3 . Following Cook’s death in 1779, the Endeavour journal of James Cook is thought to have been held by his wife Elizabeth. There is no record of the journal’s movements following Elizabeth Cook’s death in 1835 until its appearance in 1923 when it was offered at auction (拍卖) by its owners the Bolckow family of Yorkshire. The family were unable to explain how they came to hold the journal. It had apparently been in the family’s library ‘for over fifty years, having been purchased by the late Bolckow’s uncle, but from whom and in what circumstances is unknown’.

On 21 March 1923 the Australian government purchased the Endeavour journal for £5000 for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library.

The Mitchell Library, Sydney, had been chasing the journal since its discovery with the Bolckow family in 1922 before the auction, and had approached the Commonwealth Government for a financial contribution towards the purchase. Though Interim (临时的) Commonwealth Parliamentary Librarian Arthur Wadsworth had guaranteed the Mitchell that there would be no competition for the item, Kenneth Binns (to be Wadsworth’s successor) felt that the Endeavour journal was more suited to remain within the nation’s library.

Binns put forward an eventually persuasive argument that the Commonwealth could not finance the Mitchell, ‘which was, after all, a private institution’. Prime Minister Bruce telegraphed the officer in London to instruct the Mitchell Library’s Chief Librarian, already in England anticipating the auction, to bid on behalf of the Commonwealth. The Mitchell Library accepted upon the understanding that it would be the keeper of the journal until such time that the Commonwealth Government had a suitable storing place, a National Library.

Upon arrival in Australia the journal was exhibited in Queens Hall, Melbourne, for a month after which it was taken to the Mitchell Library which held it for four years, before it was removed to Canberra.

Archaeologists (考古学家) have found two shipwrecks (沉船) deep in the South China Sea, which serve as a witness to     1     (commerce) and cultural exchanges along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Along with the shipwrecks, pottery and porcelain (瓷器) have been found, most of     2     were produced in Jingdezhen, known as China’s “porcelain capital”. The locations of the shipwrecks were confirmed as a result of oceanographic detection and underwater investigation using manned submarines that dived 41 times this year.

The No. 1 shipwreck     3     (date) from the era of Emperor Zhengde (1506-1521) of the Ming Dynasty.    4    (base) on studies of the ship, archaeologists believe that it was travelling toward Malacca or another trade center in Southeast Asia. On the No. 2 shipwreck     5     (measure) about 21 meters long and 8 meters wide,     6     total of 36 artworks, including processed logs and porcelain, have been discovered.

This is one of the most important archaeological     7     (program) in South China Sea archaeology. The findings cast new light    8    the study of China’s porcelain-making history. The quality of Longquan porcelain was previously thought     9     (decline) in the late 15th century. However, the discovery of a large number of fine Longquan artworks in shipwreck No. 1     10     (lead) people to reconsider this idea so far.

In much of Asia, especially the so-called “rice bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea,     1     Vietnam, food is usually eaten with chopsticks.

Chopsticks are usually two long, thin     2    (piece) of wood or bamboo. They can also be made of plastic, animal bone or metal. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic. Truly elegant chopsticks might     3    (make) of gold and silver with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine carious hardwoods and metal     4    (create) special designs.

The Chinese have used chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked     5    (they) food in large pots,     6    (use) twigs (树枝) to remove it. Over time, as     7     population grew, people began cutting food into small pieces so it would cook more quickly. Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with twigs which gradually turned into chopsticks.

Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius,     8     lived from roughly 551 to 479 B. C., definitely influenced the development of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killing and     9    (be) too violent for use at the table.

Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, for example, most people     10    (tradition) eat with hands.

Flames in kilns (窑炉) around China     1    (burn) since the Xia and Shang dynasties. Along the way was born porcelain (瓷器).

Porcelain is made by heating materials, often a mix of China stone and kaolin clay, in a kiln at a temperature as high as 1,200 degree Celsius. Temperature is key to     2    (make) porcelain. Going through the fire of reinvention at a high temperature blesses porcelain with strength and colors. Celadon (青瓷) produced in Longquan, Zhejiang province,     3    technique passed down for more than 1,600 years, is a     4    (character) example of workers’ long-standing dream. It takes 72 steps to produce perfect green. Porcelain has also been a carrier for cultural exchanges. In company with China’s silk and tea, porcelain was one of the first goods     5    (receive) worldwide trade. As it travelled around the globe through the ancient Maritime Silk Road, porcelain enjoyed great     6    (popular) among royal families and upper classes in Europe,     7     were attracted to these beautiful artworks. Porcelain began as a practical container     8     evolved into pieces of art. Even when broken into pieces and     9    (bury) deep in mud, cultural values attached to porcelain would exist.

As a memory that     10    (feel) with both hands, porcelain is touchable history.

Delicate, shining, and soft to the touch. The fabric called silk     1     (find) its way into the heart of Chinese people in the past thousands of years.     2     origin of it is not clear, but the ancient Chinese people     3     (credit) their own wisdom to Leizu, wife of the Yellow Emperor, as the inventor of sericulture (养蚕业).

The style and texture (质地) of silk are     4     (variety). Hangluo satin from Hangzhou,Zhejiang province, is famous for its airy and thin texture,     5     Yunjin brocade from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, a luxurious fabric often     6     (use) for royal clothes, represents China’s silk weaving (纺织) technique at its best time. Yunjin brocade is best made     7    hand, in a complex procedure that comprises more than a hundred steps. Even the most skilled artisans can only weave a few centimeters a day.

In the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC—AD 24), with Zhang Qian     8     (open) up the routes to the western regions, silk graced countries in Central Asia, and later other parts of Eurasia and beyond.     9     (appropriate), its name marked China’s major international trade     10     (route), the ancient Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road.

As one of the wonders of ancient China, silk is not merely a type of fabric but a cultural symbol and a representative of elegance.