Seeing the World Centuries Ago
If you enjoy looking through travel books by such familiar authors as Arthur Frommer or Eugene Fodor，it will not surprise you to lean that travel writing has a long and venerable history. Almost from the earliest annals of recorded time individuals have found ready audiences for their accounts of journeys to strange and exotic locales.1
One of the earliest travel writers，a Greek geographer and historian named Strabo，lived around the time of Christ. Though Strabo is known to have traveled from east of the Black Sea west to Italy and as far south as Ethiopia，he also used details gleaned from other writers to extend and enliven his accounts. His multivolumed work Geography provides the only surviving account of the cities，peoples，customs，and geographical peculiarities of the whole known world of his time.
Two other classic travel writers，the ltalian Marco Polo and the Moroccan Ibn Battutah，lived in roughly the same time period. Marco Polo traveled to China with his father and uncle in about A.D.1275 and remained there 16 or 17 years，visiting several other countries during his travels. When Marco returned to ltaly he dictated his memoirs，including stories he had heard from others，to a scribe，with the resulting book II milione being an instant success.Though difficult to attest to the accuracy of all he says，Marco's book impelled Europeans to begin their great voyages of exploration. 2 lbn Battutah's interest in travel began on his required Muslim joumey to Mecca in 1325，and during his lifetime he journeyed through all the countries where Islam held sway. 3 His travel book the Rihlah is a personalized account of desert journeys，court intrigues，and even the effect of the Back Death in the various lands he visited . In almost 30 years of traveling it is estimated that Ibn Battutah covered more than 75，000 miles.
词汇:
venerable adj. 庄严的，值得尊敬的
enliven v. 使生动
account n. 记述
voyage n. 航行
exotic v. 异国的，外来的
注释:
1. Almost from the earliest annals of recorded time individuals have found ready audiences for their accounts of journeys to strange and exotic locales. 几乎从最早有时间记载开始，人们就发现，他们对去一个陌生地方旅行的记录是不乏读者的。
2. …Marco's book impelled Europeans to begin their great voyages of exploration.……马可的书促使欧洲人开始了他们伟大的航海探索之旅。
3. …he journeyed through all the countries where Islam held sway.……他去了所有伊斯兰教掌权的国家旅行。
练习:
1. This passage is mostly about__________.
A) why people find travel writing exciting
B) the literary style of three early travel writers
C) where three early travel writers went and wrote about
D) how to write a travel book
2.Ibn Battutah traveled__________.
A) to China
B) to Ethiopia
C) throughout the Muslim word
D) for 16 or 17 years
3. The books bf the three writers were popular because__________.
A) they listed good places to stay
B) they told of strange and exotic locales
C) they explained the best routes to get to places
D) all of their stories were firsthand accounts
4. The overall organization of this passage is through__________.
A) chronological order
B) spatial description
C) travel writers’ personal narratives
D) persuasive details
5. In this passage attest means to__________.
A) give an examination to
B) draw a map of
C) tell lies to
D) give proof of
答案与题解：
1.C 本题问的是:这篇文章主要讲了什么? A的意思是为什么人们觉得旅行写作令人激动。
B 的意思是三位早期旅行作家的文学风格。C的意思是三位早期旅行作家去过的地方以及 他们的写作内容。D的意思是如何写一部旅行作品。根据本文内容，C选项最符合题意。因此C是正确的答案。
2.C 本题问的是:Ibn Battutah到过哪里旅行?根据最后一段的第一句话:he journeyed through all the countries where Islam held sway，可知，他去过了所有穆斯林的国家。因此C是正确的答案。
3.B 本题问的是:三位作家的作品都很受欢迎，原因是什么? A 的意思是他们列出了好的地 方。B的意思是他们写出了陌生的外面的地方。C的意思是他们说明了去一些地方的最好路线。D的意思是他们的所有故事都是一手资料。根据第一段的最后一句话可知，旅行作品吸引读者的地方在于它描述了一个陌生的地方，因此B是正确的答案。
4.A 本题问的是:这篇文章的整体布局是依照什么?本文主要依照时间顺序介绍了公元前后 的三位作家，按时间先后用序，因此A是正确的答案。
5. D 本题问的是:在这篇文章中attest是什么意思? attest出现在第三段的最后一句话，为的是表达马可所说的无法被证实是否都属实。A的意思是考察。B的意思是画一张地图。C的意思是说谎。D的意思是证实。因此D是正确的答案。
