Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. When he was 17, he travelled along the Silk Road with his father, who wanted to do trade with the Chinese. Finally, they arrived in Beijing. They were guests at the Emperor’s Palace. Although Marco was young, he was very clever and could speak four languages. The Emperor was impressed by him and they became friends. The Emperor asked Marco to help him and sent him to do many important jobs all over the country.
Marco was amazed by how great China was. He was impressed by the Emperor’s Palace which he described as “The greatest palace that I’ve ever seen”. The walls were covered with gold and silver and the hall was so large.
Marco was also attracted by lots of strange things in China. Marco was surprised to see Chinese people using paper money in the markets. In Europe, people paid for goods with gold and silver. He could not understand how people paid for food and valuable things with paper! He was also puzzled by the black stones people used to burn to produce heat. The black stones were coal, but Marco had never seen coal before!
After he served the Emperor for 17 years, in 1291, Marco returned to Italy. He had a lot of money then. A writer wrote down all the stories that Marco told him in a book called The Description of the World , which became one of the best-selling books in Europe.
阅读短文，填表格，每空一词。
| Marco Polo and China | |
| Before 1 ． in China | He was born in Italy in 1254. At the age of 17, he travelled to China along the Silk Road with his father. |
| During his living in China | He made friends with the Chinese Emperor. He helped the Emperor do many 2 ． jobs around China. The beauty of China 3 ． him. He described the Summer Palace as the greatest palace that he had ever seen. Some things which he never saw before attracted him. Paper money was used in the markets. The Chinese used coal to produce heat. |
| After returning to Italy | He became very 4 ． . A book was 5 ． about his travelling experiences. |
1 ． arriving
2 ． important
3 ． amazed/impressed
4 ． rich/wealthy
5 ． written
【分析】
本文主要介绍了马克 · 波罗的生平以及他在中国十七年的故事。
1 ．
根据 “Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. When he was 17, he travelled along the Silk Road with his father, who wanted to do trade with the Chinese. Finally, they arrived in Beijing.” 可知，此处介绍的是马克 · 波罗到达中国之前的生活， arrive in 表示 “ 到达 ” ，空前有介词 Before ，此处用 arriving 。故填 arriving 。
2 ．
根据 “The Emperor asked Marco to help him and sent him to do many important jobs all over the country.” 可知，马克帮皇帝做很多重要的工作。故填 important 。
3 ．
根据 “Marco was amazed by how great China was.” 以及 “He was impressed by the Emperor’s Palace which he described as ‘The greatest palace that I’ve ever seen’. ” 可知，中国的美丽让他感到惊讶，给他留下了深刻的印象， amaze/impress sb. 表示 “ 使某人感到惊讶 / 印象深刻 ” ，此处时态为一般过去时，动词应用过去式。故填 amazed/impressed 。
4 ．
根据 “Marco returned to Italy. He had a lot of money then.” 可知，马克返回意大利时很富有。故填 rich/wealthy 。
5 ．根据 “A writer wrote down all the stories that Marco told him in a book called The Description of the World , which became one of the best-selling books in Europe.” 可知，有人写了一本关于他旅行经历的书， write 写，与主语 “A book” 为被动关系，此处为一般过去时的被动语态，结构为 be done ， write 的过去分词为 written 。故填 written 。
