深圳九年级下册英语课文 沪教

九年级下册课文

Unit 1

The Voyages of Zheng He

Zheng He was a famous Chinese explorer. In 1405, he set off from China on the first of seven great voyages. This was nearly a century before Christopher Columbus first set sail on his journey of discovery to America. His travels were so important that they are still study today.

Zheng He was born in Yunnan in 1371. He rose to become a trusted official of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor ordered Zheng He to visit and explore the lands outside China. His task was to develop relations and set up trade routes with foreign countries. In a few years, he built a great fleet of ships, the biggest in the world at that time. The ships were known as treasures ships. They were big enough to carry 25,000 people as well as very large quantities of goods. From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He went on seven trips and visited South-east Asia, the Middle-East and even the east coast of Africa. It seemed that nowhere was too far for him to visit. These voyages allowed China to trade valuable goods like gold, silver and silk. At the end of each voyage, Zheng He returned many things that were seen in China for the first time, such as giraffe from Africa. Besides developing trade, the voyages also encouraged the seemed that exchange of cultures and technologies. They helped the development of those countries and regions.

Zheng He died in 1433 during his last voyage. However, his voyages were such a huge achievement that people still remember him as a pioneer in opening up cultural contacts between different peoples around the world.

Unit 2

Living in another country

My name is Brad Li. I’m here today to tell you about my experience as an exchange student in the United States last year.

I must admit that at first America was a big shock for me. Many things were strange to me: the language ,the food and even the school. I stayed with a host family in a small town. My host parents, Mr and Mrs Hurst, were very kind . They organized a lot of activities for me in my spare time so that I wouldn’t miss home or feel lonely.

However, to a certain degree, life in the US was hard to get used to. My main problem was with the language. I failed to understand much in the first few weeks because every spoke so fast. Though I soon managed to get used to it, I still had problems because they used a lot of idioms. For example, they often say they are “ under the weather “ when they are ill. Their everyday English is very different from what we learn in China. Another difference was the food. My host family also had bread, potatoes and salad for meals. I really missed the dumplings, rice and delicious dishes from home. School was a big shock too. They don’t require students to wear un iforms, so students can wear almost whatever they like. Some students have strange hairstyles as well. Some students even have pink or purple hair! Anyway, I have many great memories of that year, especially playing in the snow in winter, and playing baseball. At Halloween, I went to a party dressed as Harry Potter. At Thanksgiving, we had a big dinner with a huge turkey.

I was an exciting year, and it was a valuable education for me. Now I understand more about American culture. My American friends asked me many questions about life in China, and this made me think about my own culture as well.