the age of the European voyages of discovery and conquest (征服). In the centuries since his death, Marco Polo has received the recognition that failed to come his way during his lifetime. Marco Polo's story has inspired countless other adventurers to set off and see the world. 翻译： 作为通过中国游历亚洲的首批欧洲人之一，马可 波罗可能是中国人最熟知的外国商人和航海家。从1271 年到1295 年，他和他的家人游历广泛，遍及欧洲和亚洲。期间，他在中国留居了17 年。他的著作《马可 波罗游记》描述了他游历亚洲的旅程，让欧洲人首次全面领略了包括中国、印度和日本在内的远东地区的情况。从他的文字叙述中，西方人第一次了解到瓷器、煤炭、火药、印刷术、纸币以及丝绸。在15 世纪末和16 世纪欧洲发现与征服的大航海时代，马可 波罗所记录的大量新的地理信息得到了广泛使用。在他去世后的这几个世纪里，马可 波罗获得了他在有生之年未曾获得的赞誉。马可 波罗的故事鼓舞了其他无数的探险者去踏上征程，发现世界。
原文：
郑和是中国历史上最著名的航海家（maritime explorer）。公元1405 年，明朝的统治者为了稳固边防（border defense）和开展海上贸易，派郑和下西洋（the Western Seas）。在此后的28 年里，郑和带领船队七下西洋，前后出海的人员有10 多万人，访问了30 多个国家和地区。船队纵横南亚、西亚，一直到非洲大陆。郑和下西洋是世界航海（navigation）史上的壮举，它展现了郑和卓越的航海和组织才能，同时展现了明朝的国力和国威（national strength and prestige），加强了明朝和海外各国之间的关系。
翻译：
Zheng He was the most famous maritime explorer in Chinese history. In 1405 AD, the ruler of the Ming Dynasty sent Zheng He on a voyage to the Western Seas in order to strengthen border defense and develop trade by sea. In the following 28 years, Zheng He led his fleet, made seven voyages to the Western Seas with over 100,000 crew members in total, and visited more than 30 countries and regions. The fleet traveled far into South Asia and West Asia, and made all the way to the continent of Africa. Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas were a great feat in the world's navigation history. It showed Zheng He's outstanding navigation and organization talents; meanwhile, it exhibited the national strength and prestige of the Ming Dynasty, and strengthened the relationships between the Ming Dynasty and the overseas countries.
Unit 5
原文： The first written records of the ancient Olympic Games date to 776 BC. The ancient Olympics were held every four years between August 6 and September 19 during a religious festival honoring Zeus (宙斯). The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The Olympic symbol consists of five interlaced rings of equal dimensions, representing the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games. The Olympics truly took off as an international sporting event after 1924, when the 8th Olympic Games were held in Paris. Some 3,000 athletes from 44 nations competed that year, and for the first time the Games featured a closing ceremony. The Winter Olympics debuted (问世) that year, including such events as figure skating, ice hockey, bobsledding and the biathlon. Eighty years later, when the 2004 Summer Olympics returned to Athens for the first time in more than a century, nearly 11,000 athletes from 201 countries competed, breaking the then record of participating countries.