China is larger than _____ country in Asia.

A. any       B. any other       C. other        D. another

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

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.

    Zheng 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 19^th 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.

1. 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.

2. 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 H's exploits.

   D. some government officials in the Ming dynasty were strongly against Zheng He's voyages

to Asia and Africa.

3. What’s the meaning of the underlined word "conjecture"?

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

4. 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

AIDS’ Threat to Asia Grows

NEW DELHI----Just a few years ago, Mala was a typical middle-class Indian housewife. She cooked, cleaned and looked after her two small children.

Last year, her life took a tragic turn. Her husband died of AIDS; she was found out HIV-positive and her mother-in-law took her children away from her, saying they would get the disease. “When friends dropped for a visit, she would introduce me, saying, ‘She is my son’s widow. She has AIDS,’” said Mala. AIDS is now described as “explosive(炸药)” around the world. A study of a hospital in the port city of Durban in South Africa, where the world’s biggest and Africa’s second AIDS conference opened last Sunday, found that almost half the beds in medical wards (病房) were occupied by AIDS patients.

South Africa has one of the world’s fastest growing HIV infections, with 1,700 people infected daily, adding to the 4.3 million, or 10 percent of its population, living with HIV. Until now, Asia has been more successful in holding the AIDS virus than Africa, where the disease has killed about 12 million people.

AIDS is now threatening to surround many of Asia’s poverty-stricken countries. Countries in Asia, such as Cambodia, and Thailand, have HIV infection speeds over 1 percent. But the low speeds hide huge numbers of infected people, because of the population base.

In India, for example, 3.7 million are infected, more than in any other country except South Africa. In China, an estimated 860,000 people (the actual number may be a little larger), mainly drug users, live with HIV/AIDS. Gordon Alexander, a senior advisor for UN AIDS in India, estimates that the number hit by AIDS in Asia will climb about eight million over the next five years from about six million.

In many Asian countries, the battle against HIV is a social and cultural one against public discussion of sexual health put a nationwide media campaign into action to limit the speed of HIV through unsafe sex. Brenton Wong, an official for Singapore’s Action for AIDS, says the actual HIV incidence in the city state of 3.9 million people is at least eight times higher than official data. “Shame and deny is still very, very common so people are afraid to get tested and many times won’t even tell their families if they test positive,” said Wong.

We can conclude from the underlined sentence in the last paragraph that ______.

    A. The official data always tell lies and cheat people to hide the truth.      

    B. 3.9 million people in Singapore suffered from AIDS.     

    C. Singapore has a population of 3.9 million  

    D. The number of people infected with HIV is at least eight times larger than that of the AIDS patients in Singapore.

It is judged that there are ______ people hit by AIDS in Asia or so.

    A. 4.3 million      B. 6 million   C. 8 million   D. 3.7 million

According to the passage, the main reasons that AIDS spread in Asia is through_______. 

    A. blood    B. unsafe sex       C. love     D. drugs

Which of the following statements is not right?     

    A. The battle against Aids in many Asian countries is against their culture and

social customs. 

    B. Though the HIV infection in Asia develops with low speed, the infected number

is still quite large compared to other continents.     

    C. India has the second largest number of HIV infected people.  

    D. Aids might affect the poverty-stricken countries more severely.