1 . 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.

1.

A．reach

B．reached

C．to reach

D．reaches

2.

A．found

B．to find

C．finding

D．founded

3.

A．for

B．with

C．without

D．by

4.

A．success

B．successful

C．successfully

D．succeed

5.

A．while

B．after

C．since

D．until

6.

A．a

B．an

C．the

D．/

7.

A．killed

B．was killed

C．killing

D．had killed

8.

A．many

B．any

C．few

D．little

9.

A．great

B．greater

C．greatly

D．the greatest

10.

A．our

B．us

C．ourselves

D．we

2 . The Silk Road went from China to Eastern Europe. It went along the north of China, India, and Persia and ended up in Eastern Europe near today’s Turkey and the MediterraneanSea（地中海）.

It was called the Silk Road because one of the major products traded was silk cloth from China. Chinese silk was soft and of high quality so people throughout Asia and Europe loved it very much.     1     Even the Romans called China the “land of silk”.

Besides silk, the Chinese also sold tea, salts, sugar, porcelain（瓷器）and spices.     2     This was because it was a long trip and traders didn’t have a lot of room for goods. They bought goods like cotton, ivory, wool, gold, and silver.

Traders travelled in large caravans. They would have many guards with them.     3     Most of the road was through dry land, so camels were popular animals for transport.

Although there was some trade between China and the rest of the world for some time, the silk trade developed quickly during the Han Dynasty which ruled from 206BC to 220AD.     4     During this time the Mongols controlled most of the trade road, and Chinese traders travel safely. Moreover, traders had a higher social position during the Mongol rule.

    5     It not only helped to develop trade between different countries, but also helped ideas, culture and inventions to spread across the world.

A．The Silk Road was important.

B．The Chinese sold silk for thousands of years.

C．Most of the goods were expensive.

D．Travelling in a big group like a caravan（大蓬车，商队）helped in protecting themselves.

E．Later, under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, trade from China along the Silk Road was fully developed.

3 .

Five Famous Explorers in History
	Christopher Columbus (1452 — 1506) As an Italian explorer, Columbus made four important voyages to the Americas (1st journey was in 1492 to the Bahamas). Sailing in unknown seas, Columbus made humans know about the knowledge of crossing the Atlantic and the Americas.
	Vasco da Gama (1469 — 1524) Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer who was the first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama made a direct voyage to India — travelling around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa — arriving in Calicut in 1498, which connected Europe and Asia for the first time by ocean route.
	Roald Amundsen (1872 — 1928) Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer and an important person during Antarctic exploration. His Antarctic expedition (探险队) of 1910 —1912 discovered the South Pole. In 1926, he led the first successful expedition to reach the North Pole. He also made the first voyage through the Northwest Passage.
	John Cabot (1450 — 1499) Cabot was an Italian voyager and explorer. In 1497, he discovered parts of North America (later named Newfoundland). This is widely considered to be the first European discovery of North America since the Viking journeys of the 11th century.
	Sir Francis Drake (1540—1597)        Drake was an English explorer who successfully made the second Voyage around the world from 1577 to 1580. He also discovered the Drake Passage in 1577.

1. Columbus's voyages made people know more about _________.

A．North America

B．India

C．the Americas

D．Asia

2. We can know that Vasco da Gama _____________.

A．came from South Africa

B．arrived in Calicut in 1498

C．was the first European to travel by sea

D．made a direct voyage to Asia

3. Which country did John Cabot come from?

A．Italy.

B．America.

C．Britain.

D．Portugal.

4. How long did it take Sir Francis Drake to travel around the world?

A．Two years.

B．Three years.

C．Four years.

D．Five years.

5. In what order did the following take place?
a. Making a direct voyage from Europe to India.
b. The first voyage to the Americas.
c. The discovery of parts of North America.
d. The discovery of the South Pole.
e. The discovery of the Drake Passage.

A．c-b-a-e-d

B．c-b-e-d-a

C．b-c-e-a-d

D．b-c-a-e-d

4 . 请根据以下内容写一篇关于瓦斯科·达·伽马的英语短文

	人物	瓦斯科·达·伽马( Vasco da Gama)
	身份	著名探险家，第一个从欧洲航海到印度的人
	经历	1497年，乘船前往印度十个月后，抵达了印度南部的一个城市，试图与该城市的领袖建立贸易关系，但未成功。1499年回国，并带回了许多与当地人交换回来的宝物。后来又三次前往印度
	成就	开辟了欧洲通往印度的贸易航线

注意：词数80个左右，已给出部分不计入总词数。

Vasco da Gama, a famous explorer, was known as the first man to sail from Europe to India.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5 . Long, long ago, people made fires from lightening (闪电). But they had to keep the fire burning, for they couldn't start it again if there was no lightening. Later, they found out hitting two pieces of stone together could make a spark (火花). The spark could fire dry leaves. In this way they could make fire again if it went out. Then people also learned to make a fire by rubbing (摩擦). They made a hole in a piece of wood and put a smaller stick into the hole. They turned the stick again and again. After a few minutes they got a fire.

    Years went by, people learned other ways to make a fire. Sometimes they used the heat from the sun. They held a piece of glass in the right way and made a piece of paper on fire.

About two centuries ago, people began to make matches. Matches brought people a quick and easy way to make fire. Today matches are still being used, but people have more new ways to make fire. One of them is to use an electric fire starter. Of course an electric fire starter is much more expensive than a box of matches. But it is very useful.

1. From the text we know that a spark can ________.

A．fire any leaves	B．burn anything
C．burn dry leaves	D．keep fire burning

2. We can also get a fire by ________.

A．making a hole in a big piece of wood

B．putting a smaller stick into the hole

C．turning the stick hard for a while

D．doing all the above in order

3. Matches have been used ________.

A．for about two thousand years

B．for about two hundred years

C．since people began to use fire for cooking

D．since people used the heat from the sun

4. From the passage, we know that ________.

A．electric fire starters are widely used

B．some forest fires happen from lightening

C．today there are only two ways to make a fire

D．people haven’t used matches since they had electric fire starters

5. Which of the following is the right order of the ways to make fires that people got to know?
a. with a match        b. from the sun    c. from lightening    d. by rubbing     e. with an electric fire starter     f. by hitting two pieces of stone

A．b-a-d-e-f

B．b-c-a-e-d-f

C．c-f-d-b-a-e

D．c-d-a-f-b-e