2 选修6 Unit 5 高考英语课本知识点梳理 黄冈中学内部资料Word版含答案.pdf

课时提升作业 三十 选修6 Unit 5 The power of nature (限时35 分钟) Ⅰ. 阅读理解 When Columbus “sailed the ocean blue in 1492 ”, he wasn’t looking for America, he was searching for a route from Spain to China; America just got in the way. The Spanish were after the riches of Asia: silk, dates, spices. Until later adventures discovered how to sail to the Far East, trade with China depended on the Silk Road. The trade between China and Europe brought huge wealth, so the Spanish had a strong desire to find a new way to the East. Eventually a way appeared; as sea tra ic developed from the 17th Century onwards, the overland route diminished. Now China is seeking to revive( 复兴) the Silk Road and is preparing to invest 4 trillion pounds in new road, rail links, oil pipelines and other basic facilities. It is hoped that goods can be shipped westwards by land far more quickly and economically than by sea. But the plan is also to attract more tourists. Actually, China does pretty well for tourists already; it’s the world’s fourth most visited country. Two cities—Beijing and Shanghai—possess the tourism business, with significantinterestin destinationssuch as Xi’anand Chengdu. While Beijingismodern, citiessuch as Lanzhou and Dunhuang have one foot planted firmly in old China. OtherplacesfeaturedincludeXi’an,theformercapitalof China, China’s first emperor in the afterlife. From Lanzhou tour members take the train to Jiayuguan,China’s western gateway and a key location on the Silk Road. There isalsoa four-daycoach journeyalong the originalSilk Route through the Xinjiang region to Kashgar. Along the way,at Kurla, you can visit the ruins of the Iron Fortress. 1. What does the underlined word “diminished” in Paragraph 2 mean? A. Discovered. B. Disappeared.