Question

Zheng He made seven heroic voyages to Asia and Africa between 1405 and 1433, which predated the Westerners’ Voyages of Discovery by almost a century .

Despite Zheng He’s remarkable maritime feats , with larger and matchless fleets until World War I , he is relatively unknown worldwide compared with his Western counterparts like Columbus and Vasco da Gama . Why ?

Sadly , much of the official Chinese records of these voyages were destroyed after his death , by order of his powerful enemies at Court . They were opposed to his expeditions , both on economic and other grounds .

Further , the Ming History made only little mention of his exploits . Most surprisingly , not even his date of death and burial place were recorded . Therefore , his final resting place is still a matter of conjecture .So he became only a legend and folk hero in his life time .

However , hardly any Chinese works on him have been translated into foreign languages . Ironically , it was due to a handful of famous Western researchers like Needham, Zlevathes and , most recently , Menzies that the world is now more familiar with his greatness .

Zhen He’s rightful place in Chinese history has been confirmed by none other than Deng Xiaoping in 1984 , when he addressed the nation’s People’s Congress in Beijing : “…The Ming dynasty , under Yongle Emperor , did wisely pursue an open-door policy resulting in Zheng He’s famous maritime expeditions overseas . However , after Yongle’s death, China deserted this policy resulting in foreign intervention and China’s final humiliation during the 19th century . The open-door policy is therefore the way forward for China.”

Following a more realistic overall appraise by scholars East and West of Zheng He’s achievements , his standing as one of the greatest maritime explorers of all time has at last been firmly recognized worldwide .

 

56．Which statement is TRUE according to the passage ?

      A．No one knew Zheng He’s maritime achievements in history until World War I .

       B．The Westerners’ Voyages of Discovery fell behind China until 1433 .

       C．No other fleets in the world could be compared with those of China in size for almost over 500 years in history .

       D．Columbus was born in a western country, so he was more famous than Zheng He in the world .

57．From the passage , we can suppose        .

       A．Zheng He had been to Africa for seven times from 1405 to 1433 .

       B．Columbus and Vasco da Gama were relatively unknown in China compared with Zheng He .

       C．the Ming government didn’t know about Zheng He, so they made only little mention of Zheng He’s exploits .

       D．some government officials in the Ming dynasty were strongly against Zheng He’s voyages to Asia and Africa .

58．What’s the meaning of the underlined word “conjecture”?

       A．mistake              B．guess                 C．coincidence        D．imagination

59．Zheng He’s success in his maritime expeditions overseas mainly resulted from        .

      A．his braveness and perseverance                        B．Yongle Emperor’s open-door policy

       C．his strong curiosity to know about Africa         D．the support from his friends and family

Answer 1

56．D．文章第三段說到“他死后許多關(guān)于他航海的官方紀錄均宮廷里強大的敵對勢力下令銷毀了”，第四段說到“明朝歷史幾乎沒有提及之一史實，甚至連鄭和去世的日期和安葬地均無記載”。

57．D．根據(jù)文章第三段說到他的宮廷強大的敵對勢力可知。

58．B．文章第四段說到明朝歷史沒有記載鄭和去世的日期和安葬地，所以人們對以上問題只能是猜測。

59．B．文章第六段提出“明朝永樂年間明智地追求門戶開放政策，結(jié)果使得鄭和著名的海外航行大獲成功”。