Silk Road carried silk, of course. They also carried and traded spices(香料), cloth, valuable stones(宝石) and gold.

Today, the old Silk Road routes(路线) are still used, but now they are crossed by trains instead of camels and horses. There is a Silk Route Museum in Jiuquan in China. It has over 35,000 objects from all along the Silk Road. In this way, China protects(保护) the history of many countries and peoples.

2 . Early in the 16th century, it was difficult for people to live without enough food. So lots of people tried hard ______ Asia to gain wealth. In order to find Asia, they had to find a way to pass South Africa based on their knowledge about all the routes. The man who finally ______ the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean was Ferdinand Magellan.

Magellan sailed from Seville in August, 1519, ______ five ships and about 280 men. Fourteen months later, after the cold winter on the coast of Patagonia, he discovered the channel which is now called Magellan Sraits. In November, 1520, after many months of dangers from rocks and storms, the three remaining ships seemed to come close to the success. They sailed into the ocean from the other side of South America ______.

They then continued, hoping to reach Asia But they couldn’t see any land ______ they reached the islands off the coast of Asia. What’s worse, before they arrived at ______ islands, which were later known as the Philippines, most of them had already died of starvation. While they were staying in the Philippines, Magellan ______ in a battle.

The remaining officers then had to get back to Spain. They decided to sail around Africa. After ______ difficulties, one ship with eighteen men sailed into Seville three years after leaving. They were all that survived from Magellan’s expedition, which was one of ______ expeditions in the world.

The adventure of Magellan’s expedition told us that when facing difficulties, we should not give up easily. Instead, we need to be confident of ______ and tried our best to fight against them.

Chinatown is the name of an area (地区) in the middle of London. It is a large Chinese community (社区) with a lot of Chinese restaurants, Chinese supermarkets and shops. Do you know its history?

In the 1950s, it was a poor area and everything was very cheap. At the same time, the world rice market became bad and thousands of farm workers in Hong Kong lost their jobs. They began going to London to look for work. They found jobs in the restaurants in this area.

These restaurant workers often worked 17 hours a day and had no time to learn English. As more Chinese arrived, more shops and businesses grew up. Women came to join their husbands and children came to join their fathers. The community grew, and Chinatown was born.

In the 1970s and 1980s, British-born Chinese started to have a better education (教育) and this brought economic (经济的) success to the area. Many families moved out of Chinatown, and there was more space for businesses. Chinatown soon became a popular place for tourists.

Now everyone knows about London’s Chinatown. During the Chinese New Year, the streets are seen with flags and thousands of Chinese go into the streets. For most time of the year though, Londoners and tourists go there mainly for the food in the Chinese restaurants. The best restaurants are the ones where the Chinese eat.

The king and the rice

A long time ago, there was a king in     1    . The king’s favorite game was     2    . One day, a     3     old man came to the palace and the king     4     him to a game. The king     5     the old man, “You can have any     6     if you win the game.”

Great inventions

Thomas Edison     7     the first     8     light bulb in 1879. Before the invention of the light bulb, people had to use oil lamps or     9     to see at night. With light bulbs, people can do as many things as they can in the evenings as they can in the daytime. Can you     10     living without them?

Researches show that the fork was first used in Ancient Egypt, China and Greece. And then it t    1     to the Middle East and started being used by the upper class. This enabled the fork to slowly become p    2     in these areas. In the 11th century, the fork came to Italy in the dowry (嫁妆) of a princess from the Middle East. After seeing the princess use the fork, the church felt a    3    , they strongly criticized(批判) her, saying that the fork disrespected the practice of using the fingers. Then the fork disappeared from the table for nearly 300 years. N    4     dared to use it.

The fork began to get acceptance in Italy by the late 16th century, because the upper-class Italians had great i    5     in cleanliness again. They think it’s helpful to health. However, most European countries accepted the fork only by the 18th century and United States didn’t welcome it until the early 19th century.

8 . It may be hard to believe, but the American Revolution (革命)—the war that freed the American states from British control—began over a cup of tea. Tea was not the only thing that caused the war, of course, but it played a very big part.

The British people’s love of tea is well-known. When the British won control over much of North America in the early 1700s, they brought their tea-drinking habits with them. Tea quickly became the continent’s most popular drink. As tea could not be grown locally, just as in Britain, it was shipped into the country—mostly from India.

In the early 1700s, the Britain government made a special deal with the East India Company, an English trading company. They agreed that no other company was allowed to bring tea to Britain or any country controlled by Britain, including America. It was a great deal for the East India Company, since it meant that the company could decide whatever price it wanted for its products. And it always decided on a high price!

In North America, the local people did not like having to pay such high prices. Instead of overpaying for tea from the British, they turned to Dutch traders, who secretly brought tea to the country that was just as good—and much less expensive. Although this broke the law, the American people didn’t care. They got the same cup of tea at a much lower price.

The East India Company, however, didn’t like this at all. By the 1760s, they were losing millions of pounds each year to Dutch traders—a huge amount of money in a time when £60 a year was considered a good income. Instead of reducing their prices to compete with the Dutch, the company asked the British government for help and the government agreed.

In 1767, the British introduced new laws that increased the prices of all goods which were brought into America. These laws helped make the East India Company even richer and forced local people to pay much more for everything. The American leaders asked the British government not to do so, but the British refused to listen. These unfair laws increased Americans’ anger about British rule and the rest, as they say, is history.