Seeing the World Centuries Ago

　　If you enjoy looking through travel books by such familiar authors as Arthur Frommer or Eugene Fodor，it will not surprise you to lean that travel writing has a long and venerable history. Almost from the earliest annals of recorded time individuals have found ready audiences for their accounts of journeys to strange and exotic locales.1

　　One of the earliest travel writers，a Greek geographer and historian named Strabo，lived around the time of Christ. Though Strabo is known to have traveled from east of the Black Sea west to Italy and as far south as Ethiopia，he also used details gleaned from other writers to extend and enliven his accounts. His multivolumed work Geography provides the only surviving account of the cities，peoples，customs，and geographical peculiarities of the whole known world of his time.

　　Two other classic travel writers，the ltalian Marco Polo and the Moroccan Ibn Battutah，lived in roughly the same time period. Marco Polo traveled to China with his father and uncle in about A.D.1275 and remained there 16 or 17 years，visiting several other countries during his travels. When Marco returned to ltaly he dictated his memoirs，including stories he had heard from others，to a scribe，with the resulting book II milione being an instant success.Though difficult to attest to the accuracy of all he says，Marco's book impelled Europeans to begin their great voyages of exploration. 2 lbn Battutah's interest in travel began on his required Muslim joumey to Mecca in 1325，and during his lifetime he journeyed through all the countries where Islam held sway. 3 His travel book the Rihlah is a personalized account of desert journeys，court intrigues，and even the effect of the Back Death in the various lands he visited . In almost 30 years of traveling it is estimated that Ibn Battutah covered more than 75，000 miles.

　　詞匯:

　　venerable   adj. 莊嚴的，值得尊敬的

　　enliven  v. 使生動

　　account n. 記述

　　voyage   n. 航行

　　exotic  v. 異國的，外來的

　　注釋:

　　1. Almost from the earliest annals of recorded time individuals have found ready audiences for their accounts of journeys to strange and exotic locales. 幾乎從最早有時間記載開始，人們就發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們對去一個陌生地方旅行的記錄是不乏讀者的。

　　2. …Marco's book impelled Europeans to begin their great voyages of exploration.……馬可的書促使歐洲人開始了他們偉大的航海探索之旅。

　　3. …he journeyed through all the countries where Islam held sway.……他去了所有伊斯蘭教掌權(quán)的國家旅行。

　　練習:

　　1. This passage is mostly about__________.

　　A) why people find travel writing exciting

　　B) the literary style of three early travel writers

　　C) where three early travel writers went and wrote about

　　D) how to write a travel book

　　2.Ibn Battutah traveled__________.

　　A) to China

　　B) to Ethiopia

　　C) throughout the Muslim word

　　D) for 16 or 17 years

　　3. The books bf the three writers were popular because__________.

　　A) they listed good places to stay

　　B) they told of strange and exotic locales

　　C) they explained the best routes to get to places

　　D) all of their stories were firsthand accounts

　　4. The overall organization of this passage is through__________.

　　A) chronological order

　　B) spatial description

　　C) travel writers’ personal narratives

　　D) persuasive details

　　5. In this passage attest means to__________.

　　A) give an examination to

　　B) draw a map of

　　C) tell lies to

　　D) give proof of

　　答案與題解：

　　1.C 本題問的是:這篇文章主要講了什么? A的意思是為什么人們覺得旅行寫作令人激動。

　　B 的意思是三位早期旅行作家的文學(xué)風格。C的意思是三位早期旅行作家去過的地方以及 他們的寫作內(nèi)容。D的意思是如何寫一部旅行作品。根據(jù)本文內(nèi)容，C選項最符合題意。因此C是正確的答案。

　　2.C 本題問的是:Ibn Battutah到過哪里旅行?根據(jù)最后一段的第一句話:he journeyed through all the countries where Islam held sway，可知，他去過了所有穆斯林的國家。因此C是正確的答案。

　　3.B 本題問的是:三位作家的作品都很受歡迎，原因是什么? A 的意思是他們列出了好的地 方。B的意思是他們寫出了陌生的外面的地方。C的意思是他們說明了去一些地方的最好路線。D的意思是他們的所有故事都是一手資料。根據(jù)第一段的最后一句話可知，旅行作品吸引讀者的地方在于它描述了一個陌生的地方，因此B是正確的答案。

　　4.A 本題問的是:這篇文章的整體布局是依照什么?本文主要依照時間順序介紹了公元前后 的三位作家，按時間先后用序，因此A是正確的答案。

　　5. D 本題問的是:在這篇文章中attest是什么意思? attest出現(xiàn)在第三段的最后一句話，為的是表達馬可所說的無法被證實是否都屬實。A的意思是考察。B的意思是畫一張地圖。C的意思是說謊。D的意思是證實。因此D是正確的答案。