Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. He was the oldest of five children in his family. His father was a wool weaver. He helped his father with the weaving, but he always wanted to sail the seas.
He didn’t get to school very much, but he learned to read and write Spanish during his travels. He also taught himself Latin because all the geography books were written in Latin. Some people thought he was trying to prove the world was round, but this is not true. He wanted to find a short way to get to the Indies by ship.
He was a Christian and wanted to tell the story of Christ to the people he would find in the far-away lands. He also wanted wealth for himself and for Spain, and he wanted to be famous. He tried for eight years to get King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to supply him with ships and money.
They left Spain on August 3, 1492 and sailed toward the west. After many days, the sailors had covered a long distance on the sea and were ready to turn around for home when they saw land, an island Columbus named San Salvador. He thought he had found the Indies and called the people he saw there “Indians”. When they got to Cuba, he thought he was in Japan. The world was a lot larger than he thought.
On Christmas Eve, the Santa Maria was wrecked near Haiti. Columbus built a fort(城堡) and left 40 men to hunt for gold. Then he returned to Spain on the Nina. The people of Spain welcomed him as a hero. He made three more voyages across the ocean. His 13-year-old son, Ferdinand, went with him on the fourth voyage.
Columbus did not become rich as he had hoped. At the end of his life he only had a pension the king and the queen had given him because he was the first to reach the New World. He spent the last few months of his life in bed because of the pain of arthritis(关节炎). Columbus not only discovered a New World, but he led the way for other explorers.
小题1:Columbus taught himself Latin because _______.
A． he wanted to prove the earth was round.
B．he wanted to find a short way to the Indies by sea.
C．he found Latin was very useful at that time.
D．he wanted to travel around the world.小题2:How was Columbus able to make his voyage to the west?
A．He was supported by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
B．He worked hard for eight for to save enough money for his voyage.
C．The king and the queen helped him with money and ships.
D．Many people supported him with money and food for his voyage.小题3:Why did Columbus call the local people in Salvador “Indians”?
A．Because he thought he had arrived in Japan.
B．Because he thought he looked like in the Indies.
C．Because he thought it was a wealthy place.
D．Because he thought he had arrived in the Indies.小题4:From the fifth paragraph we can infer that “Santa Maria” and “Nina” must be the names of_________.
A．trains
B．ships
C．cities
D．women小题5:From the text we know that ________.
A．Columbus lived a difficult life in his later life.
B．Columbus was considered as a hero all his life.
C．Columbus didn’t get the wealth as he had hoped for.
D．Columbus was the first person to travel round the world.
