1     a Chinese student, you must know something     2     the Silk Road.

Long ago, traders (商人)     3     treasures from the East to the West. These treasures, like silk and spices (香料), were not goods to get     4    . Many people wanted     5     and it was a good way to become rich.

The Silk Road     6     not a real road. It was a route (路线) between the East and the West. It went through     7    , Turkey, and Greece. Some traders travelled over land and others sailed     8     the sea. There was danger (危险) along both routes. Traders who     9     over the land used camels and horses. First, the traders crossed the desert (沙漠). Then, they climbed over mountains. After that, the traders still had     10     of miles to go.

3 . What’s the Silk Road? In history, it was an important international trade route（商路） between China and the Mediterranean（地中海）. The Silk Road began in the Western Han Dynasty and has a history of more than 2000 years.

In the past, the road started in Chang’an （now Xi’an） and ended in Eastern Europe near the Mediterranean. It was about 6500 kilometers long and went across 1/4 of the world.

The Silk Road got its name in the 19th century because Chinese silk was famous, and the traders also carried China’s porcelain（瓷器） and other things to the West. And glass, gems and food like carrots from the West came to China.

The Silk Road was very important to both China and the rest of the world. It was more than an international trade route. Lots of arts and science of other countries came to China through the Silk Road. In this way, languages and culture influenced each other. Today, China is trying to make the dream of the Belt and Road come true.

Can you imagine life without French fries (炸薯条)? Potatoes are very popular today.     1     Potatoes grew in South America five thousand years ago. They only became popular in other places two hundred years ago.

In the 16th century, the Spanish took the potato from South America to Europe.     2     Some people thought that if you ate the potato your skin (皮肤) would look like the skin of a potato. Other people could not believe that you ate the underground part of the plant. So they ate the leaves instead.     3    

In the 1800s people started to eat potatoes. In Ireland potatoes became the main food. Then, in 1845, a disease killed all the potatoes in Ireland.     4     At least another million were forced to leave their homeland.

    5     Germans eat potato salad, and the United States has the baked (烤) potato. And, of course, the French invented French fries. Now French fries are popular all over the world. The English and the French eat them with salt, and the Americans with tomato sauce.

5 . Fire was discovered many thousands of years ago. The first time humans saw fire was probably when a tree was destroyed by lightning(闪电). Humans soon learned how to make fire. They probably made the first fire by rubbing (摩擦) two sticks together.

Fire was very important to humans. They needed to keep warm at night. They used fire to cook food. They used fire to keep enemies and wild animals away. In some parts of the world fire was used to send messages. The Indians in America, for example, used fire to make smoke(烟雾) as a message. In some other countries people lit fires to warn their friends of danger.

Fire was also used to give light. Before the invention of the oil lamp(灯), humans burned sticks to get light.

One man even used fire to tell the time. He invented a candle clock. He made a candle that took exactly twelve hours to burn. Then he marked this candle in twelve equal(相等的) parts. He lit the candle and could tell the time by counting the number of parts left of the burning candle. But the candle clock did not always work well. If there was a wind blowing on the candle, it burned too quickly.

7 . The Four Treasures of Study

In China, writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and ink stones are called the Four Treasures of Study. Among the high-quality treasures he writing brush produced in Huzhou, the ink stick produced in Huizhou, the xuan paper made in Xuancheng and the ink stone made in Duanxi are the best-known.

The writing brushes can be used to draw the pictures on painted potteries(陶器). They are mainly made of the hair of animals. Their artistic effects(效果)in writing and painting cannot be copied by any other pens.

The ink stick is the pigment(颜料)used for writing and painting. The ink stick produced in Huizhou is of high quality. A story goes like this: Two famous skilled men Xi Chao and his son produced high quality ink stick. As a result, the Emperor Li Yu in the Southern Tang Dynasty agreed to give them the family name “Li”. From then on, the fame of the Li Ink Stick was widespread. In the Song Dynasty, its producing area was changed into Huizhou, and it was then called the Hui Ink Stick.

Paper is among the four great inventions in ancient China. The famous xuan paper appeared in the Sui and Tang dynasties. It’s said that Cai Lun’s pupil Kong Dan took the job of producing paper but failed to make perfect white paper. Later he happened to see the ebony(檀木) in the rivers. It was wet with the water and turned white. Then he used the bark(树皮) to produce the world-famous xuan paper.

The ink stone was already very popular in the Han Dynasty. The Ming and Qing dynasties saw the appearance of the Four Famous Ink Stones—Duan Ink Stone, She Ink Stone, Tao Ink Stone and Chengni Ink Stone. They can not only be used in writing and painting but also for admiration.

8 . How do we know the time? A clock, a watch or a mobile phone can help us. However, many years ago there were no clocks and knowing the time was not so easy. Over the centuries people have developed different ways of telling the time.

About 5,500 years ago, the Egyptians invented the sun clock. This was a tall stone building. Its shadow (影子) showed the movement of the sun. So people were able to know midday. The Egyptians made a sundial about 3,500 years ago. It was smaller than the sun clock and could measure the time for half a day. On cloudy days or at night it was impossible to tell the time with a sun clock or a sundial. Water clocks were the first clocks not to use the sun. The idea is simple. Water flows from one container to another, When the water reaches a certain level, it moves a lever (控制杆) and this shows the hours. The Egyptians used water clocks about 3,400 years ago. These clocks were popular in the Middle East and China. But they failed to make people know the exact time.

In the 13th century, the mechanical clock was invented. This was more exact, but it was expensive to make one. Over the next few centuries, it was developed. For example, springs (发条) were added around 1,500. This enabled people to get the correct time and allowed clocks to be smaller. In 1936 the first quartz clock was developed. Clocks became cheaper to build. It’s easy for ordinary people to own a clock, People began depending on then more and more to ran business, markets and so on. More recently, in 1956, came the digital clock. And nowadays satellites send our mobile phones the time to the exact second.

There has been a lot of progress in timekeeping. Clocks are always changing but some things never change. Many of us still have trouble getting out of bed on time and not missing appointments.

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9 . New York City isn’t the biggest city in the world, but it is the biggest city in the USA. Most American live in much smaller cities and towns, but almost 8 million people live in New York. Why did so many people come to live in one place?

A look at the city shows us that New York City has a very good port (港口). The Dutch (荷兰) settlers (new comers.) wanted to use it for business. In 1926, the Dutch paid (付钱) the Indians twenty-four dollars for the island of Manhattan. Its Dutch name was New Amsterdam. Then the British took the land in 1664 and changed its name to New York.

The United States became an independent (独立的) country in 1776, and New York was its capital for a short time. The city became so crowded that some people moved out to other areas (places). But more people from everywhere went on coming into the city every day.