2 . “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue” is how the children’s nursery rhyme begins. However, more than 90 years before the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, a huge fleet of ships set sail from Nanjing. It was the first of a series of voyages that would, for a brief period, establish China as the leading power of the age. The voyage was led by Zheng He. In fact, some people think he was the original model for the legendary Sinbad the Sailor.

In 1371, Zheng He was born in what is now Yunnan Province to Muslim parents, who named him Ma Sanbao. When he was 11 years old, he was castrated and made to serve as a eunuch (宦官) in the imperial household. Ma befriended a prince who later became the Yong Le Emperor, one of the Ming Dynasty’s most distinguished. Brave, strong, intelligent and totally loyal, Ma won the trust of the prince who gave him a new name. Yong Le was an ambitious emperor who believed that China’s greatness would be increased with an “open­door” policy regarding international trade and diplomacy. In 1405, he ordered Chinese ships to sail to the Indian Ocean, and put Zheng He in charge of the voyage. Zheng went on to lead seven expeditions in 28 years, visiting more than 40 countries.

Zheng’s fleet had more than 300 ships and 30,000 sailors. The largest vessels, 133­meter­long “treasure ships”, had up to nine masts and could carry a thousand people. Along with a Han and Muslim crew, Zheng opened up trade routes in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. The voyages helped expand foreign interest in Chinese goods such as silk and china. In addition, Zheng He brought foreign items back to China, including the first giraffe ever seen there. At the same time, the fleet’s obvious strength meant that the Emperor of China commanded respect and inspired fear all over Asia.

Though Zheng He died in 1433 and was probably buried at sea, a grave and small monument to him still exist in Jiangsu Province. Three years after Zheng He’s death, a new emperor banned the construction of oceangoing ships, and China’s brief era of naval expansion was over. Chinese policy turned inward, leaving the seas clear for the rising nations of Europe. Opinions vary on why this happened. Whatever the reason, conservative (保守的) forces gained the upper hand, and China’s potential for world domination was not realized. Records of Zheng He’s incredible voyages were burned. Not until the early 20th century did another fleet of comparable size take to the seas.

3 . British English and American English have many differences. The difference also exists in the letters of the alphabet (字母表). Or, more specifically (具体地), the last letter of the alphabet. Z is pronounced as “zed” in Britain while in America, it is pronounced as “zee”.    1    It’s what you’ll hear in every English-speaking country, except for the United States.

    2     Many of our modern letters come directly from the Greek alphabet, including a letter which looked just like our “z”. The Greeks called it “zeta”. “Zeta” gradually developed into the French “zede”, which in turn gave us “zed” as English was shaped by Romance languages like French.

“Zee” showed up on the scene in modern English. Dr. Adam Crowley, an associate professor of English in Husson University’s College of Science and Humanities, suggests that the popularity of “zee” grew because it rhymes (押韵) with so many other letters, like B, C, and P.    3     So, again, this makes sense.

After the Revolutionary War, Americans were trying to set up an identity separate from the British, and words and language played a big role in this.    4     He, sure enough, chose “zee” as the “official” American pronunciation.

And then, there’s The Alphabet Song. In the song, z is pronounced as “zee”.    5     Indeed, teachers in England and other countries sometimes have to re-teach children how to pronounce z after they’ve already learned “zee” from hearing the song.

4 . A mile is a common unit of measurement for distance. We, at times, need to convert (转换) miles into other units of measurement. The most popular, of course, is converting to kilometres, when you want to convert something like MPH (miles per hour) to KMPH (kilometres per hour). Other popular units of conversion include feet, yards, and inches.

Long, long ago, when the Romans ruled over British lands, they used a measurement unit that was known as the “mille passuum”, which meant nothing but a thousand paces. This was measured by soldiers marching a thousand paces, or 5,000 Roman feet. By traditional standards, this measures out to be about 1,479 metres, or about 1,617 yards, and is today known as the Roman Mile.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the British came up with their own system of measurement. In their system, they used a “furlong”,which was the distance a horse could travel pulling a plow before stopping for rest, to measure distances. 1 furlong was equal to about 660 feet, making the mile 8 furlongs.

These and other similar methods led to a varied measurement of the mile. This was solved,to some extent, with the adoption of the international yard and pound measurements, which were agreed upon by 6 countries. There were exactly 1,760 yards in a mile using this system. While the US follows the International Mile, they also use the US Survey Mile or the Statute Mile,which measures 1,609.347 219 metres, or about 3.2 mm longer than the International Mile.

The statute mile was defined by an English Act of Parliament during the time of Queen Elizabeth I. It states:“A Mile shall contain eight Furlongs, every Furlong forty Poles, and every Pole shall contain sixteen Foot and a half.” This also works out to be about 1,760 yards, 5280 feet, or 1,609 metres.

Besides these, there is the Metric Mile, which is used in sporting events where distance is to be measured, like track and field events. The Nautical Mile is a measurement used in sea and air travel.

7 . It took brave European explorers less than 300 years, between 1420 and 1713, to establish that all the seas of the world formed an enormous and continuous ocean. This discovery encouraged them to _____ into areas which hadn’t been charted until then. With the discovery of new lands, new trade routes were _____. In many parts of the world, colonies and settlements were established and many odd-looking products were brought back to _____, arousing great interest and _____ wealth.

It was probably the irresistible desire for wealth that _____ persuaded Europeans of the fifteenth century to _____ their legendary dangers and explore further out into the open seas. They were also _____ by the love for their countries. Many explorers wanted to serve their kings and countries as well as gain personal _____ from their exploring.

The most effective way of gaining wealth was through _____. Silk, gold, silver and ______ stones, and more importantly spices, such as gingers and peppers, were the most profitable trade goods in Europe. Spices were of the greatest ______ because they enabled the Europeans to make their winter diet of salted meat more delicious. These items were ______ mostly from the East by a difficult overland route. The Italian ______, who bought goods from the Arabs of Alexandria, controlled the trade along this route. Other countries of the Mediterranean ______ the wealth which this trade generated and they were ______ to discover new routes which would allow them to share in it.

When skateboarding (滑板运动) started in 1960s, skateboards     1    (make) of wood and had clay wheels. Since the wheels didn’t hold the concrete firmly, the riders could do very few tricks with them. In 1973, a new wheel made of a plastic     2    (call) urethane (氨基甲酸乙酯) was invented in California. A skateboard     3     these wheels moved very quickly and it also held the concrete well. During the next few years, skateboards were     4    (far) improved. The urethane was perfected, and the boards were shaped better. These skateboards gave new life to skateboarding.

Although skateboarding was easy     5    (ride), the streets weren’t safe for it. As a result, skateboard parks sprang up. The first parks     6    (appear) in California and Florida. But at first there were only outdoor parks     7     had concrete slopes with small curves (曲面). The more exciting parks appeared which had steep downward slopes, banked curves     8     vertical walls. Today there are both indoor and outdoor parks where the riders must wear helmets as well as knee and elbow pads, which can avoid serious injury when     9     rider falls down. Whenever they ride, people should always use the safety     10    (equip). Many accidents happen during the first week of riding, so it’s of vital importance to learn how to fall safely.